Unit 4 Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land

1. Unit 4 Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land

2. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land What are the different types of land use? • Humans use land in many ways, including recreation, transportation, agriculture, residence, commerce, and industry. • Natural areas are places that humans have left alone or restored to a natural state. • Natural areas include forests, grasslands, and desert areas.

3. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land What are the different types of land use? • A large network of roads and train tracks connect urban and rural areas across the country. • Roads in the U.S. highway system cover 4 million miles of land. • Much of the open land in rural areas is used for agriculture. Agricultural land is used to grow crops and raise cattle and other livestock.

4. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land What are the different types of land use? • Residential areas can be rural or urban. • Rural areas have a lot of open land and low densities of people. • Urban areas have dense human populations and small areas of open land.

5. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land What are the different types of land use? • Urbanization is the growth of urban areas caused by people moving into the cities. • As cities and towns expand, commercial businesses are built, too, replacing rural or natural areas. • Industrial businesses also use land resources.

7. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land Why is soil important? • Soil is a mixture of mineral fragments, organic material, water, and air. It stores water and nutrients that plants need to survive. • Soil provides habitat for organisms such as plants, earthworms, moles, insects, and decomposers like fungi, and bacteria. • Decomposers are organisms that break down dead animal and plant material. • Plants get water and nutrients from the soil. Because plants form the base of the food web, healthy soil is important for land ecosystems. • Soil holds plant roots in place and vice versa.

8. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land Why is soil important? • Soil stores water and nutrients. • Different types of soil can store different amounts of water. • How much water a type of soil can hold depends on both its texture and structure. Soil porosity refers to the space between soil particles. Finer soils have more pores (more porosity) and can hold more water than coarser soils. • https://www.noble.org/news/publications/ag-news-and-views/2001/september/soil-and-water-relationships/

9. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land Why is soil important? • Soils are also part of the nutrient cycle. • Plants take up nutrients and water from the soil. Plants and animals that eat them die and are broken down by decomposers. • The decomposers release nutrients back into the soil, and the cycle starts again.

10. Humus – the organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material by soil microorganisms. Topsoil – Rich in humus and minerals Subsoil – Little to no humus, rich in minerals. Weathered Rock Fragments – Little to no plant or animal life. Bedrock – solid rock underlying loose deposits such as soil or alluvium (clay, silt and/or sand).

11. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land The Dust Bowl • In the 1930s, large areas of the Great Plains of the United States were wiped out by huge dust storms. • Farmers in the area had overplowed and overgrazed the land. A severe drought dried out the topsoil, and winds carried away the soil in huge black clouds. • A similar dust bowl is forming now in China because of similar farming practices and drought conditions.

13. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land How can human activities affect land and soil? • Human activities have positive and negative effects on land and soil. • Some activities can restore land to its natural state, and other activities can degrade land. • Land degradation is the process by which human activity and natural processes damage land to the point that it can no longer support the local ecosystem.

15. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land How can human activities affect land and soil? • When urbanization occurs at the edge of a city or town, it is called urbansprawl. • Urban sprawl replaces forests, fields, and grasslands with houses, roads, schools, and shopping areas. • Urban sprawl decreases the amount of farmland available for growing crops, and it decreases the amount of natural areas that surround cities.

16. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land How can human activities affect land and soil? • Erosion is the process by which wind, water, or gravity transports soil and sediment from one place to another. • Erosion can speed up when land is degraded or cleared for farming, exposing the soil to blowing wind and running water.

17. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land How can human activities affect land and soil? • Soil nutrients can get used up if the same crops are planted year after year. Farmers can use different methods to reduce nutrient loss and prevent soil erosion. • Crop Rotation- planting a different crop each year in the same area to reduce nutrient loss. • Contour Plowing - plowing and/or planting across a slope following its elevation contour lines, creating a water break which reduces the formation of streams and gullies during times of heavy water run-off. • Terrace Farming - Creating "steps“ built into the side of a mountain or hill. various crops are planted on each level, and when it rains, instead of washing away all of the nutrients, the nutrients are carried down to the next level. The steps also prevent avalanches of water that would take plants with it and destroy all of the crops on the hillside.

18. Contour Plowing Crop Rotation Terrace Farming

19. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land How can human activities affect land and soil? • Pollution from industrial activities can damage land. • Mining wastes, gas and petroleum leaks, and chemical wastes can kill organisms in the soil.

20. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land How can human activities affect land and soil? • Desertification is the process by which land becomes more desert like and unable to support life. • Without plants, soil becomes dusty and prone to erosion. • Overgrazing, deforestation, and urbanization can lead to desertification.

22. Unit 4Lesson 2 Human Impact on Land How can human activities affect land and soil? • The removal of trees and other vegetation from an area is called deforestation. • Logging for wood, surface mining, and urbanization can cause deforestation. • Deforestation leads to increased soil erosion.