3/26/12

Post date: Mar 26, 2012 5:36:53 PM

• • Bell Ringer (verbal): Why is it a problem that urban land use is increasing and rural land is decreasing?

  • Begin chapter 14, section 3 notes - Land management and conservation

    • As the human population grows, resources of more rural land are needed

    • Farmland

      • Threatened by expanding urban land

      • Farmland protection act - keeps certain areas of farmland from being paved over for urban areas

    • Rangeland

      • problems: overgrazing, erosion, invasion of undesirable plants

      • maintaining the range: limiting herd sizes, protecting areas to let plants regrow, killing invasive plants, planting native species, digging new watering holes so animals don't overgraze near a single water source

    • Forest lands

      • Harvesting trees

        • clear-cutting: cutting down all trees in an area to use for lumber, paper

        • selective-cutting: only cutting down older, mature trees

      • Deforestation: clearing of trees without replacing them

        • Done for more forest products, or so roads, homes, or farms can be placed there

        • Destroys ecosystems, leads to soil erosion

      • Reforestation: planting new trees in clear-cut forests or allowing them to grow without human intervention

    • Parks and preserves

      • biosphere reserves: areas set up by UN where human populations and wildlife live side by side

      • wilderness: areas in which the land and ecosystem it supports are protected from all exploitation

      • Benefits of protected areas

        • prevents some extinctions

        • provides recreation opportunities

        • provides research opportunities

      • Threats to protected areas: too many people in area leads to ...

        • traffic

        • noise

        • litter

        • general disturbance of many species in area