virgin soil целинная почва, целина, новь

soil loss: Such studies may yield exaggerated estimates of total soil loss. | The central issue here is the assumptions about future agricultural technology which are made when assessing tolerable soil losses.

16. flood plain | water meadow [ countable ] | flood lands [ plural ] an area of flat land beside a river that is frequently flooded when the river becomes too full пойма; заливной луг: The little town crowns a low plateau just out of reach of the flood plain of the nearby Deerfield River. | Another area needing careful management is the water meadow, where control of water flow is vital. | This faces out on to a flooded water meadow full of grazing buffaloes.

17. marsh [ countable; uncountable ] an area of low-lying flat land near a river, lake, or the sea that is always wet and soft and that is characterized by grassy vegetation and often forming a transition zone between water and land плодородная низменность; пойменное / травяное болото; топь: A former pool had silted up and was turning into a miniature reed marsh. | We followed them through the marsh, which smelled of dying plants. | Cattle fattening on the coastal marshes supported a prosperous peasantry as in Lincolnshire. | Miles of salt marsh stretched before us, reaching to the shores of the River Severn. | At the mouth of the river is a large area of marsh. | There is a complete progression of habitats from dry meadows through marshes and reed-beds to open water.

18. wetland [ countable – often plural; uncountable ] an area of low-lying flat land near a river, lake, or the sea, such as a marsh or swamp, that is partly covered with water, or is wet most of the time заболоченная территория, заболоченное место; сырой участок: It was a programme to preserve the state's wetlands. | This marshy wetland would have easily been converted for their use. | There are some areas of wetland which are of ancient origin.

19. fertile (adjective) fertile land or soil is able to produce good crops плодородный: a fertile field / area / plain | fertile soil / land / farmland / ground | Farmers left the rocky hills of New England for the fertile plains of the Middle West. | The valley was fertile, and a good crop was a near certainty. | The plains are fertile in native plants.

20. barren (adjective) (1) barren land or soil is dry and plants cannot grow there малоплодородный, неплодородный, бесплодный: barren land / soil | Soon barren land will begin to show signs of fertility. | He also wants to use the water to irrigate barren desert land.

(2) desolate a barren place is dry and empty, with few plants growing пустынный, необитаемый, безжизненный; пустой; заброшенный: Intense heat created a completely barren landscape, almost like the moon. | The house stood in a bleak and desolate landscape.

21. fertility [ uncountable ] the ability of the land or soil to produce good crops плодородие: to improve the fertility of the soil / soil fertility | loss of soil fertility | Throughout the nineteenth century fertility in Britain remained high. | Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are banned and soil fertility and pest control is achieved through crop rotation and mixed farming systems. | As well as contributing to declining soil fertility, such high sediment removal are causing problems with water supply by increasing reservoir siltation rates. | These differentials give us important clues about the motivation and causes of the fertility decline.

22. fertilizer [ uncountable; countable ] a natural or chemical substance added to soil in order to help plants grow удобрение: Bone meal and nitrates are common fertilizers. | The company said it will stop producing fertilizer in 1990 because of continued losses.

to use / apply / make use of / spread / work in a fertilizer | to put a fertilizer on one's land вносить / использовать удобрение; опрыскивать удобрением, разбрасывать удобрение: When I do fertilize the plants you mention, I use a high-phosphorus fertilizer. | I would apply a balanced fertilizer periodically. | There was greater specialization and more effective use was made of fertilizer. | Agriculturally, they had the structures necessary to mine fertilizers and annually spread them on their fields. | Work in a balanced fertilizer before planting. | I suppose such things were happy on our land because we never put chemical fertilizers on it.

to feed a crop with a fertilizer: All the soil does is hold the plants upright, while the crop is fed with artificial fertilizers.

application / use of a fertilizer: Paradoxically the ecological problems deriving from the application of artificial fertilizers are often equally complex and extensive. | An application of a balanced fertilizer once a month generally is adequate, but some gardeners apply diluted applications more often.| High levels of nitrate occur in Eastern England because of the heavy use of fertilizers.

artificial / chemical / natural / mineral / organic / liquid fertilizer: Controversy has also surrounded the long-term effects of artificial fertilizer on the soil structure. | Another useful salt is plain old chemical fertilizer. | The long-term dangers of land degradation from irrigation and chemical fertilizers are growing. | The colonial world can be hit by a shortage in chemical fertilizers.

