9. Agriculture and Rural Land Use Free Online FlashCards

What is domestication?

Domestication is the long-term process through which human selection changes species’ traits and behavior to better serve human purposes.

Where did agriculture develop independently?

Agriculture developed independently in several regions, including Southwest Asia, East and South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Mesoamerica, the Andes, and parts of New Guinea.

What was the agricultural significance of the Columbian Exchange?

The Columbian Exchange moved crops, livestock, and agricultural products between the Americas and the Eastern Hemisphere after 1492, transforming diets, economies, populations, and landscapes.

Which factors shape rural land use?

Climate, soils, topography, water, labor, technology, markets, transportation, land tenure, and culture all shape rural land-use patterns.

What does the von Thünen model explain?

The von Thünen model predicts that agricultural land uses form patterns around a central market because land rent and transportation costs vary with distance.

How do subsistence and commercial agriculture differ?

Subsistence agriculture primarily feeds the farmer and household, while commercial agriculture primarily produces goods for sale and profit.

What is shifting cultivation?

Shifting cultivation clears and cultivates a plot for a limited time, then leaves it fallow while farmers move to another plot.

What is transhumance?

Transhumance is the seasonal movement of livestock between established pastures, such as lowland and highland or valley and upland areas.

What characterizes intensive subsistence agriculture?

Intensive subsistence agriculture uses large amounts of labor on small parcels to produce high yields per unit of land; wet-rice farming is a major example.

What defines plantation agriculture?

A plantation is a large farm or estate specializing in one or a few crops, often for export to international markets.

How does mixed crop and livestock farming work?

Mixed crop and livestock farming raises crops and animals together; crops can feed livestock, while manure fertilizes fields and production risks are diversified.

What is commercial livestock ranching?

Ranching is the extensive raising of livestock, especially cattle or sheep, across large areas of grassland or rangeland.