Environmental Impacts that Affect Agriculture
A mind map on the environmental impacts that affect agriculture
- Created by: Abbey1995
- Created on: 02-04-14 17:35
View mindmap
- Environmental Impacts of Agriculture
- Water Supply
- 'Hydrological growth season' = the length of year there is sufficient water to sustain growth.
- Precipitation amount, frequency, reliability and intensity impact growth.
- Rainwater lost by evapotranspiration.
- Rice needs a lot of water (needs flooding)
- Wheat has low water requirement.
- Irregular water can cause fruit to expand and split.
- Humid conditions increase fungal diseases to soft fruit.
- Temperature
- 'Temperature range' =d between min and max temps experienced in the year.
- Thermal growing season is the season of the year warm enough for plant growth (eg. above 5*)
- Grass stops growing below 5* so dairy cows pasture fed must be kept in barns over winter.
- Some crops cannot be exposed to frost (eg. maize and fruit blossom)
- Light
- 'Solar insulation' = sunlight landing on a surface.
- Light is affected by latitude, cloud cover, seasonal and daily changes.
- May be the limiting factor of photosynthesis.
- Day length controls egg-laying, growth and flowering.
- Wind Velocity
- Affects risk of storm damage and evapouration rates.
- Cerial crops can be flattened by strong winds.
- Windbreaks can be used to reduce evapotranspiration (eg. small fields with perimeter walls in malta)
- Topography, Aspect and Altitude
- Farm machinary cannot operate on verys teep slopes (eg. gradiant over 10*)
- Rice padi fields must be flat in order to be flooded during early growth.
- The topography will affect the 'aspect' (which way it faces). Fruit crops are normally grown on the sunny side of valleys.
- Cold air can collect in valleys and increase risk of frost damage to fruit crops.
- Increasing altutude = reducing temperatures = increasing precipitation.
- High altitude = low pressure and so animals such as llamas can be chosen to farm.
- Soil (Edaphic)
- Factors that afect soil fertility include nutrient availibility, structure, texture, depth, pH and biota.
- Water Supply
Comments
No comments have yet been made