Environment

• Etymologically, Environment means sense of "the aggregate of the

conditions in which a person or thing lives.“
• It means Everything that surrounds us at a given point of time is
environment.
• When we talk about natural environment, we refer to a particular
geographical region especially affected by human activity.
Ecology and Ecosystem

• The term ecology derives itself from the Greek words Oikos (home)
and Logos (study), translating as ‘the study of the home/ habitat’
• The term “Ecosystem” was first coined by A.G.Tansley, an English
botanist, in 1935.
• The ecosystem is the structural and functional unit of biosphere, where
the living organisms interact with each other and the surrounding
environment.
• In other words, an ecosystem is a chain of interaction between organisms
and their environment.
• It can be as huge as planet or small as a tiny drop of water (water+
microorganisms).
Types of Ecosystem

There are two types of ecosystem:

1. Natural Ecosystem
• Terrestrial Ecosystem (forest)
• Aquatic Ecosystem (pond)

2. Anthropogenic Ecosystem
(cropland, garden, aquarium)
Terrestrial Ecosystems

Terrestrial ecosystems are exclusively land-based ecosystems. There are

different types of terrestrial ecosystems distributed around various
geological zones. They are as follows:
1. Forest Ecosystems
2. Grassland Ecosystems
3. Tundra Ecosystems
4. Desert Ecosystem
1.Forest Ecosystem

• A forest is a complex ecological system in which trees are the dominant life-form. About one third
of the Earth's land is covered in forest. There are three main types of forests, defined by latitude:
taiga (boreal) forests, temperate forests, and tropical forests.
Significance of forest-
• Carbon sequestration (capture and removal)
• Oxygen
• Habitat for several flora and fauna
• Timber
• NTFP ( Leaves, honey, twigs, fruits)
• Checks soil erosion and surface water runoff
• Helps regulate global temperature (global warming)
• Hydrological cycle
2. Grassland Ecosystem
• In a grassland ecosystem, the vegetation is dominated by grasses and
herbs. They are often located between temperate forests at high
latitudes and deserts at subtropical latitudes. Grasslands receive
about 500 to 950 mm of rain per year compared to deserts, which
receive less than 300 mm and tropical forests, which receive more
than 2,000 mm.
• Temperate grasslands, savanna grasslands are some of the examples
of grassland ecosystems.
Two major types of grasslands:
Tropical grassland Temperate grassland
1. These occur on either side of the equator and 1. Found in the mid-latitudinal zones and in the
extend to the tropics interior part of the continent
2. Receive 50-130cm precipitation 2. Receives 25-75 cm precipitation
3. Rainfall occurs 3. Precipitation – dew and snow
4. . Eg: East Africa – Savanna 4. Argentina – Pampas
Brazil- Campos America – Prairie
Venezuela- Llions South Africa – Veld
Asia – Steppe
Australia – Down
3. Tundra Ecosystem
• Tundra ecosystems are treeless regions found in the Arctic and on the
tops of mountains, where the climate is cold and windy, and rainfall is
scant. Tundra lands are covered with snow for much of the year, but
summer brings bursts of wildflowers. The ecosystem in the Arctic or
mountain tops is tundra type.
• Tundra form in two distinct cold and dry regions. Arctic tundra are
found on high-latitude landmasses, above the Arctic Circle—in Alaska,
Canada, Russia, Greenland.
• Alpine tundra are located at very high elevations atop mountains,
where overnight temperatures fall below freezing.
4. Desert Ecosystem
• Deserts are found throughout the world. Deserts get about 250 millimeters
(10 inches) of rain per year.
• E.g. Thar, White salt desert of Kutch, Spiti Valley cold desert.

There are four major types of desert:

• Hot an dry desert (arid and subtropical desert)- e.g. Sahara desert
• Semi- arid desert (cold- winter desert)(Long and arid summers are followed
by a few months of winter)- e.g. Gobi desert in Mongolia
• Coastal Desert- e.g Atacama desert in South America
• Cold Desert- e.g. Antarctica, Arctic.
Aquatic Ecosystem

Aquatic ecosystems are ecosystems present in a body of water. These

can be further divided into two types, namely:

1. Freshwater Ecosystem
2. Marine Ecosystem
 Aquatic Ecosystems

Marine Water
Freshwater Ecosystem
Ecosystem

Estuaries, salt marshes,

mangrove
Lotic (running water)-
Lentic (stagnant)- Lakes forests, coral reefs, the
Rivers
open ocean, and the
deep-sea ocean.
Freshwater Ecosystem -
• The freshwater ecosystem is an aquatic ecosystem that includes lakes,
ponds, rivers, streams and wetlands.

