Introduction to Environment

and Ecosystem
Module 1
 The word “Environment” is derived from the French word “Environner” that means to
encircle or surround.
 All the biological and non-biological things surrounding an organism are thus included in
environment.
 Environment can be defined as: External surroundings and conditions which directly or
indirectly affects the living organism.
 It can also be defined as:
Environment is sum total of water, air, land, interrelationship among themselves and also
with human beings, other living organisms and property.
 Environment
 Biotic  Abiotic
Made up all living All physical factor like
organisms(plant, animals and temperature, humidity, water,
microorganisms) including soil, minerals, gases etc.
their reaction, interactions and
interrelated actions.
 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

 Any constitutes of the environment which directly or indirectly

affects the growth and development of an organisms is called
environmental or ecological factor. ◉ E.g. climatic factor, biotic
factor, edhapic (related to soil) factors
 ECOLOGY

 The word ecology is derived from two greek words “oikos” meaning house,
habitation or place of living and “logos” meanings ‘study‘.
 Ecology is the study of interrelationship between living organisms and their
physical and biological environment.
 Physical environment includes light and heat or solar radiation, moisture,
wind, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients is in soil, water and atmosphere.
 The biological environment includes organisms of all kind as well as plants
and animals.
 ECOSYSTEM
 Ecosystem is made up of two words “eco” and “system”. Eco means
environment and system means an interacting and interdependent complex.
 Definition of Ecosystem
1. The organisms of any community besides interacting among themselves,
always have functional relationship with the environment. The structural and
functional system of communities and environment is called ecological
system.
2. It is a community of interdependent organisms together with the environment.
3. Any unit that includes all of the organisms in a given area interacting with the
physical environment, so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic
structure, biotic diversity and material cycles within the system.
 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

  Environmental science is the study of earth, air, water, living organisms and the man
with his impact on environment.
 It is highly multidisciplinary integrating disciplines of physical, chemical and
biological sciences, geology, mathematics, sociology etc.
 Branches of biology like Botany, zoology, Microbiology, Genetics, Biochemistry helps
in understanding the biotic components and their interactions.
 Basics concept of physics, chemistry, Geology, Atmospheric science, oceanography help us to
understand the physical and chemical structure of the biotic components and energy transfer
and it’s flow.
 Mathematics, statics and computer sciences serve as effective tools in environment modeling
and management.
 Sociology and Economics helps us to understand socio- economics aspects associated with
various developmental activities.
 Environmental studies is therefore a multi disciplinary subject where different aspects are dealt
with holistic approach
 CONSERVATION

1. Ecology and biodiversity.

2. Environment pollution and control.
3. Social issues in relation to development and environment.
4. Human population and environment

◉ Environmental studies can highly specialized also which may concentrate or more technical
aspects like Environmental science, Environmental engineering, environmental management etc.
 Environment belongs to all and in this important for all. Whatever be the
occupation or age of a person, he or she will be affected by environment by his
or her deeds. Thus, the environment is one subject that actually global in nature.
 Environment studies is also very important science it deals with the most basic
or routine issues like safe and clean drinking water, hygienic living conditions,
clean and fresh air, fertile land, healthy food and development that is
sustainable.
 Environment studies helps to solve biggest environmental problems like acid
rain, global warming, ozone depletion and resources depletion.
 ENVIROMENTAL EDUCATION
 It is the study of factors influencing ecosystems, mental and physical health, living and
working conditions and pollution.
 It has very important role to play in dealing with the global and local issues of
environment.
 It is important in developing awareness about the consequences and the challenges
which arise due to man handling the environment.
 It also help in improving the attitude towards environment and in understanding the
environment in a better way.
 It also improves the skills pertaining to conservation of resources and maintaining
ecological balance and sustainable development
 OBJECTIVE ENVIROMENTAL EDUCATION
 To increase awareness and sensitivity to total environment.
 To increase the knowledge of environment.
 To improve attitude towards environment.
 To provide motivation for environmental protection.
 To increase participation and to develop a sense of responsibility and urgency
regarding environmental problems and to ensure appropriate actions to solve the
problems.
 COMPONENTS OF ENVIROMENT
 Environment can be divided in to 4 parts
1. Atmosphere
2. Hydrosphere
3. Lithosphere
4. Biosphere
 ATMOSPHERE - mixture of (gases +vapor + subatomic particles) that entirely covers the earth
extending outward several kilometers.
 HYDROSPHERE - Water environment. ◉ 70% of earth is covered water. ◉ Water: Sea Ocean,
lake, River, glaciers. ◉ It is estimates 1360 million cubic km of water. ◉ Out of this 97 % Ocean
and sea, 2% in glaciers and icecaps, 1% fresh water
 LITHOSPHERE- The outer soil crust of the earth is lithosphere ◉ The living organisms, plant,
and vegetation are supported by the lithosphere. ◉ It also contains resources like minerals, organic
as well as inorganic matter and to some extend of air and water. ◉ It plays an important role as it
not only produces food for human beings and animals, but also the decomposition of organic
wastes is carried out by a host of microorganisms in the soil.
 BIOSPHERE - Thin outer crust. ◉ Includes living organism and their environment. ◉ It extends
from the lowest sea bed level to about 24 km of the atmosphere. ◉ Biosphere= Lithosphere
+Hydrosphere+ atmosphere ◉ The life supporting resources are also available from biosphere. ◉
The waste products in gases, liquids and solids waste forms are discharged into biosphere. ◉
Though the sustaining and assimilative capacity of the biosphere is tremendous but it is not infinite.
◉ The system is in operation for millions of years but now it is showing stress, primarily due to
impact of human upon environment.
 ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

