Unit 5

5.1 The Tragedy of the Commons

5.2 Clearcutting
5.3 The Green Revolution
5.4 Impacts of Agricultural Practices
5.5 Irrigation Methods
5.6 Pest Control Methods
5.7 Meat Production Methods
5.8 Impacts of Overfishing
5.9 Impacts of Mining
5.10 Impacts of Urbanization
5.11 Ecological Footprints
5.12 Introduction to Sustainability
5.13 Methods to Reduce Urban Runoff
5.14 Integrated Pest Management
5.15 Sustainable Agriculture
5.16 Aquaculture
5.17 Sustainable Forestry

5.1 Tragedy of the Commons

Tradegy of the Commons

Individuals will use shared/public resource in their own self interest, degrading
them

● Must be a shared or public resource (not privately owned)

● Unregulated
● Overused/exploited in some way

Examples

● Overgrazing
● Overfishing
 ● Water & air pollution
● Overuse of groundwater

Causes

● When no one owns the resource (land, water, air) no one directly suffers the
negative consequences of depleting, degrading, or overusing it
● People assume others will overuse the resource if they don’t
● There is no penalty for overusing, degrading, polluting many public resources

Effects

● Overfishing can lead to fishery collapse (population crash) loss of income &
starvation
● Air pollution from coal power plants can lead to asthma, bronchitis, increased
healthcare costs
● Pesticide runoff from farms contaminates drinking water

Externalities: negative costs associated with a human actions, that aren’t

accounted in the price (unintended side-effects)

Solutions

● Private land land ownership (individual or gov.)

● Fees or taxes for use
○ Ex: permit for grazing, logging
● Taxes, fines, criminal charges for pollution of shared air/soil/water resources
○ Examples
■ Clean air act
■ Clean water act
■ Safe drinking water act
■ BLM (Bureau of land management
■ Manages rangelands in western US by collecting grazing
fees from ranchers, evaluating land, and repairing effects of
overgrazing
5.2
Direct Effects of Clearcutting
Soil Erosion:

● Caused by loss of stabilizing root structure

● Removes soil organic matter & nutrients from
● forest
● Deposits sediments in local streams
○ warms water & makes it more turbid (cloudy)

Increased soil & stream temperature:

● Loss of tree shade increases soil temperature

○ Soil has lower albedo than leaves of trees
● Loss of tree shade along rivers & streams warms them
○ Erosion of sediments into rivers also warms them

Flooding and landslides:

● Logging machinery compacts soil

● Increased sunlight dries out soil
● Loss of root structure = erosion of topsoil & O horizon
○ All of these factors decrease H2O holding capacity of soil causing flooding &
landslides

Tree Plantations
Areas where the same tree species are repeatedly planted, grown, and harvested
Lowers Biodiversity

● Biodiverse, mature forests are replaced with single species forests

● Less species diversity = lower resilience
● Less habitat diversity for other org.
All the Same Age

● All trees planted at the same time = all the same age
● Lowers biodiversity further (no dead trees for woodpeckers, insects, and decomposers)

Forest Benefits
Filtering of Air Pollutants
Stomata (leaf pores) remove VOCs, NO2, PM from air & store in tree
Removal and Storage of CO2 from the atmosphere
Trees take in CO2, store carbon as sugar, wood, other tissue & release O2
Habitats for Organisms
Many organisms live in forests (biodiv, ecotourism)
Deforestation Consequences

● Reduces air filtering and carbon storing services

● Cutting trees down releases CO2 from decomposition of leftover organic material
● Slash and Burn- method of clearing land for agriculture by cutting trees & burning them
releases CO2, N2O, and water vapor, all GHGs, into the atmosphere

Clearcutting:
Problems:
Erosion leading to increased sediment load in nearby rivers.
Habitat destruction leading to loss of biodiversity
Loss of aesthetic value
New growth will take a very long time.

5.3 - The Green Revolution

Shift in agriculture away from small, family operated farms to large, industrial scale
agribusiness.

