Unit 5a: Sustainability, Soil
& Agriculture
Modules 24-28, 31
Unit 5a Topics….
Tragedy of the commons Ecological Footprints
Clearcutting Introduction to sustainability
Green Revolution Methods to reduce urban runoff
Impacts of Agriculture Integrated Pest management
Irrigation Methods Sustainable Agriculture
Pest Control Methods Aquaculture
Meat Production Methods Sustainable Forestry
Impacts of Overfishing
Impacts of Mining
Impacts of Urbanization
#2 Tragedy of the commons
Objective: Explain the concept of
Tragedy of the commons.
Tragedy of the Commons
Idea that individuals will use shared resources in their own self-
interest rather than in keeping with the common good,
thereby depleting the resources.
Example: A public pasture (“common”) open to unregulated
grazing, each person who grazes animals will be motivated
by self-interest to increase the number of his or her animals in
the pasture. Because no single person owns the pasture, no
one has incentive to expend effort taking care of it. Instead,
each person takes what he or she can until the resource is
depleted and overgrazing causes the pasture’s food
production to collapse.
Example: Easter Island, Fishing, agriculture
#3 Ecological Footprints
Objective: Explain the variables
measured in an ecological footprint.
Ecological Footprint
An ecological footprint expresses environmental impact in
terms of the cumulative area of biologically productive
land and water required to provide the resources a person
or population consumes and to dispose of or recycle the
waste the person or population produces.
Top ten countries with largest ecological footprint
#13 Clearcutting
Objective: Describe the effects of clearcutting on forests.
Clear Cutting-all trees in area are cut
Reduces biodiversity
Greatest impact on forest ecosystems
Soil erosion
Leads to increased soil and stream
temperatures & flooding
Forests absorb pollutants and store carbon
dioxide, cutting trees released carbon dioxide
and contributes to climate change.
Less expensive
Easiest method
Good for fast growing tree species with high
sunlight requirements
CON RED; PRO GREEN
Selective cutting-harvesting trees that
involve removal of single trees or a small
number of trees from a larger forest
Ideal for shade-tolerant tree species
Less extensive environmental impacts
More expensive
More difficult to access select trees
Requires more logging roads to reach select trees
#12 Sustainable Forestry
Objective: Describe methods of mitigating human impacts
on forests.
Ecologically sustainable forestry-approach
to removing trees from forests in ways that
do not unduly affect the viability of other
noncommercial tree species.
Maintains forest in as natural a state as possible
Often done without using fossil fuels
Costly
More difficult
Yields less timber
Goal is to reforest
Reforestation achieved by buying wood harvested by
ecologically sustainable forestry techniques, and reusing wood.
Protect forests from pathogens and insects including integrated
pest management (IPM) and the removal of affected trees.
Prescribed burns in order to reduce the occurrence of natural
fires.
#14 Impacts of Overfishing
Objective: Describe the causes of and the problems
related to overfishing.
Emptying the Oceans
Overharvesting is the worst marine problem
Unprecedented pressure is placed on marine
resources
½ the world’s marine fish populations are fully
exploited and can’t be fished more
intensively
28% of fish populations are overexploited and
heading to extinction
Emptying the Oceans
If current trends continue its predicted that
populations of all ocean species we fish for today
will collapse by 2048
If this happens we will lose their ecosystem
services
Productivity will decline
Will become more sensitive to disturbance
Filtering of water will decline
More algal blooms and beach
closures
Aquaculture relieves some pressure on wild stock,
but has its own issues
Fishing has industrialized
Factory fishing - huge vessels use powerful
technologies to capture fish in huge volumes
Driftnets - transparent nylon mesh nets that drift with
the current
Used for herring, sardines, mackerel, sharks,
shrimp
Longline fishing - 50 mile long lines with several
thousand baited hooks
Used for tuna and swordfish
Trawling - use cone shaped nets with weights at
the bottom and floats at the top to catch pellagic
fish
Bottom trawling - use weighted nets that drag
across the seafloor to catch groundfish or scallops
Fishing Practices kill nontarget animals and
damage ecosystems
Bycatch - accidental capture of animals
Driftnetting
Drowns dolphins, turtles and seals
Fish die on deck
Banned in international waters
Still used in national waters
Longline fishing kills
Turtles
Sharks
Over 300,000 seabirds per year
Marine Biodiversity Loss Erodes Ecosystem Services
Biodiversity Depletion is Caused by
Overfishing
Pollution
Habitat Change
2006 Study Predicts Global Fisheries
Collapse by 2048
Systems with less primary and
secondary production are less able
to survive disturbance
Less Biodiversity, Less Habitats
Nurseries for fish & shellfish deplete
Less filtering/detoxification
Leads to:
Algal blooms
Dead zones
Fish kills
Beach closures
#4 The Green Revolution
Objective: Describe changes in
agricultural practices.
