How are biomes

modified for
agriculture?
Week 2, Lessons 2 & 3
AGRICULTURE
• Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops and
raising livestock. It includes the preparation of plant and animal products
for people to use and their distribution to markets.​
• Subsistence Agriculture: describes farming that provides only for the
needs of the family, leaving little or none to sell.​
• Humans have modified biomes to produce food through the application
of innovative technologies.​

2
• In general, the focus of agriculture is to modify:​
➢ - Water​
➢ - Climate​
➢ - Soils ​
➢ - Land​
➢ - Crops ​

3
HOW DO WE MODIFY WATER?
IRRIGATION
​
•Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the land or soil to supplement natural
rainfall.​

•It’s used to help in the growing of agricultural crops to increase food production in dry
areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall.​

•Flood irrigation is the oldest and most common form of irrigation used throughout the
world. It occurs when water is applied and distributed over the soil surface by gravity. ​

•Modern irrigation methods include computer-controlled drip systems that deliver

precise amounts of water to a plant’s root zones.

4
IRRIGATION

5
 HOW DO WE MODIFY CLIMATE?
GREENHOUSES
•Greenhouses (or glasshouses) are used for growing flowers. vegetables, fruits
and tobacco.​

•They provide an artificial biotic environment to protect crops from heat and
cold and to keep out pests.​

•Light and temperature control allows greenhouses to turn non-

arable land into arable land leading to improved food production.​

•Greenhouses allow crops to be grown all year round.

6
HOW DO WE MODIFY CLIMATE?

7
8
HOW DO WE MODIFY SOILS?
FERTILISERS

• Fertilisers are materials that are added to soils to supply one or more
essential plant nutrients.​

• It is estimated that around 40-60% of crop yields are due to the use of
fertilisers.​

• It is also estimated that almost half the people on Earth are currently fed as
a result of adding fertilisers to food crops. ​

9
FERTILISERS

10
 HOW DO WE MODIFY LANDSCAPE?
LAND RECLAMATION
• Land reclamation is the process of creating new land from seas, rivers or
lakes.​
• It can also involve turning previously unfarmed land, or degraded land,
into arable land by fixing major deficiencies in the soil’s structure, drainage
or fertility. ​
• People are able to change landscapes in order to produce food. This can
be done by undulating land being flattened, steep slopes terraced or
stepped, and wetlands drained.

11
12
13
HOW DO WE LOSE LAND?

14
In order to get as much from the land as we can, we often fail to manage it
sustainably resulting in land degradation. ​

LAND DEGRADTION: Is a decline in the quality of land to the point where it

is no longer productive. ​
•It includes things such as:​
• Soil erosion resulting in a loss in fertility.​
• Invasive plants and animals​
• Salinity ​
• Desertification​
​
•In Australia, of all the land being used for agriculture, over half has been
affected by, or is in danger of degradation. ​

15
Human Causes ​ ​
Land Clearance​ ​
Overgrazing of animals​ Plants are eaten down or totally removed, exposing bare soil, and hard-
hoofed animals (eg. cows & sheep) compact the soil.​
​

Excessive irrigation​ Can cause water tables to rise, bringing naturally occurring salts to the
surface, which pollute the soil​
Introduction of exotic ​
animals​
Decline in fertility ​ Caused by continual planting of a single crop over a large area (called
monoculture).​
​
Farming on marginal Takes place on areas such as steep slopes, which are unsuited to ordinary
land​ farming methods. ​

16
Natural Causes​ ​

Prolonged Can affect soil or cause erosion problems.​

drought or
flooding ​

Topography Can influence soil erosion. Steep slopes are more prone
and the degree to erosion than flat land.​
of slope​

17
WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF LAND
DEGREGATION?
•As land becomes degraded, productivity, or the amount of food it can produce
is lost.​
•Farmers may choose to abandon the land, try to restore it or if the pressure to
produce food it too great, they might have no choice but to continue using it. ​
• Unproductive land will be exposed to continual erosion or weed invasion.

18
ARE WE TURNING DRYLANDS INTO
DESERTS?
•Desertification is an extreme form of land degradation.

•Population growth and the demand for food has put lots of pressure on land
resources. ​

•Over clearing of vegetation, overgrazing and overcultivation lead to

desertification.​

19