Principles of Environmental Science

Which of the following diseases is caused by a diet lacking in protein and results in bloated bellies in children?

kwashiorkor

Soil components

air, actinomycetes, water

The green revolution _______.

is responsible for increasing food supplies during the past 50 years and produced high-yield varieties of many crops

Bacillus thuringiensis

The gene that produces a natural insecticide and is often used to create pest-resistant transgenic crops.

Provides ground cover for agricultural crops

double harvests, alfalfa, green manure

The largest exporter of beef in the world

Brazil

The greatest threat to food security around the world

Poverty

Top 3 crops used in the US

corn, wheat, and rice

Calculate Doubling Time

72 Divided by %

Seafood is the primary animal protein source for approximately how many people?

1 Billion

The parent material of soil underlies the ____________

Horizon

Which country has lost 93,000km2 (the size of Indiana) of land to desertification over the last 30 years?

China

The energy needed to process and distribute food in the US is as much as _______ times the amount that is used to actually farm the crops.

5

locavore

a person who consumes locally produced food

Thomas Malthus

an English economist who argued that increases in population would outgrow increases in the means of subsistence (1766-1834)

pronatalist pressure

Children provide support for elderly parents, Male pride, Children help with household and farm chores.

Kerala India

improved social conditions and educational opportunities to lower population growth

The number of births in a year per thousand persons

Crude Birth Rate

mortality rate

number of deaths per thousand people

Life expectancy

The average number of years an individual can be expected to live, given current social, economic, and medical conditions. Life expectancy at birth is the average number of years a newborn infant can expect to live.

Third most populous country

USA

Second most populous by 2050

China

Industrial Revolution

event initiated the enormous increase in human population about 200 years ago

World Population projected for 2050

9 Billion

population momentum

built-in potential for population growth due to a large number of individuals entering reproductive age

One of the most effective ways to stabilize populations size

decrease child mortality

CBA

The sum of all products bought and sold within an economy

Soil

a complex mixture of weathered mineral materials from rocks, partially decomposed organic molecules, and a host of living organisms

Clay

the finest soil, made up of particles that are less than 0.002 mm in diameter.

Silt

mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks with particles 0.002-0.05 mm in diameter

Sand

the coarsest soil, with particles 0.05-2.0 mm in diameter

Erosion

condition in which the earth's surface is worn away by the action of water and wind

Subsistence agriculture

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

Monoculture

farming strategy in which large fields are planted with a single crop, year after year

Green Revolution

the introduction of pesticides and high-yield grains and better management during the 1960s and 1970s which greatly increased agricultural productivity

Biological controls

natural controls such as predators (wasps, ladybugs, praying mantises) or pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi) that can control many pests

Pesticide resistance

insects develop resistance to pesticides over time which they then transfer to their offspring who entirely resistant

Natural Selection

a natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment

Integrated Pest Management

a variety of pest control methods that include repairs, traps, bait, poison, etc. to eliminate pests

Sustainable agriculture

Long-term productive farming methods that are environmentally safe.

Conservation tillage

planting method in which farmers disturb surface topsoil and vegetation as little as possible

No till planting

where the new crop seeds (or small plants) are 'punched' down through the stubble of the preceding crop

Summer fallow

Cropland that is purposely kept out of production during a regular growing season

Green manure

a growing or freshly cut crop that is plowed under to enrich soil

Crop rotation

The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil.

High responders

crops of the green revolution produce tremendous yields in response to fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation.

Terracing

carving small, flat plots of land from hillsides to use for farming

Cover crops

plants, like rye, alfalfa or clover, that can be planted immediately after harvest to hold and protect the soil

Shelterbelts

soil protection provided by rows of planted vegetation between strips, rows of trees or other tall perennial plants that are planted along the edges of fields to slow the wind

Transgenic crops

new crops with improved characteristics created artificially through genetic engineering, which combines genes from species that would not naturally interbreed

Contour plowing

plowing fields along the curves of a slope to prevent soil loss

Sustainable forestry

The use and management of forest ecosystems in an environmentally balanced and enduring way

Tera Petra Soils

Dark, rich soils found in the amazon.

Selective cutting

the removal of select trees in an area; this leaves the majority of the habitat in place and has less of an impact on the ecosystem.

sustainable farming methods

crop rotation, soil amendment, plant off-season cover crops.

Doubling Time

The number of years needed to double a population, assuming a constant rate of natural increase.

Demography

study of populations

Exponential growth

growth pattern in which the individuals in a population reproduce at a constant rate

Fertility Rate

the number of babies born each year per 1,000 women in a population.

Rate of Natural Increase

the annual rate of population growth

Logistic Growth

occurs when a population's growth slows or stops following a period of exponential growth

Demographic Transition

change in a population from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates

Age Structure

the relative number of individuals of each age in a population

J-Curve

a growth curve that depicts exponential growth

S-Curve

a curve that depicts logistic growth.