● Increased use of mechanization, GMOs, irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides

● Greatly increases of lands, short-term profitability, and food supply (+)
● Decreased world hunger and increased earth’s carrying capacity for humans (+)
● Bring neg. Consequences (soil erosion, biodiversity loss, ground & surface water
contamination) (-)

Mechanization
Increased use of tractors for plowing and tilling fields, and combined for harvesting =
increased yield + profits
Increases reliance on fossil fuels (gasoline/diesel fuel)
- Emits co2 to atmosphere -> climate change
Heavy machinery also compact soil, decreasing H2O holding capacity
- Makes topsoil more prone to erosion
GMOs
+ Genetically modified crops have genes for drought tolerance, pest resistance, faster
growth, and larger fruit/grain
+ Increases profitability with fewer plants lost to drought, disease, or pests + larger plant
size + yield/acre
- GMO crops are all genetically identical so gen. diversity is decreased and susceptibility
to diseases or pest is increased
Ex: Bt corn has been modified with a gene from soil bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis) to
produce a protein that kills many different corn pests
Synthetic Fertilizer

● Shift from organic fertilizers (like manure and compost) to synthetic fertilizers (man made
ammonium, nitrate, phosphate)
● Increases yield and profits with more key nutrients needed for plant growth (N, P, K)
added to the soil
● Excess nitrate, phosphate are washed off fields and into nearby waters where they
cause eutrophication (algae blooms)
● Require FFs for production, releasing CO2 (climate change)

Irrigation

● Drawing water from the ground or nearby surface waters and distributing it on fields to
increase plant growth
● Make agriculture possible in many parts of the world that are naturally too dry (don’t
receive enough rain)
● Can deplete groundwater sources, especially aquifers
● Over watering can drown roots (no O2 access) and cause soil salinization (increase salt
level in soil)

Pesticides

● Increase in use of synthetic pesticides - chemicals sprayed on crops that kill weeds,
insects, rodents and other pests that eat or damage crops
● Increases yield and profits with fewer plants lost to pests
● Can wash off crops in runoff and kill or harm non-target species in local soil or waters
(bees especially)
● Ex: DDT thinned shells of bird eggs, especially eagles Atrazine turns amphibians and
fish intersex

5.4 - Damaging agriculture techniques

Monocropping/Monoculture

● Growing one single species (corn, wheat, soy) of crop

○ Highly efficient for harvest, pesticide and fertilizer application
● Greatly decreases biodiversity (more prone to pests, fewer nat. predators)
● Increases erosion (crops harvested all at once & soil left bare)
● Decreases habitat for species living in the area

Tilling

● Mixing and breaking up soil to make planting easier

○ Also loosens for roots
● Erosion by loosening topsoil, breaking up leftover root structure from harvest
● loss of organic matter and topsoil over time
● Increased PM in air (resp. irr) and sediments in nearby water (turbidity)

Slash & Burn

● Cutting down vegetation and burning it to clear land for agr. & return nutrients in plants to
soil
● Deforestation
○ Loss of: habitat, biodiv, CO2 sequestration (storage), loss of air pollution filtration
● Releases CO2, CO, N2O that lead to global warming
● Increases PM in air (asthma)
● Lowers albedo, making area warmer

Synthetic (inorganic) Fertilizers

● Don’t return organic materials to soil; no soil decomposers. & no soil increased h2O
● Leaching: water carries excess nutrients (nitrates & phosphates) into groundwater or into
Surface waters waters (as runoff)
● Contaminants groundwater for drinking
● Causes eutrophication of surface waters
5.5 - Types of Irrigation

Furrow Irrigation

● Trench dug along crops & filled with water

● Easy & inexpensive; water seeps into soil slowly
● ~66% efficient, 33% lost to runoff & evap.

Flood Irrigation

● Floods entire field; easier but more disruptive to plants

● Can waterlog the soil & drown plants
● 80% efficient - 20% runoff/evap.

Drop Irrigation

● Most efficient, but also most costly

● Over 95% efficient
● Holes in hose allow water to slowly drop out
● Avoids waterlogging & water logging & conserves waters

Spray Irrigation

● Ground or surface water pumped into spray nozzles

● More efficient (less water loss) than flood or furrow
● More expensive (requires energy for pumps & movement of sprinklers

Problem - Waterlogging

● Overwatering can saturate the soil, filling all soil pore space with water
● Doesn’t allow air into pores, so roots can’t take in O2 they need
● Can stunt growth or kill crops
● Solution: drip irrigation, or soil aeration - poking holes or cores in soil to allow air in &
water to drain through soil

