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2. Soil Science & Agriculture
AP Environmental Science
Review #7

3. What is agriculture?
The practice of raising crops and livestock for human consumption and use

4. Contrast rangelands and croplands.
On croplands, plants are grown. On rangelands, livestock is grown.

5. When did agriculture first arise?
10,000 years ago

6. What is soil composed of?
Disintegrated rock, organic matter, gases, water, microorganisms, and nutrients

7. What is meant by “sustainable agriculture”?
Employing agricultural practices that will allow crops or livestock to continue to be grown for many years into the future

8. Contrast traditional agriculture with industrial agriculture.
Traditional agriculture uses human and animal muscle power to accomplish tasks, while industrial agriculture uses machines powered by fossil fuels, artificial fertilizers, and large-scale irrigation.

9. What is subsistence agriculture?
When families only produce enough food for themselves; this is the oldest tradition of agriculture

10. Provide pros and cons of traditional agriculture.
Pros: Less carbon emissions (no large machines), less soil pollution (no artificial fertilizer or pesticides)
Cons: Takes more time; lower crop yields; requires more workers, less profit

11. Provide pros and cons of industrial agriculture.
Pros: bigger crop yields, less workers need to be employed, more profit
Cons: more carbon emissions from the machinery, more soil and water pollution due to artificial fertilizers and pesticides

12. Explain the difference between monocultures and polycultures.
Monocultures are single crops planted in a uniform pattern. Polycultures are many different crops grown in an area together.

13. Provide a benefit of planting polycultures.
Greater soil fertility (always organic matter in the soil), less erosion (if you are removing crops at different times of year, there will always be some roots in the ground to compact the soil)

14. Describe the Green Revolution.
Introduced new technology, crop varieties, and farming practices to the developing world
Began around the 1950s

15. What is parent material?
The base geological material in the location; weathering breaks this material down into soil

16. Determine the soil horizon layer
Unweathered parent material
R horizon
Loose and partly decayed organic matter
O horizon
Zone of eluviation and leaching
E horizon

17. Determine the soil horizon layer
Mineral matter with mixed with some humus
A horizon
Accumulation of clay, iron, and aluminum from above
B horizon
Partially altered parent material
C horizon

18. What is bedrock?
The mass of solid rock that makes up Earth’s crust

19. What is humus, and what processes produce this soil component?
A dark, crumbly, spongy mass of material with organic material
Made by the decomposition of dead organisms by bacteria, fungi, and other decomposers

20. What five factors influence soil formation?
Climate, organisms, topography, parent material, and time

21. Why is fertile soil sometimes considered a nonrenewable resource?
One inch of fertile soil can hundreds or thousands or years to form; if we do not take measures to prevent erosion and decrease soil pollution, usable soil for agriculture may be scarce

22. List the soil horizon layers in order of deepest to topmost.
R (bedrock), C (parent material), B (subsoil), E (eluviated horizon), A (topsoil), and O (organic humus)

23. Define leaching.
The process whereby suspended or dissolved solid particles are transported to another location in the soil

24. Provide four characteristics soil scientists (pedologists) use to classify soil.
Color, texture, structure, and pH

25. List the three types of major soil particles in order of smallest to largest.
Clay (particles are less than mm in diameter), Silt (particles are between mm mm in diameter), and Sand (particles between 0.05 mm-2mm)

26. True/False Light yellow soil is very fertile.
False; dark brown/black soil is the color of fertile soil
Loam is very fertile.
True

27. How does soil pH relate to plant growth?
Each plant has a different soil pH they grow best in. Most plants do best in soil with a medium pH (not too acidic and not too alkaline)

28. What does the cation exchange capacity of soil express?
The ability of the soil to hold cations and prevent them from leaching
If soil has a high cation exchange capacity it will be fertile, because these cations are available to plants

29. What is soil degradation?
The decline of soil fertility and productivity due to erosion

30. How are erosion and deposition related?
Erosion is the movement of soil and rock from one place to another, usually by wind or wave action. Deposition occurs when eroded material lands in a new location.

31. Describe three ways humans have made soil more vulnerable to erosion.
Overcultivating fields (excessive tilling), grazing land with too many livestock, cutting down forests on steep slopes

32. What factors can lead to desertification?
Soil erosion, soil compaction, overgrazing, drought, forest removal, climate change, and salinization

33. How were farming practices related to the Dust Bowl?
Overcultivation (and tilling) of the Great Plains during the 1930 combined with a drought to cause major dust storms and losses of fertile soil.

34. What is the role of conservation districts?
These are legal subdivisions of state government which carry out state laws and programs related to conservation of soil and water.

35. Name the Farming Practice
Alternates the kind of crop grown in a field from one season or year to the next
Crop rotation
Plowing across a hillside and following the natural topography of the land
Contour farming

36. Name the Farming Practice
Reduces soil and water erosion by transforming slopes into a series of cultivated steps
Terracing
Planting different types of crops in alternating bands
Intercropping

37. Name the Farming Practice
Rows of trees or shrubs are planted around a farm to reduce wind and soil erosion
Shelterbelt approach

38. Provide some benefits of no-till farming.
Increases organic matter (and thus fertility) of soil, reduces soil erosion, organic matter captures carbon from the atmosphere, less tractor use (and thus cheaper fuel costs and less CO2 emissions)

39. Provide some arguments against no-till farming.
Often requires large amounts of herbicide to kill the weeds left in the fields and large amounts of synthetic fertilizer because non-crop plants use up soil nutrients

40. What is green manure?
Dead plant material that can be added to croplands as fertilizer

41. What are some cons of artificial irrigation?
Overwatering can lead to plant suffocation (waterlogging), salinization (the buildup of salts on soil surfaces), and the waste of freshwater

42. Nitrogen and phosphorous
Which two elements do artificial (inorganic) fertilizers most frequently supplement?
Nitrogen and phosphorous

43. What materials might be included in organic fertilizer?
Animal manure, crop residue, vegetation, and compost

44. How are fertilizers and eutrophication related?
After it rains, fertilizer can get into runoff and eventually enter a waterway. The increase of nutrients in the water leads to algal blooms. As these algal blooms decay, oxygen is required. This can lead to hypoxia (lack of oxygen), and organism death.

45. Name the Governmental Program
Provides payments to landowners who protect or restore wetlands on their property
Wetlands Reserve Program
Pays farmers to stop cultivated damaged or eroded soil
Conservation Reserve Program