1. Lentic Ecosystem- Lentic ecosystem (also called the lacustrine

ecosystem or the still water ecosystem). These are usually found in small or
large depression on earth surface which causes no exit for the water to flow
out. It is closed system. Natural processes in the long run change such a body
into swamp or wetland and finally to dryland.
2. Lotic Ecosystem- Lotic ecosystem (also called the riverine
ecosystem) refers to flowing water body such as a river, spring, or stream.
The basic function of these water body is to carry surplus rainwater back to
sea.
Marine Ecosystem -
• Marine ecosystems are aquatic environments with high levels of dissolved
salt. These include the open ocean, the deep-sea ocean, estuaries (a
coastal zone where oceans meet rivers) , Mangroves and coral reefs.
• These habitats are home to a wide variety of organisms, including fish,
crustaceans, mollusks, mammals, and seaweed.
• Marine ecosystems also play an important role in the Earth's climate and
weather patterns. The ocean absorbs a significant amount of carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere and plays a key role in regulating the planet's
temperature. Marine organisms, such as phytoplankton, also produce a
large amount of the Earth's oxygen.
• However, human activities such as pollution, overfishing, and climate
change are having a major impact on marine ecosystems. Many
marine species are facing extinction, and entire ecosystems, such as
coral reefs, are at risk. It's important to take action to protect and
conserve marine ecosystems for the sake of the planet and all the
organisms that depend on them.
Levels of Ecological Organization
• Population- A population is a group of individual organisms of the same species in
a given area
• Community- Community is a group of populations of different species in a given
area. It may include all the populations in that area – all plants, all animals, and
microorganisms
• Ecosystem- An ecosystem is the whole biotic community in a given area plus its
abiotic environment. It therefore includes the physical and chemical nature of
sediments water and gases as well as all the organisms.
• Biome- A group of ecosystems which are subject to similar climatic conditions and
which share a similar range of vegetation structures, animal diversity, and soil
types.
• Biosphere- Biosphere is a part of earth where life exist it is a zone
comprising the atmosphere Hydrosphere And lithosphere it forms
narrowly around the surface of the earth Sun is source of energy for
life is in biosphere while a water in soil supply nutrients for the living
organisms
Topic2- Ecosystem: Structure, function and
services
Structure of Ecosystem
The structure of an ecosystem is characterised by the organisation of both biotic
and abiotic components. This includes the distribution of energy in our
environment. It also includes the climatic conditions prevailing in that particular
environment.
The structure of an ecosystem can be split into two main components, namely:
• Biotic Components
• Abiotic Components

The biotic and abiotic components are interrelated in an ecosystem. It is an open

system where the energy and components can flow throughout the boundaries.
BIOTIC COMPONENTS
Biotic components refer to all life in an ecosystem. Based on nutrition, biotic
components can be categorised into autotrophs, heterotrophs and saprotrophs (or
decomposers).

Producers include all autotrophs such as plants. They are called autotrophs as they
can produce food through the process of photosynthesis. Consequently, all other
organisms higher up on the food chain rely on producers for food.
 Consumers or heterotrophs are organisms that depend on other organisms for food.
Types of consumers:
• Primary consumers are always herbivores that they rely on producers for food.
• Secondary consumers depend on primary consumers for energy. They can either be a
carnivore or an omnivore.
• Tertiary consumers are organisms that depend on secondary consumers for food.
Tertiary consumers can also be an omnivore.
• Quaternary consumers are present in some food chains. These organisms prey on
tertiary consumers for energy. Furthermore, they are usually at the top of a food chain as
they have no natural predators.