Photo
Problem - Soil Salinization

● Salinization is the process of salt building up in a soil over time

● Groundwater used for irrigation naturally has small amounts of salt
○ Water evaporates, and salt is left behind in soil. Over time, it can reach toxic
levels, dehydrating plant roots & preventing growth
● Solution: drip irrigation, soil aeration, flushing with fresh water, switching to freshwater
sources such as rainwater.
Global Human Water Use
Industrial: power plants, metal/plastic manufacturing
Municipal: households (toilet, shower, drinking water)
Agriculture: water for livestock, irrigation water for crops
Aquifers & Groundwater

● Groundwater: H2O stored in pore space of permeable rock & sediment layers
● Aquifers useable groundwater deposits for humans
● Replenished by groundwater recharge (rain water percolating down through soil into
aquifer)
● Unconfined aquifers recharge quickly
● Confined aquifers recharge are longer-term water deposits that recharge more slowly

Depletion of Aquifers

● Saltwater Intrusion: excessive pumping near coast lowers water table pressure, allowing
saltwater to seep into groundwater
● Cones of Depression: forms when the water table is lowered by excess plumbing,
depleting water & drying nearby wells.
5.6 - Pest Control
Pesticides

● Chemicals that are toxic to pests

○ Rodenticides kill rodents
○ Fungicides kill fungi
○ Insecticides kill insects
○ Herbicides kill plants
● Can cause pests to become resistant to pesticide with overuse
○ Genetic biodiversity gives some pests resistant traits to pesticide
○ Pesticide artificially for pests with resistance by killing all the non-resistant
individuals, leaving only resistant one
○ pesticide treadmill - the never ending cycle of developing new pesticides as pests
grow resistant\

GMOs (Genetic Modification)

● Ex: gene for pest resistant trait is added to the plant through genetic modification
○ Bt Corn with bacterial gene that produces Bt crystals toxic to pests
○ Roundup Ready Crops are GM to be resistant to broad herbicide (Roundup)
meaning roundup will kill weeds, but not crops

GMOs & Pesticide Use

● Roundup Ready crops have increased herbicide (glyphosate) use since crops can’t be
harmed by it
● BT corn has decreased insecticide use, since the corn makes it own.

GMOs & Genetic Diversity

● GM crops are all genetically identical (clones) so there is no genetic diversity in the pop.
 ● If there is disease or pest that does affect the GM crops, they’re all vulnerable and
there’s no chance of a genetic mutation providing an adaptive trait

5.7
CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation)

● Also called feedlots - densely crowded method where animals are fed grain (corn) to
raise them to as quickly as possible
● Maximizes land use and profit (most meat production per/unit of area)
○ Minimizes cost of meat for consumers
● Given antibiotics & growth hormones to prevent disease outbreak & speed meat
production
● Animals produce large volume of waste which can contaminate nearby surface or
groundwater
● Produces large amounts of CO2, CH4 (methane), and N2O (nitrous oxide) (greenhouse
gasses -> climate change)

Manure Lagoons

● Large, open storage pits for animal waste (manure)

● Waste contains: ammonia (NH3), hormones, antibiotics, fecal coli form bacteria (e. coli)
○ e. Coli is toxic to human
○ Ammonia (NH4) causes eutrophication
○ Antibiotics & growth hormones alter endocrine system of humans
● Heavy rain can flood lagoons & contaminate nearby surface and groundwater with runoff
● Denitrification of ammonia in manure produces N2O (extremely powerful GFG)
● Can be emptied and buried in landfills, or turned into fertilizer pellets

Free Range Grazing

● Animals (usually cows) graze on grass & grow at a natural rate without growth hormones
● No need for antibiotics with dispersed pop.
● Doesn’t require production of corn to feed animals
● Waste is dispersed over land naturally, acting as
● Water is dispersed naturally instead of building up in lagoons
● Requires more total land use per pound of meat produced
○ More expensive to consumer
● Animals can graze on land too dry for most crop growth

Overgrazing

● Too many animals grazing an area of land can remove all vegetation (grass) which leads
to topsoil erosion
● Animals also compact soil, decreasing h2o holding capacity → more erosion
 ● Desertification can occur if plants are killed by overgrazing & soil is compacted so much
that it can’t hold enough water anymore
● Rotational grazing (moving animals periodically) can prevent overgrazing
● Can even increase of grass by distributing manure (natural fertilizer) & clipping graze to
size where growth is most rapid

