AP Environmental Science › Material Resources
Aphids, cucumber beetles, locusts and other insects will always be problematic for growers. Which of the following would be an effective method to prevent infestations without the use of pesticides?
Mixed cropping (planting many different crops as opposed to just one or two).
Picking each individual insect and squishing them.
Mulching regularly. The more often the better.
Remove all the mulched biomass from your fields. That is where the insects are laying eggs and breeding.
Irrigate regularly to flood out pests.
Mulching can actually provide habitat for slugs, while removing mulch and topsoil puts your fields at serious risk of soil depletion and eventual erosion. Flooding your fields is also ineffective and could jeopardize your existing crops (and soil health for that matter!). Finding and squishing every single pest might put a small dent in the crops lost, but how much is your time worth? Mixed cropping is the best option, because many pests are specialists and feed off certain crops (leafy greens, drupes, etc.). Some of your crops will suffer but not all of them.
Aphids, cucumber beetles, locusts and other insects will always be problematic for growers. Which of the following would be an effective method to prevent infestations without the use of pesticides?
Mixed cropping (planting many different crops as opposed to just one or two).
Picking each individual insect and squishing them.
Mulching regularly. The more often the better.
Remove all the mulched biomass from your fields. That is where the insects are laying eggs and breeding.
Irrigate regularly to flood out pests.
Mulching can actually provide habitat for slugs, while removing mulch and topsoil puts your fields at serious risk of soil depletion and eventual erosion. Flooding your fields is also ineffective and could jeopardize your existing crops (and soil health for that matter!). Finding and squishing every single pest might put a small dent in the crops lost, but how much is your time worth? Mixed cropping is the best option, because many pests are specialists and feed off certain crops (leafy greens, drupes, etc.). Some of your crops will suffer but not all of them.
Which is used to allow farmers to utilize hillsides?
Terracing
Rangeland
Monoculture
Polyculture
Terracing creates level shelves on hillsides to hold water and soil for growing crops. This method can be very expensive. Rangelands are the areas of land that are grazed on by animals. A monoculture refers to the cultivation of a single crop or animal, while a polyculture involves the cultivation of multiple different types of crops and/or animals in a given area.
Which is used to allow farmers to utilize hillsides?
Terracing
Rangeland
Monoculture
Polyculture
Terracing creates level shelves on hillsides to hold water and soil for growing crops. This method can be very expensive. Rangelands are the areas of land that are grazed on by animals. A monoculture refers to the cultivation of a single crop or animal, while a polyculture involves the cultivation of multiple different types of crops and/or animals in a given area.
The Green Revolution was a period of modernization and mechanization in the agricultural industry that occurred between the 1930s and 1960s. The Green Revolution increased yield and helped farmers feed a growing human population. The man who fathered the Green Revolution won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in helping saving a billion people from starvation. What was his name?
Norman Borlaug
Cyprus McCormick
John Deere
Robert Fraley
The correct response is Norman Borlaug. He is regarded as the "Father of the Green Revolution" and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. His work specialized in creating high-yielding varieties of crops, such as wheat, to increase the global food supply.
The Green Revolution was a period of modernization and mechanization in the agricultural industry that occurred between the 1930s and 1960s. The Green Revolution increased yield and helped farmers feed a growing human population. The man who fathered the Green Revolution won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in helping saving a billion people from starvation. What was his name?
Norman Borlaug
Cyprus McCormick
John Deere
Robert Fraley
The correct response is Norman Borlaug. He is regarded as the "Father of the Green Revolution" and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. His work specialized in creating high-yielding varieties of crops, such as wheat, to increase the global food supply.
What is a potential consequence of overfertilization?
Soil salinization
Fertilizer resistance
Plant mutation
Fungal susceptibility
Crop dusting
A plant almost never uses as much fertilizer as it is given, and in the case of synthetic fertilizers especially, the nutrients are also often over-applied for efficiency's sake. This over-application leads to fertilizer buildup in the soil as more and more goes unused. When certain concentrations of the fertilizers are reached, the chemicals in the fertilizer form salts, leading to what we call soil salinization, which is a condition where plants can't grow very well.
What is a potential consequence of overfertilization?
Soil salinization
Fertilizer resistance
Plant mutation
Fungal susceptibility
Crop dusting
A plant almost never uses as much fertilizer as it is given, and in the case of synthetic fertilizers especially, the nutrients are also often over-applied for efficiency's sake. This over-application leads to fertilizer buildup in the soil as more and more goes unused. When certain concentrations of the fertilizers are reached, the chemicals in the fertilizer form salts, leading to what we call soil salinization, which is a condition where plants can't grow very well.
What is the main ecological benefit of establishing shelterbelts?
Shelterbelts guard cultivated areas from wind, reducing the rate of soil lost to erosion from wind.
Shelterbelts limit the rate at which nutrients are leeched from the soil and end up in water tables.
Shelterbelts provide habitat for wildlife that would otherwise be inhabiting fields and feeding off of crops.
The trees that compose a shelterbelt fix nitrogen into the soil, limiting the rate of nutrient depletion one would see on a commercial farm.
The trees that compose a shelterbelt produce oxygen and fix carbon, combating the threat of climate change.
Shelterbelts do fix carbon and some trees do fix nitrogen, but the dominant ecological benefit is their limiting of wind-caused soil erosion. Shelterbelts mimic a forest ecosystem by diverting wind currents away from soil that is often exposed by tilling.
What is the main ecological benefit of establishing shelterbelts?
Shelterbelts guard cultivated areas from wind, reducing the rate of soil lost to erosion from wind.
Shelterbelts limit the rate at which nutrients are leeched from the soil and end up in water tables.
Shelterbelts provide habitat for wildlife that would otherwise be inhabiting fields and feeding off of crops.
The trees that compose a shelterbelt fix nitrogen into the soil, limiting the rate of nutrient depletion one would see on a commercial farm.
The trees that compose a shelterbelt produce oxygen and fix carbon, combating the threat of climate change.
Shelterbelts do fix carbon and some trees do fix nitrogen, but the dominant ecological benefit is their limiting of wind-caused soil erosion. Shelterbelts mimic a forest ecosystem by diverting wind currents away from soil that is often exposed by tilling.