Chapter Fourteen:LAnd

Section One: How We Use Land Land Use and Land Cover Used for farming, mining, recreation, and building cities and highways Urban land: land that is covered mainly with buildings and roads Rural land: land that contains relatively few people and large areas of open space Provides resources such as wood, forests, crops, and minerals

Section One: How We Use Land Where We Live Until 1850s most people lived in rural areas After the Industrial Revolution, most moved to cities The Urban-Rural Connection We depend on resources produced in rural areas Ecosystem Services: resources that are produced by natural and artificial ecosystems People in developed nations use more ecosystem services than those in developing nations

Section Two: Urban Land Use Urbanization The movement of people from rural areas to cities People usually leave for more plentiful and better paying jobs Infrastructure: all the things that society builds for public use Includes schools, roads, parks, bridges, power line, etc. Urban sprawl: rapid expansion of a city into the countryside around the city Occurs when suburbs are built

Section Two: Urban Land Use Urbanization Marginal land: land that is poorly suited for building Heat island: increased temperature in the cities Cities generate and trap heat Roads and buildings absorb more heat from the sun and retain it longer Atlanta is an example

Section Two: Urban Land Use Urban Planning Land-use planning: determining in advance how land will be used Where will houses and offices be built? Requires looking at the environmental impact Geographic Information System (GIS): a computerized system for storing, manipulating, and viewing geographic data

Section Two: Urban Land Use Urban Planning Transportation Cars and mass transit systems ( subways and buses) Open Space Land that is set aside inside urban areas for recreational and scenic enjoyment Public parks, gardens, and biking and hiking trails

Section Three: Land Management and Conservation Farmlands Used to grow crops and fruit U.S. has more than 100 million hectares Threatened by urban development

Section Three: Land Management and Conservation Rangelands Land that supports different types of vegetation Not used for farming or timber Damaged by overgrazing Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 Sought to improve land management strategies

Section Three: Land Management and Conservation Forest Lands Harvested for timber Clear cutting and selective cutting Forest provide carbon dioxide removal from the air Deforestation: the clearing of trees from an area without replacing them Decreases wildlife habitat, increases erosion Very high in the tropical rain forests Reforestation: the process by which trees are planted to re-establish trees have been cut down in the forest land

Section Three: Land Management and Conservation Parks and Preserves U.S. has more than 50 national parks Wilderness: an area in which the land and the ecosystems it supports are protected from all exploitation Some are used for recreational purposes Helps to protect species