Land Vocabulary

the processes by which life-supporting resources such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced

• protected areas

• urban sprawl

• ecosystem services

• clear-cutting

Destruction of vegetation caused by too many grazing animals consuming the plants in a particular area so they cannot recover

• overgrazing

• heat island

• clear-cutting

• urban sprawl

an approach to stabilizing greenhouse gases by removing CO2 from the atmosphere

• urban crisis

• urbanization

• wilderness

• carbon sequestration

a set of policies and activities related to potential uses of land that is put in place before an area is developed

• land-use planning

• heat island

• greenbelts

• ecosystem services

An area in which the air temperature is generally higher than the temperature of surrounding rural areas.

• wilderness

• heat island

• urbanization

• urban sprawl

the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, and power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.

• ecosystem services

• infratstructure

• protected areas

• deforestation

An increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements.

• urban sprawl

• urban crisis

• reforestation

• urbanization

The removal of trees faster than forests can replace themselves.

• deforestation

• reforestation

• clear-cutting

• urbanization

The process of urban areas expanding outwards, usually in the form of suburbs, and developing over fertile agricultural land.

• urbanization

• urban sprawl

• urban crisis

• clear-cutting

A condition in which more people live in a city than its infrastructure can support.

• urbanization

• greenbelts

• urban crisis

• urban sprawl