ANTH 266 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Dust Bowl, Keystone Species, Homestead Acts
28 Mar 2019
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Document Summary
The great plains as a social-ecological system. Native plants on great plains had deep roots and could hold soil and reach water. Prairie dogs: keystone species by providing home to many animals with digging up holes) Bison: keystone species by churning up soil at the top and aerating soil. Homestead act of 1862 provided 165 acres to anyone after the civil war that were promised to farm and actually live on the property. Immigrants would come in from europe to farm, since they didn"t have any in. Increasing mechanization allowed people to plow up land. Soil degradation: affected 40 million hectares in the us. Erosion: removal of vegetation and plowing up the area. Dust storms: affected people who had to breath the dirt. False advertising by real estate developers at ag potential. Increased demand for wheat and above average precipitation in the 1920s.
