APES EXAM REVIEW TOPIC #4: Land and Water Use

Tragedy of the commons – degradation of common property due to cumulative effect of many people exploiting a shared resource Commons = common property + open-access renewable resources common property (government land) open-access renewable resources (air, underground water supply, open ocean and its fish)

Positive feedback loop Causes a system to change further in the same direction Examples: 1.Melting polar ice caps and albedo loss 2.Deforestation and the loss of water/soil nutrients

Negative, (corrective) feedback loop Causes a system to change in the opposite direction from which it is moving Example: recycling resources

Fig , p. 355 Smelting (heating) Melting metal Conversion to product Discarding of product THE LIFE CYCLE OF A METAL RESOURCE Recycling Surface mining Ore containing desired metal and undesired minerals (gangue) Separation of ore from gangue

Ecological footprint The amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply the people in a particular area with resources and to absorb and recycle wastes/pollution produced by such use In 2003, ecological footprint exceeded biological capacity by 25%

Global Ecological Footprint - current

1872 – First National Park – Yellowstone – by John Muir 1892 – Sierra Club founded – by John Muir 1916 – National Park Service Act – by President Woodrow Wilson

MACRONUTRIENTS MICRONUTRIENTS – Vitamins (A*, B, C, D, E) and minerals (Fe*, I*, Ca, Mg, Na, etc.) Average 2000 calories required per day

Agriculture began – 10,000 years ago

Three major grains – feed 2/3 of the world’s population 1. corn 2. wheat 3. rice

Green Revolution Increase crop yields on same amount of land World grain production tripled

Green Revolution:  high yield and fast growing varieties of crops  modern irrigation techniques  industrial fertilizers  second-generation pesticides

Forest measures 10,000 meters by 300,000 meters or 1x10 4 meters by 3x10 5 meters SOLUTION: Area = length x width Area = 1x10 4 meters X 3x10 5 meters = 3x10 9 m 2 First find area in m 2

Forest measures 10,000 meters by 300,000 meters or 1x10 4 meters by 3x10 5 meters SOLUTION: 3x10 9 m 2 X 1 km 2 = 3 x 10 3 km 2 1x10 6 m 2 1 km 2 1,000,000 m 2 = 1 x 10 6 m 2 1 km 1000 m Convert to km 2

Forest measures 10,000 meters by 300,000 meters or 1x10 4 meters by 3x10 5 meters SOLUTION: 3x10 9 m 2 X 1 hectare = 3 x 10 5 hectares 1x10 4 m 2 1 hectare = 10,000 m 2 = 1x10 4 m 2 1 hectare = 0.01 km 2 = 1 x km m 0.1 km Convert to hectares

Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency: Iodine deficiency - goiter Iron deficiency - anemia Vitamin A deficiency - blindness Vitamin C deficiency - scurvy Vitamin D deficiency - rickets

GMOs: Genetically Modified Organism  Organisms with genes added, deleted, or modified for a desired trait  Critics are concerned with potential negative effects of GMOs released in natural environment

HYDROPONICS - the process of growing plants in sand, gravel, or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil.

Evapotranspiration The sum of evaporation and transpiration Responsible for significant water loss in drainage basins, especially in coniferous forests.

IPM (Integrated Pest Management) Combination of cultivation, biological controls, chemical tools/techniques applied in a coordinated way. Goal - reduce crop damage to an economically tolerable level. Pesticides – first-generation only – used as a last resort. FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, Rodenticide Act) Made from plants First Generation PESTICIDES DDT synthesized in lab Second Generation PESTICIDES

Rachel Carson – inspired ban of DDT

Poultry: + 50% 1980 – 12.5 lbs 2000 – 25 lbs 25 lbs lbs x lbs = 50% Farmed Fish: + 80% 1980 – 2.5 lbs 2000 – 12 lbs 12 lbs lbs x lbs = 80% Beef: + 0% 1961 – 20 lbs 2009 – 20 lbs