3 Biomes and food production
Before you start
Main focus
People depend on biomes for food, clothing and shelter, and a wide range of other products.
Why it’s relevant to us
It is important to preserve biomes for future generations.
Inquiry questions
- How do people use biomes?
- What impact do people have on biomes?
- How can biomes be preserved for future generations?
- What is the role of rice production for food and income security in Southeast Asia?
- What are the factors that affect rice yields, and is rice production environmentally sustainable?
- How are changing farming practices, particularly new technologies, positively and negatively affecting rice production and the environments in Southeast Asia?
Key terms
- Eutrophication
- Extensive agriculture
- Globalisation
- Green Revolution
- High-yielding varieties (HYVs)
- Hunting and gathering
- Intensive agriculture
- Irrigation
- Pesticides
- Rural–urban migration
- Sequent occupance
- Staple food
Let’s begin
The biomes of the Earth’s surface provide food, clothing and shelter to all of the Earth’s 7 billion inhabitants. These inhabitants – us – make different demands on these biomes. Some people live in harmony with the biome in which they live. Many of us rely on biomes far removed from where we live for our food, clothing and shelter; otherwise there would not be Woolworths, Coles, Myers, David Jones, Harvey Norman and Ikea.