1. Chapter 14
Land

2. Land Use and Land Cover Land use
Ex. Farming, mining, cities, highways, recreation
Land cover - different types of land cover depending on the use.

3. Land Use and Land Cover
Urban - Land covered mainly with buildings and roads
2,500 or more people and a governing body
Rural - Relatively few people and large areas of open space

4. Where We Live Until 1850 most people lived in rural areas
The industrial revolution changed this
Machinery on farms requires fewer people
Better transportation allowed manufacturers to be far from their customers
People moved to cities to find jobs
Urban areas grew rapidly during the 20th century.
Most people now live in urban areas.

6. Developed Countries: each person uses the ecosystem services provided by about 8 hectares (20 acres) of land and water.
US: each person uses 12 hectares (30 acres)
Germany: 6 hectares (15 acres)
Developing Countries: people may not have access to all the resources for a healthy life. They may use less than 1 hectare (2.5) per person.

8. Do Now: skip #2

9. The Urban-Rural Connection
People are dependent on resources produced in rural areas.
Ecosystem services - resources produced by natural and artificial ecosystems.

10. Supporting Urban Areas
The area of rural land needed to support one person depends on
Climate, standard of living, how efficiently resources are used
Each person in a developed country uses 8 hectares (20 acres) of ecosystem services
Each person in the United States uses more than 12 hectares of ecosystem services.
Most people in developing countries use less than a hectare of ecosystem services.
Lack access to resources for a healthy life.

11. Urbanization
Urbanization - movement of people from rural areas to cities.
Usually leave rural areas for better paying jobs

12. The Urban Crisis
Urban crisis - More people live in a city than its infrastructure can support
Infrastructure- all of the things that a society builds for public use
Ex. Roads, sewers, railroads, bridges, police, fire stations, power lines…..
Rapid urban growth leads to trouble
Overwhelm the infrastructure
Ex. Traffic jams, substandard housing, polluted air and water
Living conditions deteriorate

13. Urban Sprawl
Urban sprawl - rapid expansion of a city into the countryside around the city.
Results in the building of suburban communities (suburbs)
Most suburbs are built on land that was used for farming
Most Americans live in the suburbs
Each year suburbs spread over another million hectares (2.5 million acres)

15. Development on Marginal Lands
Marginal land - land that is poorly suited for building
Many cities were first built in areas where there was little room for expansion.
Suburbs were often built on marginal lands
Example: The suburbs of Los Angeles and Mexico City expanded into the surrounding mountains which are prone to mudslides

19. Other Impacts of Urbanization
Cities generate and trap more heat than the countryside.
Heat island - the increased temperature in the city.
Concrete retains more heat than vegetation.
Heat is generated by the infrastructure
Heat islands affect local weather patterns
Hot air rises and produces rain clouds.

22. Urban Planning - Intelligent Design
Land-use planning - determining in advance how land will be used
Planners use geographic information systems
Geographic information systems(GIS) - computerized system for storing, manipulating, and viewing geographic data.
The user enters information such as location of sewer lines, roads, houses and parks and then creates a map.
Allows the uses to display layers of information.

24. Urban Planning - Transportation
Many U.S. cities were constructed after the invention of the automobile and sprawl over large areas.
Difficult to get around without a car
Heavy traffic
Many cities in Europe were built before the invention of the automobile
Narrow, compact roads

25. Manhattan vs. Florence

26. Urban Planning - Transportation
Mass Transit systems were constructed.
Mass Transit - buses and trains move many people around the city.
Save energy
Reduce traffic
Reduce air pollution
Limit loss of land to roads and parking lots

28. Urban Planning - Open Space
Open space - land within urban areas that is set aside for scenic and recreational enjoyment.
Parks, public gardens, bicycle and hiking trails.
Greenbelts - open spaces left in their natural condition.
Many benefits
Absorb CO2, Produce O2, remove pollutants from the air, keep the city cooler, absorb rainwater, exercise and relaxation for urban residents.

30. Land Management and Conservation
The resources of more rural land are needed to support the growing population
Rural land categories
Farmland
Rangeland
Forest land
National and state parks
Wilderness
Rural land is important for their ecological services

31. Farmlands Farmland - land that is used to grow crops and fruit.
Farmland is threatened in many parts of the U.S. by land development

32. Rangelands
Rangeland-land that supports different vegetation types that is not used for farming.
Most commonly used for the grazing of livestock such as cattle, sheep and goat.
World population growth may require a 40% increase in rangeland food production by 2030.

34. Problems on the Range Much of the rangeland is degraded
Poor land management.
Overgrazing - more animals graze than the area can support.
Destroys the plant community
Less desirable plants repopulate the area
Most of the rangeland is owned by the federal government and leased to ranchers

35. Problems on the Range Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978
Intended to improve land management practices
Sustaining the productivity of rangelands
Limiting herd size
Leave the land unused for a period of time
Killing off invasive plants
Planting native vegetation
Fencing areas

36. Forest Lands Ecosystem services provided by the forest
Paper, wood, food, chemicals
Removal of CO2 is the most important
Worldwide 1,800 cm3 of wood used per person each day on average.
Each person in the U.S. uses three times this amount on average.
Equivalent to cutting down a 30m tall tree every year

37. Forest Lands - Timber Industry
Timber industry classifies forest into three categories
Virgin forest - forest which has never been cut
Native forest - forest that is planted and managed.
Tree farms - trees are planted in rows and harvested like other crops

38. Forest Lands - Timber Industry
Methods for harvesting trees
Clear cutting - removing all of the trees from an area of land
Destroys wildlife and causes soil erosion
Selective cutting - cutting an removing only middle aged or mature trees.
More expensive but less destructive

39. Clear-cutting

40. Selective cutting

41. Forest Lands - Deforestation
Deforestation - the clearing of trees from an area without replacing them.
As the population grows deforestation increases.
Increase in demand for forest products
Convert land into farmland
Space for roads, factories and building
Impacts
Reduces wildlife
Soil erosion
Depletion of natural resource

42. Forest Lands - Reforestation
90% of all timber comes from forests that are not monitored and managed by an agency.
Reforestation - process by which trees are planted to re-establish trees that have been cut down.
Replanting trees can reverse soil erosion
Some governments require replanting of areas after timber has been harvested

44. Parks and Preserves National parks protect land and wildlife
Yellowstone was the first national park created in the 1870s.
National parks are better protected than other public lands which can be leased and used for mining, ranching and logging.
Some public lands are used to protect wildlife or an endangered species.

46. Parks and Preserves
United Nation's Man and the Biosphere Program
Established several hundred preserves throughout the world.
Humans and wildlife are included in the plan and live side by side.
Called biosphere reserves

48. Parks and Reserves - Wilderness
Wilderness - area in which the land and the ecosystems it supports are protected from all exploitation.
U.S. Wilderness Act
Designated certain lands as wilderness areas
32 million acres have been designated wilderness in the U.S.
These areas are open to hiking, fishing, boating and camping
No motorized equipment is allowed,

50. Parks and Preserves - Benefits and Threats
Protects species
Protects habitats
Recreation and education for people
Threats
Litter and traffic jams
Climate change
Rangelands, mining, logging, oil and gas drilling, power plants are close enough to affect the parks.