Decomposers include saprophytes such as fungi and bacteria. They directly thrive on the
dead and decaying organic matter. Decomposers are essential for the ecosystem as they
help in recycling nutrients to be reused by plants.
ABIOTIC COMPONENTS
• Abiotic components are the non-living physical and chemical factors that make up
an ecosystem. It includes air, water, soil, minerals, sunlight, temperature,
nutrients, wind, altitude, turbidity, etc.
Functions of ecosystem according to E.P. Odum (1971)-
• To maintain the productivity of the ecosystem.
• To maintain Food chain and food- web of the ecosystem
• To maintain biogeochemical cycle of the ecosystem
• To maintain spatial pattern in time and space {climate change is
disrupting the spatial(latitudinal distribution of species) and temporal
(biological clock of the species)}.
• To maintain homeostasis of the ecosystem
Homeostatsis
• Homeostasis is one of the fundamental properties shared by all
organisms on earth. It can be defined as ‘the ability to maintain
relatively constant internal conditions (i.e. different from their
environment)’. It is an example of the self-regulating process by which
every organism maintain stability. It is an approach to encounter
environmental variation and to maintain steady state internal
environment.
• e.g. Endothermic animals (warm- blooded) maintain a constant
internal temperature in a cold environment in order to survive with
minimum energy expenditure, Ectothermic organisms undergo
hibernation.
Productivity
• It is the rate of production of organic matter, i.e., amount of organic
matter accumulated in any unit of time.
Types of Productivity-
• Primary Productivity
• Secondary Productivity
• Net Productivity
• Primary Productivity-
the rate at which energy is converted to organic substances
by photosynthetic producers which obtain energy and nutrients by
harnessing sunlight, and chemosynthetic producers which obtain chemical
energy through oxidation.
Biomass produced per unit area per unit time.
1. GPP-
Rate of production of organic matter during photosynthesis.
2. NPP-
=(GPP – R). Biomass available for consumption to herbivores or
decomposers.
• Secondary Productivity-
The rate of energy storage at consumer level.
• Net Productivity-
The rate of storage of organic matter not used by consumers. It is
equivalent to NPP to the Secondary activity in a given unit of time.
Biomass
• The biomass of plants refers to the total amount of living matter in an organism
or a population.
• For plants, biomass typically refers to the total weight or volume of all the plant
parts, including the stem, leaves, roots, and reproductive structures such as
flowers and fruits. Biomass is often used as a measure of the productivity of a
plant or a population of plants.
• In ecology, it's often used as an indicator of the standing crop or the total amount
of living matter in a particular ecosystem at a given time. Biomass can also be
measured in terms of carbon, which is an important component of living
organisms, and is used to estimate the amount of carbon stored in a plant or a
population of plants.
• In agriculture and forestry, the biomass of plants can also refer to the total weight
or volume of the plants that are grown for commercial use, such as wood or
straw, this is mainly for the purpose of energy production.
FOOD CHAIN

• A food chain shows the movement of energy and matter through a system by
indicating the path of food from a producer to a final consumer that is, from one
trophic level to another trophic level.
• The first trophic level belongs to the primary producers,
• the second level to the herbivores (primary consumers), and the higher levels of
the carnivores (secondary consumers).
• Some consumers occupy a single trophic level, but many others, such as
omnivores,
• occupy more than one trophic level. The relationship between one trophic level
and adjacent trophic levels may be described by a food chain.
• The flow of energy through an ecosystem.
The energy that enters the ecosystem as
solar energy (radiant energy) and is then
passed along as chemical energy to
successive trophic levels.
• At each step energy is diverted, meaning
that the chemical energy available to each
trophic level is less than that available to
the preceding trophic level.
• Death at each level transfers energy to
decomposers.
• Energy lost as heat at each level is
returned to the external environment.
• Flow of food energy through
different trophic levels. First
level (the producer trophic
level),
• herbivores occupy the second
level (the primary consumer
trophic level), primary
carnivores occupy the
• third level (the secondary
consumer trophic level), and
secondary carnivores occupy
the fourth level (the
• tertiary consumer trophic
level).
Types of Food chain
• Grazing food chains begin with photosynthetic plants (primary producers).
Primary consumers (or herbivores) form the second link in the grazing food chain.
They gain their energy by consuming primary producers.
• Secondary consumers (or primary carnivores), the third link in the chain, gain
their energy by consuming herbivores.
• Tertiary consumers (or secondary carnivores) are animals that receive their
energy by consuming primary carnivores
• Detritus food chains-
• It begin with dead organic matter (detritus) and goes from non-living organic
matter to detritus-feeding organisms (detritivores) and their predators.
• A large amount of organic matter is generated by the death of plant’s parts,
animals and their excretion products in all ecosystems. Hence, detritus food chain
is present in all ecosystems.
Grazing Food chain Detritus Food Chain

1. the source of energy is living plant biomass 1. the source of energy is dead organic
(or net primary production). matter or detritus.