Inefficiency of Meat
Producing meat for humans to eat is far less efficient than producing plants in terms of
energy, land and water use
Energy: all of the energy needed to plant, growth, harvest plants to feed to animals
PLUS:

● Energy needed to bring water to animals

● Energy needed to house animals
● Energy needed to slaughter and package

Land: all of the energy needed to grow plants to feed animals PLUS room the animals take up
Water: all of the water for crops that animals eat PLUS the water the animals drink

5.8 - Fisheries & Fishery Collapse

Fisheries: populations of fish used for commercial fishing
Fishery Collapse: when overfishing causes 90% population decline in a fishery
Pop. May never recovery from fishery collapse due to: decreased biodiversity, inability to find
mate, inbreeding depression

● Decreases genetic biodiversity of fish populations & species biodiversity of of ocean

ecosystems if species are lost from ecosystem
● Economic consequences: lost income for fishermen, lost tourism for communities

Economic Impact
Overfishing in period of 1975 - 1985 leads to sharp loss of profits from 1985 - 2018
Tragedy of the Commons: no incentive or penalty to prevent overfishing from 75’ - 85’

Bottom Trawling: Especially harmful fishing method that involves dragging a large net along
ocean floor

● Bycatch: unintended speeches like dolphins, whales, turtles caught in nets

- Stirs up ocean sediment (turbidity) & destroys coral reef structures
- Decreases biodiveristy by killing non-target species & removing coral reef habitat
Purse Seining & Drift Netting: large amounts of bycatch (dolphins, turtles, nontarget fish). Often
lethal to bycatch. Drift Netting is banned in international waters.
Longlining: bycatch is common and includes sea birds that get caught on the hooks while trying
to eat the bait. Flagging lines has had some impact on scaring birds away.
Fishing Down the Food Web & Trophic Cascade
- As we deplete large, predatory fisheries, we move down to smaller fish species
- Depletion of smaller fish population limits fishery recovery and decreases food supply of
marine mammals & seabirds
Solutions
1. TED (Turtle Exclusion Device)
2. Licenses
3. Limits on size / number

5.9 Mining

Mining Basics

● Ore: commercially valuable deposits of concentrated minerals that can be harvested and
used as raw materials
● Metals: elements that conduct electricity, heat, and have structural properties for building
(found within ores)
● Reserve: The known amount of a resource left that can be mined.
Usually measured in years left of extraction.
● Overburden: Soil, vegetation, & rocks that are removed to get to an ore deposit below
● Tailings & slag: leftover waste material separated from the valuable metal or mineral
within ore (often stored in ponds at mine site)

Surface Mining
 ● Removal of overburden to access ore near surface
● Different types: open pit, strip, mountaintop removal, placer
○ Mountaintop removal is especially damaging to landscape & habitats, streams
nearby
● Negative:
○ Mnt. top removal = esp. damaging to landscape & habitats, streams nearby
■ Topsoil erosion
■ Habitat loss
■ Increased stream turbidity
■ Increase PM in air
● As ore near surface becomes more scarce, mining moves deeper underground to
subsurface mining (more dangerous & expensive)

Subsurface Mining
 ● More expensive due to higher insurance & health care costs for workers
● Risks: poor ventilation leading to toxic gas exposure, mine shaft collapse, injury from
falling rock, lung cancer, asbestos, fires, explosions
● Vertical “shaft” drilled down into ground
○ Elevator to carry down workers & transport out resource
○ Often used for coal
● Increasingly used as surface coal deposits are depleted

Environmental Impacts of Mining

 ● Rainwater carrier sulfuric acid into nearby streams, or infiltrates ground water
● Lowers pH of water, making toxic metals like mercury & aluminum more soluble in water
sources (killing aquatic organisms)
● Methane Release: Coal mining releases methane gas (CH4) from rock around coal
○ Vented out of mine to prevent explosion & continues seeping out after mine
closes
○ GHG → climate change
● PM Release: Coal mining especially, releases lots of soot and other particulates that can
irritate human & animal lung
● Acid mine drainage: rainwater leaks into abandoned mine tunnels & mixes with pyrite,
forming sulfuric acid
● Negative:
○ Topsoil erosion
○ Habitat loss
○ Increased stream turb.

