Land

Section #1:How We Use Land

How Can We Find Out How Land is Used?

• Maps• Aerial photographs• Field surveys• Computerized mapping systems

What Do We Use Land For?

• Farming• Mining• Building cities• Highways• Recreation• Preserved areas

Land Cover

• what you find on a patch of land – depends on how the land is used

• Examples:– Forest– Fields of grain/crops– Parking lots

Urban vs. Rural

• Urban – covered mainly with buildings & roads

• US Census Bureau defines an urban area as one that contains 2500 or more people & usually has a governing body such as a city council

• Rural – land that contains relatively few people & has large areas of open space

Primary Land-Use Categories

Patterns & Trends

• until 1850 & the Industrial Revolution, most people lived in rural areas

• urban areas grew rapidly in the 20th century because of the inventions of machines that took away many jobs in rural areas & because of better transportation

Urban & Rural Areas

Proportion of People Living in Urban & Rural Areas Around

the World

The Urban-Rural Connection

• no matter where you live, people depend on resources produced in rural areas– clean drinking water– fertile soil & land for crops– trees for wood & paper– oxygen (from plants) for breathing

• these things are called ecosystem services

Examples of Ecosystem Services

How Much Land Do You Need?

• called your ecological footprint• the area of rural land needed to

support one person depends on many factors– climate– standard of living– efficiency of resource use– technology

• overall, people of developed countries use much more land per person than people of developing countries