  Pollutant:
For normal and healthy living a conductive environment is required by all the living beings. The
favorable unpolluted or clean environment has a specified composition.
When this consumption gets changed by addition of harmful substances, the environment is called
polluted environment and the substance polluting it is called pollutant
 Environmental Pollution:
Any undesirable changes in the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of any
components of the environment(air, water, soil) which can cause harmful effects on
various forms of life or property.
 The various types of pollutants are:
1. Air Pollution
2. Water Pollution
3. Noise Pollution
4. Land Pollution
5. Thermal Pollution
 BIODIVERSITY
 According to IUCN (2004), the total number of plant and animal species described so far is
slightly more than 1.5 million.
 Estimates place the global species diversity at several million.
 A large proportion of the species waiting to be discovered are in the tropics.
 More than 70 per cent of all the species recorded are animals, while plants (including algae,
fungi, bryophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms) comprise no more than 22 per cent of the
total.
 Among animals, insects are the most species-rich taxonomic group, making up more than 70
per cent of the total.
 The number of fungi species in the world is more than the combined total of the species of
fishes, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.
 The largely tropical Amazonian rain forest in South America has the greatest biodiversity on
earth.
Biodiversity
 Biodiversity is the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat.
 Biodiversity is measured by two major components: species richness, and species evenness.
Species richness
 It is the measure of the number of species found in a community.
Species evenness
 Species evenness is a measure of the relative abundance of the different species making up the
richness of an area.
 Example: The sample forest A has 4 tigers, 5 deer and 6 rabbits and sample forest B has 1 tiger,
6 deer and 8 rabbits. Both samples have the same richness (3 species – species richness) and the
same total number of individuals (15). However, the sample forest A has more evenness than
the sample forest B.
 Low evenness indicates that a few species dominate the site.
 Different levels of Biodiversity
 Genetic diversity
 Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species.
 A single species might show high diversity at the genetic level (E.g. Homo sapiens: Chinese,
Indian American, African etc.).
 India has more than 50,000 genetically different strains of rice and 1,000 varieties of mango.
 Genetic diversity allows species to adapt to changing environments. This diversity aims to
ensure that some species survive drastic changes and thus carry on desirable genes.
 Species that differ from one another in their genetic makeup do not interbreed in nature.
 Closely-related species have in common much of their hereditary characteristics. For instance,
about 98.4 per cent of the genes of humans and chimpanzees are the same.
 Species diversity
 It is the ratio of one species population over total number of organisms across all species in the
given biome. ‘Zero’ would be infinite diversity, and ‘one’ represents only one species present.
 Species diversity is a measure of the diversity within an ecological community that incorporates
both species richness (the number of species in a community) and the evenness of species.
 In general, species diversity decreases as we move away from the equator towards the poles.
 With very few exceptions, tropics (latitudinal range of 23.5° N to 23.5° S) harbour more species
than temperate or polar areas.
 Bioprospecting: nations endowed with rich biodiversity explore molecular, genetic and species-
level diversity to derive products of economic importance.
 Ecological diversity
 Ecological diversity refers to different types of habitats. A habitat is the cumulative factor of
the climate, vegetation and geography of a region.
 It includes various biological zones, like a lake, desert, coast, estuaries, wetlands, mangroves,
coral reefs etc.
 At the ecosystem level, India, for instance, with its deserts, rain forests, mangroves, coral reefs,
wetlands, estuaries, and alpine meadows has a greater ecosystem diversity than a Scandinavian
country like Norway.
 Endemism
 There are more than 200000 species in India of which several are confined to India (endemic).
 Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as
an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place
are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere.
 A particular type of animal or plant may be endemic to a zone, a state or a country. The extreme opposite
of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution.
 Keystone species
 Keystone species is a species whose addition to or loss from an ecosystem leads to major changes in
the occurrence of at least one other species.
 Certain species in an ecosystem is considered more important in determining the presence of many other
species in that ecosystem.
 All top predators (Tiger, Lion, Crocodile, Elephant) are considered as keystone species because they
regulate all other animal population indirectly.
 Hence top predators are given much consideration in conservation.
 If keystone species is lost, it will result in the degradation of the whole ecosystem.
 For example, certain plant species (ebony tree, Indian-laurel) exclusively depends upon bats for its
pollination. If the bat population is reduced, then regeneration of particular plants becomes more difficult.
 Biodiversity of India

 India is recognized as one of the mega-diverse countries, rich in biodiversity and associated

traditional knowledge.
 India has 23.39% of its geographical area under forest and tree cover.
 With just 2.4% of the land area, India accounts for nearly 7% of the recorded species even
while supporting almost 18% of the human population.
 In terms of species richness, India ranks seventh in mammals, ninth in birds and fifth in
reptiles.
 In terms of endemism of vertebrate groups, India’s position is tenth in birds with 69
species, fifth in reptiles with 156 species and seventh in amphibians with 110 species.
 India’s share of crops is 44% as compared to the world average of 11%.
 Biodiversity Hotspots

 Biodiversity hotspots are regions with high species richness and a high degree of endemism.

