Soils, Agriculture and Biodiversity

APES STUDY GUIDE SOILS and AGRICULTURE 

 How and where did agriculture start?  Where are soils most degraded?  How does soil form? o Describe role of parent material, bedrock, weathering, biological activity, physical processes, and climate  Describe a soil profile: What are the horizons?  Use a soil texture triangle to identify soils  Describe desertification  Explain various steps used to reduce soil erosion o crop rotation o contour farming o intercropping o terracing o shelterbelts o no-till  Describe the pros and cons of irrigation  Compare and contrast: (energy, labor, water, pesticides, fertilizer) o conventional industrial agriculture o subsistence farming (including intensive) o organic farming  Describe the Green Revolution o Why necessary? State of world hunger o What did it accomplish? HOW? o Environmental impacts . monoculture . irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides  The Gene Revolution o Describe how GMOs are being used, or might be, in agriculture o Discuss pros and cons of GMOs in agriculture o Distinguish possible risks from GMOs from more definite risks from other sorts of industrial agriculture, e.g.: . mad cow disease: how caused and spread  Pest control o Distinguish among insecticides, herbicides, fungicides o Which kind most used in US? . relevance to genetic modifications of crop plants (i.e., what modifications are being engineered into plants?) o Resistance: what is it, how does it occur? o Alternatives to conventional pesticide application . biological control . Integrated Pest Management (IPM)  Animal agriculture o Describe changes in meat consumption worldwide and impact this has on world food supply, energy available o What impact does meat production have on the land? o What % of global grain production goes to animals? o What is a CAFO and how does it operate?  Organic or sustainable agriculture o how differ from conventional agriculture? o What constitutes organic agriculture (see table 10.2)