Mine Reclamation

● Process of restoring land to original state after mining has finished

○ Filling of empty mine shafts/hole
○ Restoring original contours of land
○ Returning topsoil, with acids, metals, and tailings removed
○ Replanting of native plants to restore community to as close to original state as
possible
Urbanization
5.10
Removing of vegetation to convert natural landscape to city (urban)
Replaces soil, vegetation, wetlands , with impervious surfaces (concrete, asphalt, cement)
which don’t allow water to seep into the ground
CO2 emissions:

● Cement production
● Construction machinery
● Deforestation (loss of future carbon sequestration + decomposition of cut trees)
● Landfills needed for disposing trash from a large pop.

Urbanization prevents groundwater recharge, causing precipitation to runoff into local bodies of
water

Population growth in coastal cities can lead to saltwater intrusion due to:
Excessive groundwater withdrawal near coast lowering water table pressure, allowing saltwater
to seep into groundwater.
Sea level rises due to warming of ocean (thermal expansion) and melting of ice caps (increasing
ocean volume) can contaminate fresh groundwater with salt

Population movement out of dense, urban centers to less dense suburban areas surrounding
the city

Causes:

● Cheaper in suburbs than in cities (larger home for same price)

● Cars make it easy to still get from the suburbs into the city for work, entertainment,
cultural attractions
● Domino Effect (neighbors leave, so you leave)
● Fewer residents in cities leads to decline in rescue for city (decrease in city services)
● Residents leave, so businesses follow
● Abandoned homes + businesses create blight (unsightly, rundown infrastructure) so
more people leave
● Expanded highway system makes travel easier and increases driving
● Increase in driving fuel revenue, which is used to build more highways
● Highway expansion makes it easier and easier to commute from suburbs into urban areas
+ Urban Growth Boundaries: zoning laws set by cities preventing development beyond a
certain boundary
+ Public transport & walkable city design that attract residents to stay
+ Mixed Land Use: residential, business, and entertainment buildings all located in the
same area of a city
+ Enables walkability & sense of place

5.11 Ecological Footprint

 Ecological Footprint: measures how much a person/group consumes,
expressed in an amount of land
Factors (Land required for):

● Food production
● Raw materials (wood, metal, plastic)
● Housing
● Electricity production
○ Coal, Natural gas, solar, wind, etc.
● Disposing waste produced (landfill space)

Ecological vs Carbon Footprint:

Ecological Footprint: Measured in land (gha - global hectare) which is a biologically

productive hectare (2.47 acres)
Carbon Footprint: Measured in tons of CO2 produced per year

● All CO2 released from an individual or groups consumption & activities

● Material goods
● Food productions
● Energy use (gasoline, heat, electricity)

Things that Affect Your Footprints

Increase

● Wealth
○ Larger houses
○ More travel
○ More resources needed for material goods
● Meat consumption - more land, water, and energy
● Fossil fuel usage

Decrease

● Renewable energy use (wind/solar/hydroelectric)

● Public transport
● Plant-based diet
● Less consumption, less travel, less energy use
Ecological footprint can also be expressed in “number of earth” required if the entire
world consumed the same level of resources as a given individual or group

● Current average US footprint is 5.1

○ 5.1 earth’s worth of resources needed if the entire world consumed
resources of avg. American
● Current global footprint is 1.85 earths
○ Meaning each year humanity consumes 1.85 x what the Earth

can produce in a year

5.12 Sustainability

Sustainability: Consuming a resource in a way that does not deplete or degrade it for
future generations.
Ex: using compost (renewable) over synthetic fertilizer (fossil fuel dependent)

Maximum Sustainable Yield

The maximum amount of a renewable resource that can be harvested without
reducing or depleting the resource for future use
Roughly ½ the carrying capacity. Maximizes yield (resource harvest) and
regeneration rate of population
Indicators of Sustainability: Factors that help us determine the health of the environment
and guide us towards sustainable use of earth’s resources

Biodiversity
● Genetic, species, ecosystem
● Higher biodiversity = healthier ecosystems
● Declining biodiv. can indicate pollution, habitat destruction, climate change
● Global extinction rate = strong env. indicator since species dying off decreases
species numbers of earth

