Land

1. Land Chapter 14

2. Hectares • 1 Hectare • Equals • 2.5 Acres • 1 Hectare = 2.5 Acres

3. Land Use and Land Cover • Primary Land Use Categories: • Rangeland • Forrest Land • Cropland • Parks and Preserves • Wetlands, Mountains, Deserts, and Other • Urban Land

4. Land Use and Land Cover • Land categorized by the U.S. Census Bureau • +/- 25,000 people • Urban Land – Land that is covered mainly with buildings and roads • Rural Land – Land that contains relatively few people and large areas of open space

5. Where We Live • Before 1850 – Rural – Farmers • What made the difference? • The Industrial Revolution • Allowed: • Less workers and more machines • Transportation from home to work • Caused a bigger push to live in rural areas • Biggest push 1880 - 1950

6. The Urban-Rural Connection • Even though people live in urban areas, still need rural goods: • Clean Water • Fertile Soil • Crops and the Land Needed to Grow Them • Trees for Wood and Oxygen • Have people forgotten this?

7. Ecosystem Services • Resources that are produced by natural and artificial ecosystems: • Purification of Land • Preservation of Soil and Soil Fertility • Prevention of Flood and Drought • Regulation of Climate • Maintenance of Biodiversity • Movement and Cycling of Nutrients • Detoxification and Decomposition of Wastes • Aesthetic Beauty

8. How Much Do We Use • Developed Nations – 8 hectares • United States – 12 hectares • Germany – 6 hectares • Developing Nations - >2 hectares

9. Urbanization • What do you think people move to the city looking for?

10. Urbanization • Jobs • Education • Entertainment • Recreational Areas

11. Urbanization • Urbanization is the movement of people from rural areas to cities • In 1980, 75% of the U. S. Population was living in urban areas • Urban areas are built with roads and public transportation to make accesable

12. Urbanization • Urban towns are also built with green areas to provide: • Modification of temperature • Infiltration of rainwater runoff • Aesthetic Beauty • When will we know we have taken to much away? • Is what we consider aesthetic today the same as in the past?

13. The Urban Crisis • Urban Crisis: • Traffic Jams • Substandard Housing • Polluted Air and Water

14. The Urban Crisis • Infrastructure – All of the things that a society builds for public use • Includes: roads, sewers, railroads, bridges, canals, fire and police stations, schools, libraries, hospitals, water mains, power lines, and all of the people working in these fields • Are we in an urban crisis?

15. The Urban Crisis • When the population outgrows what the infrastructure can support

16. The Urban Sprawl • The Urban Sprawl is a rapid expansion of a city into the countryside around the city • Leads to the rise of suburbs • This land was once used for agriculture • Each year, suburbs take over another 1 million hectares in the United States

17. Redevelopment on Marginal Lands • Marginal Land – land that is poorly suited for building • Basins • Mountainsides • Even Coastline

18. Other Impacts of Urbanization • Heat Island – The increased temperature in a city • Not even talking about energy created • Roads, buildings, etc. absorb more heat than vegetation and country sides • Hot air rising off of heat islands eventually cools and increase rain over heat islands

19. Urban Planning • Land-use planning is determining how land will be used – • Where homes, businesses, and factories will be built • Where land will be protected for recreation • And so on

20. Urban Planning • Oven creates a lot of controversy • Who’s involved? • Federal Government • Public • Developers • City Government • Local Businesses • Citizens

21. Intelligent Design • Geographic Information System (GIS) • A computerized system for storing, manipulating, and viewing geographical data • Can display information in layers • Just power lines • Just businesses • Just sewers • Just homes • Etc.

