Managing the Land encompasses 4 main areas:

1. Soil Conservation2. Pest Management3. Waste Management4. Mining

1. Soil Conservation

1. Why is it important?a. Preserves organic matter in the top

layer of soil necessary for plants.b. Cuts down on amount of sediments

that wash into the Bay2. Methods of soil conservation

a. Contour Plowing- Instead of plowing up and down a hill, contour plowing is perpendicular to the slope of the land

Contour Plowing

Methods of Soil conservation (cont)

b. No-till farming – Crops are harvested

without overturning soil

2. Pest Management1. Why is it important?

a. In North America insects eat 13 % of all crops (33% worldwide)

2. Methods of Pest Management

a. Pesticides- are chemicals that are applied

to crops to kill pests. (herbicides fall into

this category because they kill unwanted

plants)

1. They can be harmful to

beneficial plants and

animals.

Example: DDT• DDT was a pesticide used to kill

mosquitos and other insects. It caused problems when it got into the waterways and fish which were eaten by other animals.

Problems/Issues with Pesticides

2. Over time, some plants can develop pesticide

resistance which is the ability to survive being

exposed to a toxin.

a. This is how pesticide resistance happens.

See next slide!

1 2 3 4

Problems/Issues with Pesticides (cont)

1. Population of bugs becomes a problem in your home or garden

2. Homeowner calls a friendly

exterminator

3. Most of the bugs die with an exception of a few superbugs that are resistant to the pesticide

4. The superbugs mate and their babies have the same trait for resistance

3. Bioaccumulation- This is a build-up of a toxin as it reaches higher levels of the food chain

Example: Mercury builds up in fish affecting other animals that eat them

Another Method of Pest Management: Biological Controls

• Making use of predator-prey relationships

in nature.

Examples: 1.Buying ladybugs online to eat aphids that

eat leaves in your garden

2.Phorid flies used to kill fire ants

(lay eggs in their heads)

3. Land Reclamation Why is it Important

a. The process of returning the land back to its

original or better condition after mining has

taken place.

Tar Mining

Diamond Mining

Iron Mine in Brazil

Methods of Land Reclamationa. Involves returning topsoil,

planting

trees, neutralizing acids

Land Reclamation

Before After

4. Waste Management

1. Why is it important?

a. To prevent disease and land/water

contamination

2. Methods of Waste Management

a. Landfills- More than 50% of the municipal and manufacturing solid waste that ends up in landfills.

b. Incinerators- Where solid waste is burned. This also releases toxic fumes into the air.

c. Recycling- Reusing material from products that would be thrown in the trash

Modern Landfill

Leachate is the contaminated water that forms as rain travels through layers of a landfill.