GEOG 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Domestication, Soil Type, Comparative Advantage

• School: McGill University
• Department: Geography
• Course: GEOG 210
• Professor: Yann le Polain

Document Summary

Part 2 human use of the land (evolution of agriculture: the evolution of agriculture. Centers of crop domestication first they were domesticated independently on their own: oldest center: in the near east/ south mexico, old patterns of domestication in different places, process of diffusion through trade routes. Animal domestication more difficult to trace. Biophysical limits: plays into suitability of different crops: local conditions influence production- rainfall/ variability, soil types different nutrient needs in the soil, temperature averages and extremes (heat waves etc. , slope/ erosion and terrain you have. Comparative advantage: have 100hrs to produce wheat in country a or 120 hours to make beans in country a. In country b only 90hrs are needed for a ton of wheat or 80hrs for a ton of beans: country b has a comparative advantage in production. People gather fruit/ kill animals for subsistence. Often complemented by some agriculture and some animal husbandry. Move to follow food nomadic/ semi-nomadic.