Practise IB ESS SL Topic 5 Land by interpreting soil properties, explaining erosion and food-production impacts, and evaluating sustainable land-use strategies with named examples.
Outline how soil can be viewed as an ecosystem.
Explain how the production of cash crops (such as pineapples) may have an environmental impact on:
soil
Figure:Land used in Costa Rica for pineapple production between 1961 and 2013
Figure:Conversion to cropland from other land uses in north-eastern Costa Rica (1986-2011)
cash crops
- Agriculture includes pineapples, bananas, coffee and beef.
- Pineapple production expanded between 1961 and 2013 and cropland expansion converted other land uses.
With reference to Figure: Conversion to cropland from other land uses in north-eastern Costa Rica (1986-2011), identify where most of the additional land for growing crops came from between 1986 and 2011.
Figure Food loss and waste (in million tonnes per year) in a North American food production system
127 million tonnes
With reference to Figure, identify the stage that represents the greatest food loss and waste in North America.
Outline two strategies to reduce food waste at the use stage (stage 5) in North America.
With reference to a stage in Figure, describe one reason for a difference between food loss and waste in a less economically developed country (LEDC).