Land Chapter 14

Land Use, Land Cover  _________________: farming, mining, building cities and highways and recreation  ___________________: what you find on a patch of land  ________________: land covered mainly by buildings and roads  ________________: land that contains relatively few people and large areas of open space

Where we live  Before 1850 most Americans lived in rural communities  Industrial revolution changed this pattern  Machinery replaced people in farming and grain mill industry  Better transportation  _________________________________________ _________________________________________

The Urban-Rural Connection  Whether people live in cities or countryside, people are dependent on resources produced by rural areas.  _________________________________: resources that are produced by natural and artificial ecosystems

Ecosystem Services  Area of rural land needed to support one person depends on many factors, _____________________ ____________________________________ ____________________________________  In the United States each person used the services for more than 12 hectacres

Ecosystem Services Examples Purification of air and water Preservation of soil and renewal of soil fertility Prevention of flood and drought Regulation of climate Maintenance of biodiversity Movement and cycling of nutrients Detoxification and decomposition of wastes Aesthetic beauty

Urbanization  ____________________________________ ____________________________________  In 1960, 70% was urban; by %; now ____________________________ is considered urban  Areas that have grown slowly are usually pleasant places to live because they can handle the growth

United States Population

The Urban Crisis  When cities grow too fast they often run into trouble  _________________________________________ _________________________________________  Infrastructure: roads, sewers, railroads, bridges, canals, fire and police stations, schools, hospital, water mains and power lines  When more people live in an area the living conditions deteriorate.

Urban Sprawl  ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________  Building of suburbs  These people usually commute to work  Each year in the U.S. suburbs spread over another _______________________ _______________________

Development of Lands  __________________________: land poorly suited for building  Examples: L.A. and Mexico City  Cities were built with little room to grow, so they have to grow into surrounding mountains or slopes

Urban Planning  Land-Use Planning: _______________ ____________________________________ Land-Use Planning: Land-Use Planning:  For businesses, factories, recreation, shopping and other infrastructure  Many companies are required to give a detailed report of their plans, and the potential environmental impact of the project

GIS  ______________________ ______________________ ______________________  a computerized system for storing, manipulating and viewing geographic data

Transportation  Some cities were built after the invention of the car, so planning for such was not as hard  Many cities have to plan for mass transit systems  Save energy, reduce highway congestion, reduce air pollution and limit loss of land

Land Management & Conservation  Farmlands: ________________________ ____________________________________  The U.S. uses almost 100 million hectacres for prime farmland  _______________________________________ _______________________________________  Farmland Protection Program (1996)

Land Management & Conservation  _____________________: lands that support different vegetation types but are not used for farming or timber  Most common use is for _____________  The current world population growth may require a 40% increase in food production of rangeland from 1977 to 2030

Rangelands  Problems  _______________________________________ _______________________________________ (allowing more animals to graze in an area than the range can support)  Results in changes in the plant community, once all the plants are gone, there is nothing to keep the soil eroding

Rangelands  Maintaining the Range:  Sustaining productivity means reducing overgrazing by limiting herds to sizes that do not degrade the land.  _______________________________________ _______________________________________  Digging several water holes

Forest Lands  Trees are harvested for a variety of products  They are also important for ecosystem services, the most important removing CO 2 from the atmosphere

Forest Lands  Harvesting Trees  On average each person used 1,800cm 3 of wood per day (in the U.S. we use almost 4x that much)  A 30m (~90ft) tree each year  _______________________________________ ______________________ ______________________

Forest Lands  Classification of forest trees  Virgin  ___________________________________________  Native  ___________________________________________  Tree Farms  ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

Harvesting Trees  Clear-cutting  Removing all trees from an area of land  _______________________________________ _______________________________________  Selective cutting  Cutting and removing only middle aged or mature trees  _______________________________________

Clear Cutting

Selective Cutting

Deforestation  ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________  Due to population expansion and demands for timber  Reduces wildlife habitat, causes soil erosion  Rate is high in tropical rain forests Borneo deforestation

Reforestation  The process by which trees are planted to re-establish trees that have been cut down in a forest land  Some parts of the country require reforestation after timber has been harvested from public land  _______________________________________ _______________________________________

Parks and Reserves  _____________________________: an area in which the land and the ecosystems it supports are protected from all exploitation

Benefits of Protected Areas  ____________________________________ ____________________________________  Provide the only place where unspoiled forests, deserts, or prairies remain  Recreation, outdoor classrooms and research laboratories

_____________________________ __________________________  Litter and traffic in conservation areas  Industry built close  Climate change