2. The flow of energy is unidirectional. 2. In the detritus food chain, the flow of energy is not
Plants→ Herbivores→ Carnivores unidirectional. The waste materials and dead organic
matter in each of the consumer trophic levels are
‘recycled,’
returning as an input to the dead organic matter at the
base of the detritus food chain.
Ecosystem Services (general)
Preventive-
• Forests and grasslands protect landscapes against erosion, nutrient loss, and
landslides through the binding action of roots.
• Flood mitigation.
• Trees act as wind breaks
Productive-
Food (Fruits, Leaves, Roots, Twigs, honey, spices)
Medicinal-
• Biodiversity is also a rich source of substances with therapeutic properties like
• morphine (used as an analgesic), quinine (used for the treatment of malaria) and
taxol (an anticancer drug).
• Aesthetic-
Tourism, bird- watching, gardening etc.
• Cultural-
1. Sacred groves. E.g. Sarna
Lesson 3: Biogeochemical Cycles, energy and
nutrient flow
Basic concept:
• Lithosphere
The lithosphere is composed of all the solid land mass comprising Earth’s crust and
upper mantle.

• Atmosphere
The atmosphere is the body of gases that surrounds our planet. Most of our atmosphere
is located close to the Earth’s surface.

• Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere includes all the gaseous, liquid and solid forms of water of the Earth.
• Biosphere
The biosphere is made
up of the parts of Earth
where life exists. The
biosphere extends
from the deepest root
systems of trees to the
dark environment of
ocean trenches, to lush
rain forests and high
mountaintops.
Biogeochemical cycle
• Any of the natural pathways by which essential elements of
living matter are circulated is known as biogeochemical cycle. The
term biogeochemical is a contraction that refers to the consideration
of the biological, geological, and chemical aspects of each cycle.
There are three basic types of biogeochemical cycles:
• hydrological
• gaseous
• sedimentary
Water cycle (Hydrological )
Water
• Most of the Earth’s water masses reside in the oceans. Continental
water makes up about 3.5 percent of the Earth’s water. About three-
quarters of this amount (29 million cubic kilometers) is present as
polar ice caps and
• glaciers. About 5.3 million cubic kilometers as deep groundwater.
Thus, only the remaining fraction can take part in the water exchange
between the oceans, the atmosphere, and the continents. This
remaining part includes shallow groundwater and soil moisture, water
in lakes, reservoirs, and swamps, water storage in river channels,
biosphere water. The amount in the atmosphere is only 0.013 million
cubic kilometres.
• Normal, clean rain has a pH value of between 5.0 and 5.5, which is
slightly acidic. However, when rain combines with sulfur dioxide or
nitrogen oxides—produced from power plants and automobiles—the
rain becomes much more acidic. Typical acid rain has a pH value of
4.0.
• Average pH of Ocean water is 8.1
Steps of Hydrological cycle:
• Evaporation/ Transpiration
• Condensation
• Precipitation
• Infiltration
• Runoff
• Percolation
1.Evaporation: Water from the Earth's surface, such as from oceans, lakes, and rivers,
evaporates into water vapor due to heat from the sun.
2.Transpiration: Water is also released into the atmosphere through transpiration, which is
the process by which plants release water vapor through small openings in their leaves.
3.Condensation: Water vapor in the atmosphere cools and condenses to form clouds.
4.Precipitation: Water droplets in clouds grow heavy enough to fall to the Earth's surface
as precipitation, such as rain, snow, sleet, or hail.
5.Infiltration: The precipitation that soaks into the ground is called infiltration.
6.Runoff: Some of the precipitation will runoff into rivers and lakes, while some will
infiltrate the soil to become groundwater
7.Percolation : The infiltration continue deeper into ground and fill the underground water
reserves called aquifers.