AP human geography Chapter 11 vocab

transhumance

A seasonal periodic movement of pastoralists and their livestock between highland and lowland pastures

rural settlement

Sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities

subsistence agriculture

Agriculture designed primarily to provide food for direct consumption by the farmer and the farmer's family

truck farm

Commercial gardening and fruit farming, so named because truck was a Middle English word meaning bartering or the exchange of commodities.

sustainability

The level of development that can be maintained without depleting resources

slash and burn agriculture

a farming technique in which trees are cut down and burned to clear and fertilize the land

chemical farming

application of synthetic fertilizers to the soil - and herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides, to crops - in order to enhance yields

Mediterranean agriculture

specialized farming that occurs only in areas where the dry-summer Mediterranean climate prevails

cadastral system

the method of land survey through which landownership and property lines are define

luxury crop

-Non-subsistence crops such as tea, cacao, coffee, and tobacco -Non essential to surviva

survey patterns

-Method of separating land, usually devised by the government of the land. -patterns used to survey the land on Earth

metes and bounds system

-a system of land surveying east of the Appalachian mountains. it is a system that relies on descriptions of land ownership and natural ownership and natural features such as streams or trees.

organic agriculture

-approach to farming and ranching that avoids the use of herbicides, pesticides, growth hormones, and other similar synthetic inputs

intensive agriculture

A form of agriculture using a great amount of human labor and/or capital to farm small amounts of land

biotechnology

A form of technology that uses living organisms, usually genes, to modify products, to make or modify plants and animals, or to develop other microorganisms for specific purposes.

township and range

A rectangular land division scheme designed by Thomas Jefferson to disperse settlers evenly across farmlands of the U.S. interior.

fertilizer

A substance that provides nutrients to help crops grow better

pastoralism

A way of life similar to agricultural, but based primarily on the exploitation of domesticated animals rather than plants. To allow their domesticated animals to graze over large areas, pastoralists are generally nomadic.

epidemic

A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time

deforestation

Destruction of forests

pandemic

Disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population.

vectored diseases

Diseases carried from one host to another by an intermediate host.

tertiary economic activities

Economic activity associated with the provision of services - such as transportation, banking, retailing, education, and routine office-based jobs.

long lot

In southern Quebec and other areas of Canada where individual lots tend to be long and narrow and extended back from roads

arable land

Land that can be used to grow crops

endemic

Native or confined to a particular region or people(diseases)

local food movement

Reducing the rate of globalization by eating and buying local foods

economy of scale

The cost per unit of weight decreases as the size of the shipment increases

horticulture

The growing of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

aquaculture

The practice of raising fish and other water dwelling organisms for food

desertification

The process by which fertile land becomes desert,typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or agriculture.

extensive agriculture

a crop or livestock system characterized by low inputs of labor per unit area of land. May be part of either a subsistence or a commercial economy

shifting cultivation

a form of subsistence agriculture in which people shift activity from one field to another; each field is used for crops for a relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period

commodity chains

a linked system of processes that gather resources, convert them into goods, package them for distribution, disperse them, and sell them on the market

nucleated settlements

a settlement where buildings are clustered around a particular point

Quaternary economic activity

a subcategory of the tertiary economic sector - collecting, processing and manipulating information and capital

swidden agriculture

also called slash and burn agriculture. a form of cultivation in which forrested or brushy plots are cleared of vegetation burned then planted to crops only to be abandoned a few years later when soil fertility declines

debt for nature swamp

an agreement between a developing nation in debt and one or more of its creditors. Creditors agree to forgive debts in return for environmental protection

dispersed settlement

characterized by a lower density of population and the wide spacing of individual homesteads.

genetically modified organisms

crops that carry new traits that have been inserted through advanced genetic engineering methods

milpa

cultivation of crops in tropical forest clearings in which forest vegetation has been removed by cutting and burning

monoculture

dependence on a single agricultural commodity

primary economic activities

economic activity concerned with the direct extraction of natural resources from the environment--such as mining, fishing, lumbering, and especially agriculture

secondary economic activities

economic activity involving the processing of raw materials and their transformation into finished industrial products; the manufacturing sector

primogeniture

eldest son inherits all land and wealth

agribusiness

encompassing term for the business that provide a vast array of goods and services to support the agricultural industry

quinary economic activities

most advanced form of quaternary actives consisting of high-level decision making for large corps or scientific research

tragedy of the commons

situation in which people acting individually and in their own interest use up commonly available but limited resources, creating disaster for the entire community

commercial agriculture

term used to describe large scale farming and ranching operations that employ vast land bases, large mechanized equipment, factory-type labor, and the latest technology

non-vectored diseases

transmitted by a direct contact between a host and a victim