The green revolution
The Green Revolution started a shift to new
agricultural strategies and practices in order to
increase food production with positive and
negative results.
Spread to the developing world in the 1940s with
wheat, rice, corn
Depended on large amounts of
Synthetic fertilizers
Chemical pesticides
Irrigation
Heavy equipment (mechanization)
The green revolution brought benefits and
harm
From 1900 to 2000, cultivated area increased 33%, while
energy inputs increased 80 times!
Positive effects on natural resources
Prevented some deforestation
Preserved biodiversity
Negative effects on natural resources
Pollution
Erosion
Salinization
Desertification
Mechanization from The Green
Revolution
Industrialized agriculture = using large-scale
mechanization and fossil fuels to boost yields
Mechanization can increase profits and efficiency for
farms but also a reliance on fossil fuels
Monocultures increase output, but at a
cost
Monoculture = a large expanse of a single crop
More efficient, increases output
Devastates biodiversity
Susceptible to disease and pests
Narrows human diet: 90% of our food comes from
15 crop species and 8 livestock species
Armyworms easily defoliate monocultures
Genetic engineering and genetically
modified organisms (GMO)
Isolate specific genes from one organism and transfer it
into the genetic material of another, often very different
organism, to produce a genetically modified organism
(GMO).
Why? Agricultural scientists can rapidly produce
organisms with desirable traits that may be impossible to
develop with traditional breeding.
Genetic engineering has both benefits
and risks
Benefits of genetic engineering:
Increased nutritional content
Increased crop yield and quantity
Rapid growth
Increased profits
Disease and pest resistance
Negatives of genetic engineering:
Risks are not yet defined or well understood
Protests from environmental activists, small farmers,
and consumer advocates
Impacts on biodiversity
What are the impacts of GM crops?
As GM crops expanded, scientists and citizens became
concerned
Dangerous to human health
Escaping transgenes could pollute ecosystems and
damage nontarget organisms
Pests could evolve resistance
Could ruin the integrity of native ancestral races
Interbreed with closely related wild plants
Supporters maintain that GM crops are
safe
Supporters make the following points:
GM crops pose no ill health effects
They benefit the environment by using less herbicides
Herbicide-resistant crops encourage no-till farming
GM crops reduce carbon emissions by needing
fewer fuel-burning tractors and sequestering carbon
in the soil by no-till farming
Critics argue that we should adopt the precautionary
principle = don’t do any new action until it’s
understood
Fertilizers boost yields but cause
problems
Fertilizer = substances that contain essential nutrients
Inorganic fertilizers = mined or synthetically manufactured mineral
supplements
Organic fertilizers = the remains or wastes of organisms
manure, crop residues, fresh vegetation
Compost = produced when decomposers break down organic matter
Never add waste from butchering animals to compost
Applying synthetic fertilizer, vs.
Planting rye, a “green manure”
Overapplication of Fertilizer
Inorganic fertilizer use has
skyrocketed
Overapplying fertilizer can
ruin the soil and severely
pollute several areas
Runoff causes
eutrophication in nearby
water systems
Nitrates leach through soil
and contaminate
groundwater
Nitrates can also volatilize
(evaporate) into the air
Environmental effects of over-fertilizing
Issues with Pesticides-Resistance
Some individuals are genetically immune to a pesticide
- They survive and pass these genes to their offspring
Pesticides stop being effective
- Evolutionary arms race: chemists increase chemical
toxicity to compete with resistant pests
Plant cover reduces erosion
Eroding banks along creeks
and roadsides are stabilized
by planting plants to anchor
soil
China has the world’s largest
tree-planting program
It does slow erosion
But it does not create
ecologically functional
forests, because
monocultures are planted
Overgrazing causes soil degradation
Overgrazing = too many
animals eat too much of
the plant cover
Impedes plant
regrowth
A leading cause of soil
degradation
Government subsidies
provide few incentives
to protect rangeland
70% of the world’s rangeland is classified as degraded
Effects of overgrazing can be striking
Non-native invasive species invade
Less palatable to livestock
Out compete native vegetation
Ungrazed plot Grazed plot
#6 Irrigation Methods
Objective: Describe different methods of irrigation
Objective: Describe the benefits and drawbacks of
different methods of irrigation.
Irrigation: boosted productivity, but
problems, too
Irrigation = Artificially providing water to
support agriculture
Unproductive regions become farmland
Waterlogging = over-irrigated soils—raises
water table of groundwater
Water suffocates roots because plants
can’t absorb oxygen through roots
because water table is higher
Salinization = the buildup of salts in surface soil
layers that is left after water evaporates
Worse in arid areas and can make soil
toxic to plants
Salinization inhibits production of 20% of all irrigated cropland,
costing more than $11 billion/year
Different methods of irrigation
Largest human use of freshwater is for irrigation
(70%).