Food Production
● Indicates ability of earth’s soil, water, and climate to support agriculture
● Major threats to food prod. = Climate change, soil degradation (desertification,
topsoil erosion), groundwater depletion .
● Increasing meat consumption = further strain on food prod. (takes away water
and land from grain production)
Global grain production per capita has leveled off & shown signs of decline recently

Atmospheric Temperatues and CO2

● Life on earth depends on very very narrow temperature ranges
● CO2 is a greenhouse gas (GHG) (traps infrared radiation & warms earth’s atm.)
○ Increased CO2 = increased temp
● Deforestation (loss of CO2 sequestration) & combustion of FF (emission of CO2)
increase atm. CO2
● Increasing CO2 = unsustainable (Dries out arable/farmable land, destroys
habitats, worsens storm intensity)
Human Population and Resource Depletion

● As human pop. grows, resource depletion grows

 ● Resources are harvested unsustainably from natural ecosystems & degrade
ecosystem health
● More paper (lumber) = deforestation
● More food = soil erosion, deforestation, habitat destruction
● More travel = FF mining = habitat destruction

5.13 - Reducing Urban Runoff

Environmental Consequences of Urban Runoff

 ● Decreased infiltration (groundwater recharge)
● Rain washes pollutants into storm drains & into local surface waters
○ Pollutants and effects:
■ Salt (plant and insect death)
■ Sediment (turbidity)
■ Fertilizer (eutrophication)
■ Pesticides (kill non target species)
■ Oil and gasoline (suffocate fish/kill aquatic insects)

Solution: Permeable Pavement

 ● Specially designed to allow stormwater to infiltrate & recharge ground water
● Decreases runoff, decreasing pollutants carried into storm drains & into local surface
water
● Decreases likelihood of flooding during heavy rainfall
● Negative:
○ More costly than traditional pavement

Solution: Rain garden

 ● Gardens planted in urban areas, especially surrounding a storm drain
● Decreases runoff by allowing it to soak into garden soil surrounding storm drain
● Decreases likelihood of flooding during heavy rainfall

Solution: Public Transit

● More cars on the road = more pollutants on streets to runoff into storm drains & local
waters
○ Motor oil
○ Tire pieces
○ Gasoline
○ Antifreeze
● More cars = more lanes & parking lots (impervious surfaces) & more stormwater runoff
● Public transit decreases urban runoff, pollutants on road, CO2 emissions & even traffic!
Solution: Building up, not out

● Building vertically decreases impervious surfaces (decreasing urban runoff)

● Can be combined with “green roof” or rooftop gardens to further decrease runoff
● Green roof also sequesters CO2 and filters air pollutants out
○ Plants absorb NO2, PM and other pollutants into stomata and store in tissue or
soil

5.14 - Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

IPM Basics

● Using a variety of pest control methods that minimize env. Impact and pesticide use
 ○ Researching & Montaigne pests and targeting methods to target specific pest life
cycles

Biocontrol

● Introducing a natural predator, parasite, or competitor to control the pest population

● Can include actually purchasing & spreading the control organisms in fields, or building
homes for them/planting habitat they need to attract them naturally
○ Ladybugs for aphids
○ Aphids for many pest insects
○ Parasitic wasps for caterpillars

Crop Rotation
Many pests prefer one specific crop or crop family. They lay eggs, so when larvae hatch,
they have a preferred food source.

● Rotating (planting a different crop each season) can prevent pests from becoming
established since it disrupts their preferred food choice
● Also disrupts weed growth since diff. crops can be planted at different times, preventing
bare soil from being taken over by weeds

Intercropping
“Push-pull” system can be used

● “Push” plants emit volatile chemicals that naturally repel pests away from crops
● “Pull” plants emit chemicals that attract moths to lay eggs in them, instead of the crops
○ Can provide habitat, or “pull” plants that emit chemicals that attract natural pest
predators.