22. Transportation • Who likes traffic? • When cities were build, land wasn’t an issue • Today it is • Mass Transit Systems – Buses and Trains • They Help By: • Saving Energy • Reducing Highway Congestion • Reducing Air Pollution • Limit the loss of land to roads and parking lots • Carpooling is another alternative

23. Open Space • Open Space is land set aside in urban areas for scenic and recreation enjoyment • Greenbelts – Open space left in its natural state • Provide many benefits: • Oxygen • Keep cities cooler in summer • Filter pollution • Absorb rainwater

24. Land Management and Conservation • Categories of rural land: • Farmland • Rangeland • Forest land • National and state parks • Wilderness

25. Farmlands • Land that is used to grow crops and fruits • US has 100 million hectares of farmland • Protected from being urbanized by the: • National Farmland Protection Program in 1996

26. Rangelands • Land containing different vegetations and used for farming or timber production • Mainly used for raising livestock: • Cattle, sheep, goats for meat, milk, wool, and hides

27. Problems on the Range • Overgrazing – allowing more animals to graze in an area than the range can support • Leads to change in vegetation • Less desirable vegetation takes over when the desired vegetation is overgrazed

28. Maintaining the Range • Most Rangeland is owned by the federal government and rented out • Rangeland is protected under the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 • Protected by: • Controlling size of herds • Killing off invasive species • Giving areas time to grow back • Fencing off areas in danger

29. Forest Lands • Trees provide: • Paper • Furniture • Lumber • Maple syrup • Turpentine • And above all, REMOVAL OF CO2

30. Harvesting Trees • Average use of wood worldwide is 1,800 cm3 • People in the US use 3.5 times that amount • Equates to one person using a 30 m tall tree every year • Developing Countries use food for fuel

31. Harvesting Trees • Three Categories of Forest • Virgin Forest • Native Forest • Tree Farms

32. Harvesting Trees • Clear-Cutting – the process of removing all of the trees from an area of land • Selective Cutting – the process of cutting and removing only middle-aged or mature trees • Selective Cutting is more expensive, but less destructive

33. Deforestation • Deforestation – the clearing of forest trees without replacing them • Increases: • Biodiversity Loss • Soil Erosion • The Soil in the rainforest is very thin

34. Reforestation • Reforestation is the process by which trees are planted to re-establish trees that have been cut down in a forest land • 90% of all timber from around the world comes from forests that aren’t managed or reforested

35. Parks and Preserves • First Park was Yellowstone National in 1870 • Today the US has over 50 National Parks • Public Lands are considered protected, but may be leased out for logging, mining, and ranching • United Nations started the Man and the Biosphere Program in 1976 • Different in that they consider man part of the biosphere

36. Wilderness • Designated by the U. S. Wilderness Act in 1964 • Wilderness is an area in which the land and the ecosystems it supports are protected from all exploitation • Areas open to hiking, fishing, boating, and camping • No roads, structures, or motorized homes/boats are allowed in these areas

37. Benefit of Protected Areas • Provide Habitats for endangered animals • Provide Recreation • Act as “Nature’s Classroom” and laboratory

38. Threats to Protected Areas • More people visit parks each year…… • But: • They leave trash • Traffic Jams • Oil and Gas Drilling • Mining • Nuclear Power Plants • Some areas have had limits put on them to the number of people allowed to live there

39. Solution? • Volunteer • Volunteer for a big environmental program • Volunteer to make conscious decisions at home • The Actions you take today determines the Fate of tomorrow

40. Which of the following is true of parks and preserves? • They provide recreation for people

41. One benefit of preserving farmland is? • Increased crop production

42. In cities, traffic jams, substandard housing, and pollution can be the result of: • Urban Crisis

43. What can be done to sustain the productivity of rangeland? • All of the above • Limit herd size • Eliminate invasive plants • Leave the land unused for a time

44. Heat Islands can affect local: • Weather Patterns

45. When forests are not replanted after trees are cut, natural resources: • Decrease

46. Each U. S. resident uses the ecosystem services provided by roughly: • 12 hectares of land

47. Urban sprawl involves people moving from cities to land that was previously used for: • Food production and open space

48. Which type of area listed below is protected from exploitation? • Wilderness

49. Given that most people live in urban areas, why should rural areas be preserved? • None of the above • NOT provide crucial infrastructure • NOT provide ecological services • NOT contain greenbelts