Impacts of Agricultural Practices (College Board AP® Environmental Science): Flashcards
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Define tilling.
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Cards in this collection (14)
Define tilling.
Tilling is the practice of mechanically turning over soil to prepare for planting.
Why does tilling increase soil erosion?
Tilling loosens the soil, making it more prone to being washed away by rain or blown away by wind.
How does tilling release carbon dioxide?
Tilling exposes carbon stored in organic matter to oxygen, which accelerates microbial decomposition and releases CO₂.
True or False?
Frequent tilling increases the soil's capacity to act as a carbon sink.
False.
Healthy, undisturbed soil stores carbon for long periods; frequent tilling reduces this capacity and increases net carbon emissions.
Tilling can disturb anaerobic soil environments, releasing the potent greenhouse gas (CH₄).
Tilling can disturb anaerobic soil environments, releasing the potent greenhouse gas methane (CH₄).
How does tilling reduce soil fertility?
Tilling disrupts soil structure and depletes nutrients.
Define slash-and-burn.
Slash-and-burn is a method where forests or grasslands are cleared by cutting and burning vegetation to prepare land for agriculture.
How does slash-and-burn farming degrade soil?
Burning depletes soil nutrients, making the land less productive over time.
How does slash-and-burn farming contribute to greenhouse gas levels?
Clearing forests reduces carbon storage, and burning releases CO₂ and other pollutants into the atmosphere.
How does fertilizer overuse cause water pollution?
Excess nutrients run off into rivers and lakes, causing eutrophication and harmful algal blooms.
Continuous use of fertilizers can alter soil pH, causing soil that reduces its productivity.
Continuous use of fertilizers can alter soil pH, causing soil acidification that reduces its productivity.
True or False?
Nutrient runoff from farms only affects rivers and lakes next to the farms.
False.
Runoff is carried through the entire watershed, so dead zones can form thousands of kilometers downstream of the original farms.
Which potent greenhouse gas is released by fertilizers?
Fertilizers release nitrous oxide (N₂O), a potent greenhouse gas.
What causes the Gulf of Mexico dead zone?
The Gulf of Mexico dead zone is caused by excess fertilizer runoff from farms in the Mississippi River Basin, which leads to low oxygen levels that kill marine life.
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