23. pesticide [ uncountable; countable ] a chemical substance used to kill harmful insects, small animals, wild plants and other unwanted organisms that destroy crops пестицид, средство для борьбы с вредителями: the excessive use of pesticides | The destructive side-effects of pesticides are now well known. | Exporting fertilizers and pesticides to developing countries will help them increase their production. | Cloning produces large numbers of identical organisms for research purposes, such as the initial testing of new pesticides on plant species. | All foods are organically grown, except when foods with pesticide residues are used for testing. | Pesticide residues on crops and mercury in fish are examples of toxic substances that may be encountered in daily life.

24. herbicide | weed / plant killer | weedicide [ uncountable; countable ] a chemical substance used to kill weeds (= unwanted plants) that destroy crops гербицид: Hares are killed when licking fur with the herbicide. | Although there was no damage to the crop, the herbicide was almost totally ineffective in killing the weeds. | The plants carried an extra gene to make them resistant to a herbicide.

25. insecticide [ uncountable; countable ] a chemical substance used to kill insects that destroy crops инсектицид, средство от насекомых: But they began to develop resistance to the insecticide. | If you have a lot of plants and don't want to use any of the usual chemicals, try a biological insecticide. | Last year, insecticide efforts essentially failed. | The wood must be free of insecticides and herbicides. | In remote regions, the air is pure and the crops are free of poisonous insecticides.

26. pesticide | herbicide | insecticide COLLOCATIONS

to use / apply / make use of / spread / work in pesticide(s) / herbicide(s) / insecticide(s) применять пестициды / гербициды / инсектициды: We never use pesticides or insecticides and this is the wonderful result. | This is supposed to reduce the amount of herbicide used in spraying fields, but in practice the converse happens. | I built up my soil, added trace elements, made compost, never used herbicides or chemical insecticides. | Do not use any insecticide sprays in the house, or pesticide sprays in the garden. | Such flowers tend to grow in hedge bottoms, where they are vulnerable to the effects of carelessly applied herbicide. |

to spray / treat (one's crop / plant) with pesticide(s) / herbicide(s) / insecticide(s) | to spray pesticide(s) / herbicide(s) / insecticide(s) on one's crop / plant обрабатывать / опрыскивать пестицидами / гербицидами / инсектицидами: Spray the plants with insecticide. | Avoid areas that have been sprayed with insecticides. | Organically farmed crops are not sprayed with any chemical pesticides and are not treated with nitrogen, potassium or phosphate fertilisers. | Next year spray with a systemic insecticide.| The pesticides that farmers spray on their crops kill pests but they can also damage people's health. | About 70% of the cocoa acreage is treated with insecticide.

use / application of pesticide(s) / herbicide(s) / insecticide(s): Over the same period, pesticide use has decreased by 47 percent. | Fertilizer encourages weeds as well as crops to grow, so the increasing use of fertilizer promotes the increasing use of selective herbicides. | Treatment involves the application of insecticide by pressure spray in the form of pungent solvents or water-based emulsions or pastes. | Rivers have been polluted by chlorine, phenol and detergent, together with run-offs resulting from the over-application of pesticides on farmland.

treatment (of a crop / plant) with pesticide(s) / herbicide(s) / insecticide(s) обработка / опрыскивание пестицидами / гербицидами / инсектицидами: Give the tree a winter wash and after the blossom falls a treatment with a systemic insecticide.

pesticide / herbicide / insecticide level | levels of pesticide(s) / herbicide(s) / insecticide(s) уровень содержания пестицидов / гербицидов / инсектицидов: Pesticide levels in food are simply too difficult to calibrate. | It is claimed that the new levels of pesticide do not pose a risk to health.

to reduce / decrease // increase pesticide / herbicide / insecticide use / application: Attempts will be made to reduce pesticide use in water catchment areas.

to maintain (levels / standards of) pesticide / herbicide / insecticide use / application: In the short term it proposes increased monitoring to ensure that the highest standards of pesticide use are maintained.

27. harvester [ countable ] someone who gathers crops сборщик урожая, жнец: The harvesters stopped work, sat down and started to eat and drink.

28. combine (harvester) [ countable ] a machine for gathering crops уборочная машина, уборочный комбайн: Instead of driving a modern combine harvester, he's using a binder to cut the corn into sheaves. | I was saving 15 % roughly which is a lot on a combine harvester.

