Details Title: Ch13 part 2, bitches. Description: ch 13, but part 2. cuz you can only make 50. Total Flash Cards: 15 Created: 04/12/2009 19:06:28		New Users: To study from this flashcard set, or to create your own your own study flash cards, REGISTER HERE. Existing Users: CLICK HERE. Additional Environmental Studies Flashcards
Cards in this set: Term salinization Definition Accumulation of salts in soil that can eventually make the soil unable to support plant growth. Term sheet erosion Definition Occurs when surface water or wind peel off fairly thin sheets or layers of soil. Term shifting cultivation Definition Clearing a plot of ground in a forest, especially in tropical areas, and planting crops on it for a few years (typically 2 - 5 years) until the soil is depleted of nutrients or the plot has been invaded by a dense growth of vegetation from the surrounding forest. Then a new plot is cleared and the process is repeated. The abandoned plot cannot successfully grow crops for 10 - 30 years. See also slash-and-burn cultivation. Term slash-and-burn cultivation Definition Cutting down trees and other vegetation in a patch of forest, leaving the cut vegetation on the ground to dry, and then burning it. The ashes that are left add nutrients to the nutrient-poor soils found in most tropical forest areas. Crops are planted between tree stumps. Plots must be abandoned after a few years (typically 2 - 5 years) because of loss of soil fertility or invasion of vegetation from the surrounding forest. See also shifting cultivation. Term soil conservation Definition Methods used to reduce soil erosion, prevent depletion of soil nutrients, and restore nutrients already lost by erosion, leaching, and excessive crop harvesting. Term soil erosion Definition Movement of soil components, especially topsoil, from one place to another, usually by wind, flowing water, or both. This natural process can be greatly accelerated by human activities that remove vegetation from soil. Term strip cropping Definition Planting regular crops and close-growing plants, such as hay or nitrogen-fixing legumes, in alternating rows or bands to help reduce depletion of soil nutrients. Term subsistence farming Definition Supplementing solar energy with energy from human labor and draft animals to produce enough food to feed oneself and family members; in good years enough food may be left over to sell or put aside for hard times. Compare industrialized agriculture. Term sustainable agriculture Definition Method of growing crops and raising livestock based on organic fertilizers, soil conservation, water conservation, biological pest control, and minimal use of nonrenewable fossil-fuel energy. Term terracing Definition Planting crops on a long, steep slope that has been converted into a series of broad, nearly level terraces with short vertical drops from one to another that run along the contour of the land to retain water and reduce soil erosion. Term traditional intensive agriculture Definition Producing enough food for a farm family's survival and perhaps a surplus that can be sold. This type of agriculture uses higher inputs of labor, fertilizer, and water than traditional subsistence agriculture. See traditional subsistence agriculture. Compare industrialized agriculture. Term traditional subsistence agriculture Definition Production of enough crops or livestock for a farm family's survival and, in good years, a surplus to sell or put aside for hard times. Compare industrialized agriculture, traditional intensive agriculture. Term under nutrition Definition Consuming insufficient food to meet one's minimum daily energy needs for a long enough time to cause harmful effects. Compare malnutrition, over nutrition. Term water logging Definition Saturation of soil with irrigation water or excessive precipitation so that the water table rises close to the surface. Term windbreak Definition Row of trees or hedges planted to partially block wind flow and reduce soil erosion on cultivated land.