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ENVB 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Soil Retrogression And Degradation, Gully, Downhill Creep

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amaranthjackal733

7 Feb 2018

School

McGill University

Department

Environmental Biology

Course

Professor

Caroline B Begg

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Document Summary

Soil degradation affects the soil in terms of crop growth, microbial population, water cycling and contamination. It contributes to reduced systems reduced land productivity + increased risk of flooding. If severely damaged, it is costly to reclaim the soil and sometimes even impossible (source of never ending cycles of problems for cultivators in poor regions: no money to improve the soil). However, a(cid:374)y loss of soil is u(cid:374)sustai(cid:374)able: the (cid:862)tolerable soil loss(cid:863) is (cid:374)ot appropriate to (cid:373)easure the damages. If degraded, the soil no longer provides a range of ecosystems. In the prairies, not a lot of till/plowing not a lot of soil loss. The more intense the rainstorm, the more water erodes the soil (high power of a single drop) Sheet erosion: uniform/thin layer of soil is removed on top. It is the richest part of the soil. Hard to identify this type of erosion. Rill erosion: small slope water concentrates in a few small channels to flow down.

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Related Questions

Question1.1. The cumulative amount ofresources an organism uses to survive is known as its ________.(Points : 1)

carbon footprint
ecologicalfootprint
biologicalfootprint
consumptionfootprint

Question2.2. The Conservation ReserveProgram pays farmers to ________. (Points : 1)

grow crops such as cornand beans
plant trees or grassesinstead of cultivating highly erodible cropland
install living plants aswindbreaks
allow animal populationsto naturally disperse over their property

Question3.3. The United States agencycharged with slowing soil degradation is the ________. (Points :1)

Soil AggregationService
Agricultural StandardsAgency
Conservation IntegrationService
Natural ResourceConservation Service (formerly the Soil Conservation Service)

Question4.4. In 1999, the richestone-fifth of the world's people possessed ________ times the incomeof the poorest one-fifth. (Points : 1)

Question5.5. Since the 1960s, themost-used fuel in the world is ________. (Points : 1)

coal
natural gas
oil
nuclear power

Question6.6. The majority of theworld's population survives on the equivalent of ________ U.S. perday. (Points : 1)

about $5
less than $2
about $1
exactly $0.50

Question7.7. Which of the following isa major pollutant of groundwater? (Points : 1)

Carbon
Igneous rock
Cover crops
Petroleum

Question8.8. The largest use of freshwater is for ________. (Points : 1)

drinking
washing and bathing
irrigation andagriculture
industry andmanufacturing

Question9.9. Data indicate thatpresent freshwater consumption in much of the world is ________.(Points : 1)

sustainable
unsustainable
not depleting groundwatersupply but is decreasing surface water storage
not effecting freshwatersupply in coastal areas but is causing shortages in inlandregions

Question10.10. Water that runs downsinks, showers, and bathtub drains, and that can be used withlittle or no treatment for irrigation and some industry is called________. (Points : 1)

loose water
runoff
gray water
fresh water

Question11.11. The age structure of apopulation ________. (Points : 1)

is based on the adjustedlifespan of a species
can be used to predictfuture dynamics of a population
is calculated based onthe number of individuals who survive puberty
is derived frompopulation growth rate

Question12.12. What percentage of thetotal water on Earth is fresh water? (Points : 1)

15%
10%
5%
2.5%

Question13.13. A coal mining processthat removes huge amounts of soil and rock in order to directlyaccess coal reserves is known as ________. (Points : 1)

strip mining
subsurface mining
surface mining
dynamite mining

Question14.14. The energy harnessed ina nuclear reactor is released from splitting ________. (Points :1)

molecules
atoms
protons
electrons

Question15.15. The main waste productfrom a nuclear power plant is ________. (Points : 1)

barrels of radioactiveliquid
uranium fuel rods
acid rain
invisible radioactivevapor

Question16.16. ________ can contributeto air pollution and the contamination of both surface water andgroundwater. (Points : 1)

Hydroponics
Greenhouse farmingoperations
Aquaculture
Concentrated animalfeeding operations

Question17.17. It is moreenergetically efficient to eat ________ than other food sources.(Points : 1)

primary producers
herbivores
carnivores
tertiary consumers

Question18.18. Life expectancies indeveloping countries, such as those in southern Africa, ________.(Points : 1)

are on the rise
are beginning tostabilize due to population control
have fallen dramaticallycompared to life expectancies of the 1950s
are equivalent to lifeexpectancies in developed countries, such as the United States andCanada

Question19.19. The loss of more than10% productivity in arid areas to erosion, soil compaction, forestremoval, and an array of other factors is called ________. (Points: 1)

weathering
leaching
desertification
salinization

Question20.20. All of the followingare examples of renewable energy sources except ________. (Points :1)

solar power
biodiesel
natural gas
wind power

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