29. to erode (away) [ transitive; intransitive ] to gradually damage the surface of rock or land so that it begins to disappear, or to be gradually damaged in this way разрушать, размывать; выветривать; подвергаться эрозии, эродировать

to erode (away) sth: If the river is not controlled, it will erode its banks as well as the surrounding farm land. | The hard rains have eroded topsoil in the Midwest. | The cliffs are being constantly eroded by heavy seas. | Muddy heaps of soil eroded from fields are trapped in undergrowth. | It is possible that the beach gravels have been eroded away since their formation. | Many of the dark rocks stand on limestone pedestals, the surrounding rocks having been eroded away.

to erode (away): The cliffs are eroding several feet a year. | By 1980, they had all but totally eroded. | The rocks have gradually eroded away.

30. to weather [ transitive; intransitive ] to change in colour or form over a period of time because of the effects of sun, wind, rain or other weather conditions подвергать(ся) атмосферным влияниям / воздействиям, выветривать(ся)

to weather sth: Rock is weathered by the action of ice and changes in temperature. | This rock has been weathered and eroded. | Wind and sun weathered his face.

sth weathers: The stone weathers to a beautiful pale gold. | The brick has weathered to a lovely pinky-brown. | Unpainted wooden furniture weathers to a grey colour. | The paint on the outside walls has weathered badly.

31. erosion [ uncountable ] the process by which the surface of land or rock is gradually damaged by water, wind etc and begins to disappear эрозия, разрушение, размывание, размыв, смывание, выветривание, разъедание: Regulators say that although the erosion does not pose an immediate risk, they are concerned about its long-term safety implications. | And grazing too many animals on too little land leaves soil unprotected against wind or water erosion. | Rainfall is minimal and the land is infertile, marked by erosion and extreme dryness. | This shows that slope form and soil moisture status are particularly influential in determining erosion rates.

soil / land / wind erosion эрозия / выветривание / выдувание почвы, почвенная эрозия: Although the increase in rainfall would aid irrigation, it would add to the problems of soil erosion. | There are problems related to the complex and varying manner in which symptoms of soil erosion appear through time. | We infer that they accumulated during periods of accelerated soil erosion. | Somewhat softened by wind erosion, the surface none the less looked more like the lunar highlands than like anything on Earth.

coastal / marine erosion | the erosion of the coastline: A series of such oscillations, aided perhaps by marine erosion, is probably an important cause of island formation. | Finally, it must be pointed out that the recession of a coastline is not merely the result of marine erosion.

to cause / lead to / result in erosion: The external heat drives the atmosphere and the oceans and causes the erosion of mountains and the reduction of rock to sediment. | Acid rain has caused such severe erosion of the Sierra del Mar that the entire mountainside could slide down on to Cubatoa. | The storm dumped up to 18 inches of snow on the North Shore, but caused little flooding or erosion. | Trampling of vegetation is one of the most widespread environmentally degrading repercussions of recreation and can also lead to excessive soil erosion. | It is this which has resulted in accelerated erosion.

to be subject / prone to erosion: Accordingly these areas are heavily used and subject to severe environment erosion. | This leaves fertile soil unprotected and prone to erosion.

to suffer (from) erosion: Waxholme is on the coast and suffers badly from coastal erosion. | Any particular location may have collected sediment for part of the time, but suffered erosion the rest of the time.

to be worn down by erosion: The rocks have been worn down by erosion.

erosion occurs: The scale of measurement over which soil erosion occurs affects the measurement itself.

to combat / prevent erosion: The question arises as to why there is so little official action to combat soil erosion. | As their roots are strong and penetrating, they prevent erosion. | The government has enclosed some of the mountain streams in concrete banks to prevent land erosion. | The idea was to prevent erosion and enrich the soil. | They also harbour wildlife and help prevent soil erosion. | More trees are being planted for timber and to prevent soil erosion.

to reduce // increase erosion: Last year an attempt was made to improve the drainage to stop flooding and reduce erosion. | Constructing rows of turbines in strategic areas could reduce soil erosion and help to phase out the use of wood for fuel. | The techniques refer to new or modified agricultural practices to reduce soil degradation and erosion. | The result is a tendency to increase the amount of erosion on the coast.

erosion accelerates: Without the trees, soil erosion in the area accelerated rapidly. | As the volume increased, the erosion of the canyon accelerated and widened.

serious / severe / significant / steady erosion: Many of these areas also suffer from extremely serious soil erosion. | Possibly more than half the soils in the semi-arid regions are subject to severe erosion.