Benefits & Drawbacks of IPM

Benefits

● Reduces death and mutation of non-target species

● Reduces effects on humans
● Reduces containment of surface and groundwater

Drawbacks

● Can be more time consuming

● Can be more costly
5.15 - Soil Conservation
Soil Conservation
Agricultural techniques that minimize erosion (US is losing topsoil to erosion 10x faster
than it forms) Prevents loss of:
+ nutrients in topsoil
+ Soil moisture
+ decomposers in topsoil
+ organic matter that traps soil moisture
Contour Plowing

● Plowing parallel of the land instead of down slopes prevents water runoff and erosion
○ Forms mini terraces that catch running off, conserving soil and water

Terracing

● Cutting “platforms” into a steep slope

○ Flatness of terraces catches & prevents it from becoming runoff and eroding soil

Perennial Crops

● Crops that live year round and are harvested numerous times
○ Longer, more established roots & prevention of bare soil between harvest

Windbreaks
Using trees or other plants to block the force of win from eroding topsoil
Can be used as a source of firewood, fruit (income)
Can provide habitat & other species
No Till
Leaving leftover crop in soil instead of tilling under.
Adds organic matter to soil (nutrients, soil cover, moisture) Prevents erosion from from
loosened soil
Strip Cropping

● Another name for intercropping

● Alternating rows of dense crops (hay, wheat) with rows of less dense crops (corn, soy,
cotton) to prevent runoff from eroding soil from less dense rows of crops

Methods of restoring nutrient levels in the soil (N, P, Ca, Mg)

Crop rotation

● Replanting same crops continuously continuously depletes soil of the same nutrients
● Crop rotation can allow soil to recover from nitrogen-demanding crops like corn
 ● Peas/beans have nitrogen fixing bacteria in their root nodules that can return nitrogen to
the soil

Green Manure

● Green manure is leftover plant matter from a cover crop - a crop planted in the
offseason, between harvest & replanting of main crop
● Cover crop roots stabilizes soil, limiting topsoil erosion
● Remains of cover crops (green manure) left on field breakdown to release nutrients into
the soil

Limestone

● Limestone releases calcium carbonate (base) which neutralizes acidic soil

● Acidic soil has high H+ concentration, which displaces + charge from soil (leaching them
out)
● Acidic soil also makes toxic metals (leeching them out) in soil
● Calcium is a needed plant nutrient as well

Rotational Grazing

● Regular rotation of livestock to different pastures to prevent overgrazing

● Overgrazing can kill plants, compact soil, and lead to erosion of topsoil
● Rotational grazing can actually promote pastoral growth at faster than normal rate
● Clips grass back to length where growth is fastest & encourages deepest root growth

5.16 Aquaculture Benefits

Aquaculture - Raising fish, or other aquatic species in cages/enclosures underwater
+ Requires only a small amount of water, space, and fuel.
+ Reduces risk of fishery collapse (90% population decline in a fishery)
+ Doesn’t take up any landscape space (compared to beef, pork, chicken)
Aquaculture Drawbacks
- High density produces high concentration of waste (e. Coli & eutrophication risks)
- High density increases disease risk, which can be transmitted to wild populations as
well
- May introduce non-native or GMOs to local ecosystem if captive fish escape
- Fish are fed antibiotics which can contaminate water via their waste.
5.17 - Sustainable Forestry
Ecologically Sustainable Forestry
● Forestry (using trees for lumber) that minimizes damage to ecosystem (habitat
destruction, soil erosion, etc)
● Selective cutting or strip cutting
○ Only cutting some of the trees in an area (biggest & oldest) to preserve habitat
biodiversity and topsoil
● Using human & pack animal labor to minimize soil compaction from machinery
● Replanting the same species being logged
● Maximizes long-term productivity of land & preserves forest for future generations
●
Sustainable Forestry Practices
● Using recycled wood, or simply reusing without recycling (furniture, decoration)
● Wood can be chipped and used as mulch for gardens or agricultural fields
● Reforestation: replanting of trees in areas that have been deforested
● Selectively removing diseased trees to prevent spread of infection through entire forest
○ Removes host for disease
○ Decreases density, making spread less likely

Fire Suppression
Stopping Natural Fires
Fire suppression is the practice of putting out all natural forest fires as soon as they start
Leads to more biomass buildup
Putting out fires immediately leads to more dry biomass buildup. Makes future fires
worse.
Monitoring Instead
Close monitoring can prevent fire damage & more damaging fires in the future
Prescribed Burns
Dead biomass builds up
Fuel for large forest fires
Stored nutrients trapped in dead biomass
Dead trees are more susceptible to disease and pest spread
Small, controlled fires burn lots of dead biomass
Uses up dead biomass (fuel) preventing larger forest fires later
Promotes nutrient recycling
Nutrients in dead biomass are recycled for new growth