Types of irrigation include:
Drip irrigation
Flood irrigation
Furrow irrigation
Spray irrigation
Drip Irrigation
Uses perforated hoses to release small amounts of
water to plant roots
Benefit: MOST EFFICIENT system with only about 5%
water lost to evaporation and runoff
Drawback: Expensive and not often used
Flood Irrigation
Involves flooding an agricultural field with water.
Drawback: 20% water lost to evaporation and runoff
and can lead to waterlogging of the soil.
Furrow Irrigation
Involves cutting furrow between crop rows and
filling them with water.
Benefit: inexpensive
Drawback: 1/3 of water lost to evaporation and
runoff
Spray Irrigation
Involves pumping groundwater into spray nozzles
across an agricultural field.
Benefit: more efficient than flood and furrow
irrigation with only ¼ water lost to evaporation and
runoff
Drawback: More expensive and requires energy to
run
Drawback to irrigation-Salinization
Salts in groundwater remain
in soil after water evaporates
resulting in potential of soil
becoming toxic to plants-
BAD
Salinization prevention
It is easier and cheaper to
prevent salinization than fix it
Do not plant water-guzzling
crops in sensitive areas
Irrigate with low-salt water
Irrigate efficiently, supplying
only water that the crop
requires
Drawback of irrigation-Depletion of
aquifers
Aquifers can be severely depleted if overused and
irrigation-example: Ogallala Aquifer in central
United States.
#7 Impact of Agricultural Practices
Objective: Describe agricultural practices that
cause environmental damage.
Erosion degrades ecosystems and
agriculture
Erosion increases through: excessive tilling,
overgrazing, and clearing forests (anything that
exposes the soil)
In agriculture the greatest concern is the removal
of topsoil (no topsoil = poor crop growth)
Desertification
Desertification = a loss of
more than 10% productivity
Erosion, soil compaction,
forest removal,
overgrazing, salinization,
climate change,
depletion of water
sources
Most prone areas = arid
and semiarid lands
Shelterbelts
• Shelterbelts were planted extensively after the Dust Bowl.
• Fast growing trees such as the Lombardy Poplar break the
force of the wind and help stabilize soil.
#8 Pest Control Methods
Objective: Describe the benefits and drawbacks of
different pest control methods.
Pests and pollinators
Pest = any organism that damages valuable
crops
Weed = any plant that competes with crops
Pesticides = poisons that target pest organisms
Insecticides = target insects
Herbicides = target plants
Fungicides = target fungi
400 million kg (900 million lbs.) of pesticides are
applied in the U.S. each year
75% of this is applied to agricultural land
Usage is increasing in developing countries
Preserving crop diversity: insurance against
failure
Preserving native variants protects against crop
failure
Monocultures are vulnerable, so wild relatives
contain genes that could provide resistance to
disease and pests
We have already lost a great deal of genetic
diversity in crops
Wheat varieties in China dropped from 10,000
(1949) to 1,000 (1970s)
Market forces discourage diversity in food’s
appearance
Consumers prefer uniform, standardized food
Preserving crop diversity: seed banks
Seed banks = institutions that preserve seed types as a
kind of living museum of genetic diversity
Seeds are collected and preserved, and periodically
planted
Funding is not adequate for these facilities
The Royal Botanic Garden’s Millennium Seed Bank in Britain
holds more than 1 billion seeds
#10 Meat Production Methods
Objective: Identify different methods of meat
production.
Objective: Describe the benefits and drawbacks of
the different methods of meat production.
Eating animal products has significant
impacts
As wealth and commerce increase, so does
consumption of meat, milk, and eggs
Global meat production has increased fivefold
Per capita meat consumption has doubled
Domestic animal production for food increased from 7.3
billion in 1961 to 20.6 billion in 2000
Feedlot agriculture
Feedlots (factory farms) = also
called Concentrated Animal
Feeding Operations (CAFOs)
Huge warehouses or pens
designed to deliver energy-
rich food to animals living at
extremely high densities
Over ½ of the world’s pork
and poultry come from
feedlots
Debeaked chickens spend their lives in cages; U.S. farms can
house hundreds of thousands of chickens in such conditions
The benefits and drawbacks of feedlots
The benefits of feedlots include:
Greater production of food
Unavoidable in countries with high levels of
meat consumption, like the U.S.
They take livestock off the land and
reduces the impact that they would have
on it
Drawbacks of feedlots include:
Contributions to water and air pollution
Poor waste containment causes outbreaks
in disease
Heavy uses of antibiotics to control disease
Energy choices through food choices
90% of energy is lost every
time energy moves from
one trophic level to the next
The lower on the food chain
from which we take our
food sources, the more
people the Earth can
support.
Some animals convert grain
into meat more efficiently
than others
Environmental ramifications of eating
meat
Land and water are needed to raise food for livestock
Producing eggs and chicken meat requires the least
space and water
Producing beef requires the most
When we choose what to eat, we also choose how we use resources