32. to degrade [ transitive ] to make a situation or the condition of something worse ухудшать, размывать, разрушать; деградировать: Erosion is degrading the land. | Every day the environment is further degraded by toxic wastes. | The dolphin's habitat is being rapidly degraded. | An area several times as large is suffering a decline in productivity as it is degraded by overuse. | Without a stable climate, addressing other environmental threats will be impossible, ensuring a future of more degraded water and land.

33. degradation [ uncountable ] the process by which something changes to a worse condition разрушение, ухудшение, деградация; эрозия; размывание; выветривание: Even in advanced capitalist countries, the economic effect of degradation and erosion may not be negligible.

environmental degradation | (the) degradation of the environment: The report speaks of extensive environmental degradation caused by high population growth, rapid urbanization and fast industrialization. | I realized the data did not square with the theory that population growth causes resource depletion and environmental degradation. | In a few short but intense years we began to atone for centuries of environmental degradation.

land / soil degradation: There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones. | The next major phase of land degradation came after the abolition of slavery in 1838 and the rise of peasant agriculture. | Drought is the crux of the matter whether it is caused by or causes land degradation. | In this context, soil degradation exists but, taken as a whole, is unimportant. | The report notes that a combination of soil degradation and poor rainfall have increased food shortages and poverty.

to cause / lead to / result in degradation: It would wipe out farm profits, undermine rural employment and cause environmental degradation in East Anglia. | Many of these relations directly or indirectly affect land using decisions which lead to environmental degradation. | Ill-suited land-use and poor management can lead to environmental degradation with implications for present and future national economies.

to reduce // increase degradation: The techniques refer to new or modified agricultural practices to reduce soil degradation and erosion.

34. to deteriorate [ intransitive ] to become worse ухудшаться, становиться хуже; деградировать; разрушаться: Air quality is rapidly deteriorating in our cities.

35. deterioration [ uncountable ] ухудшение; деградация; разрушение; порча, повреждение: environmental / soil deterioration

36. deforestation | disafforestation [ uncountable ] the cutting or burning down of all the trees in an area; the destruction of forests by people вырубка леса, сведение лесов; обезлесение (местности): Deforestation has been shown to cause floods and drought. | Some parts of tropical America have seen over 70% deforestation. | As the pace of deforestation picked up, the area of land covered by dense forest declined considerably. | This was causing concern over a possible acceleration in deforestation in the region as a whole. | Last year, the rate of deforestation in the Amazon declined by almost 30 percent. | Of particular importance is the effect that deforestation has on tropical soils. | One percent of Brazil's total forest cover is being lost every year to deforestation.

to contribute to / lead to / result in deforestation способствовать обезлесению, приводить к обезлесению: Overgrazing by sheep and goats contributed to the deforestation. | Marsh explained how agricultural practices had led to deforestation, loss of wetlands, species extinction, and changes in weather patterns.

to suffer from deforestation: He said Africa was suffering badly from deforestation: for every ten trees cut down, only one was planted.

widespread / large-scale deforestation: The land is severely eroded as a result of widespread deforestation and intensive farming. | The authors also predict an increase in violent storms, fires, landslides and avalanches in the Alpine region as well as widespread deforestation. | Further large-scale deforestation is occurring in response to government-sanctioned development projects, many of which involve cash cropping and ranching.

37. reforestation | afforestation | reafforestation the action or result of converting an area into a forest by planting trees or their seeds посадка леса, лесоразведение, облесение; лесонасаждение: The main reason is China's huge reforestation effort.

38. to deforest | to disafforest | to cut down / chop (down) forests [ transitive – usually passive ] to cut or burn down all the trees in an area; to destroy forests вырубать лес, производить вырубку леса / деревьев; обезлесить (местность): The 400,000 square kilometres of the Amazon basin have already been deforested. | The fires are likely to permanently deforest the land. | But developing countries have no incentive to stop cutting down their forests. | But schemes to stop existing forests from being chopped (down) are excluded, despite their enormous potential for reducing emissions.

39. to reforest | to afforest [ transitive; intransitive ] to convert an area into a forest by planting trees or their seeds восстанавливать / возобновлять лес, восстанавливать лесные массивы, засадить лесом, облесить: Vietnam is reforesting quickly and India, which has almost as much forest as Indonesia, is gaining a bit each year.