 The British biologist Norman Myers coined the term “biodiversity hotspot” in 1988 as a
biogeographic region characterized both by exceptional levels of plant endemism and by serious
levels of habitat loss.
 Conservation International (CI) adopted Myers’ hotspots and in 1996, the organization made the
decision to undertake a reassessment of the hotspots concept.
 According to CI, to qualify as a hotspot a region must meet two strict criteria:
 It must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (> 0.5% of the world’s total) as endemics –
which is to say, it must have a high percentage of plant life found nowhere else on the planet. A hotspot,
in other words, is irreplaceable.
 It has to have lost at least 70% of its original habitat. (It must have 30% or less of its original natural
vegetation). In other words, it must be threatened.
 ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
 Environmental degradation: “The overall lowering of environmental qualities due to damaged
caused by both natural events and human activities in the basic structure of the environment at
local, regional and global levels adversely affecting all living organisms including man”.
 Reason :
◉ Increase of population growth
◉ Rapid deforestation
◉ Industrialization
◉ Unplanned urbanization
◉ Nuclear explotion
◉ Releasing toxic gases from atmosphere
◉ Power plants
 Impact can be calculate by following equation
 I = P* A* T Where, I= Impact P= Population size T= Degradation pollution caused per unit of
resources used A=Per capita consumption of resources In developing countries Ps or P3
 i.e. population, poverty and pollution are key factor for rapid environmental urbanization which
cause high rate degradation
 Effects: ◉ Destruction of environment stability and ecology balance ◉ Natural activity like
forest fire. Deforestation, earthquake, floods, volcanic eruption.
 Natural resources, Conservation, & its Depletion.

 RESOURCES
Any thing, which is useful man, or can be transformed into a useful product or can be used to
produce a useful thing, can be referred as ‘resources’. Example: rocks, minerals, soil, rivers, plants
& animal.
  NATURAL RESOUCES
 Materials that come from the Earth.
 Something useful for humans need to survive. Those resources that are drawn directly from the
nature and used without modifications are called Natural Resources. E.g.: air, water, minerals etc.
 TYPES OF NATURAL RESOURCES
 On the basis of origin:
 Abiotic
 Biotic
 On the basis renewability
 Renewable
 Non-renewable 
 On the basis renewability
Inexhaustible
 Exhaustible
 On the basis of origin
 ABIOTIC RESOURCES
  Abiotic natural resources are all the non-living resources that cannot replace themselves
easily and are obtained from the surface of the earth’s crust.  Some of these resources are
reproduced at extremely slow rates in terms of human life periods.  Examples would include
water, land, mineral ores such as copper, gold, silver and aluminium.
 BIOTIC RESOURCES  Biotic natural resources are all living resources that are able to
reproduce, replace life and grow in numbers.  These are all the resources that are obtainable
from the biosphere.  Example agriculture, fish, wildlife etc.
 ON THE BASIS RENEWABILITY:
 RENEWABLE RESOURCES
 There are some resources that cannot be exhausted and are available in plentiful.  These can
be easily replenished through natural processes in different ecosystems and are often known as
renewable natural resources.  For example, sunlight and wind are two examples of renewable
natural resources.
 NON-RENEWABLE RESOURCES
 These are those resources which are not renewed/replenished and are affected by human activity
 Non renewable resources are exhaustible and are extracted faster than the rate at which they
formed. For e.g. fossil fuels.
 On the basis of EXHAUSTIBLE
 INEXHAUSTIBLE RESOURCES
 It is a natural resource that will never run out so if we take advantage of the greatest natural
resources will not be depleted and will continue to exist, such as water, sunlight, tidal energy,
ocean energy and wind energy.
 Wind power technology is one of inexhaustible resources examples.
 EXHAUSTIBLE RESOURCES
 These resources are limited in nature and they are non-maintainable.
Comes under non-renewable category.
Example: coal, petrol.
 Resource Depletion
 Resource Depletion is term used to describe the resources in a country or area being used up
and has no more of the current resource.
  Resource Depletion includes the depletion of resources such as trees, oil, fish, fossil fuels,
minerals etc.
  Once these resources excessive used to the extent that they cannot be replace in time to
fulfill the needs of mankind in time, they become exhausted and may eventually disappear from
the earth altogether.
 Causes of Resource Depletion
 Over-consumption / excessive or unnecessary use of resources
 Overpopulation
 Slash and burn agricultural practices
 Technological and Industrial Development
 Erosion
 Exploitation of Natural Resources
 The exploitation of natural resources started from 19-20th century. Today, about 80% of the
world’s energy consumption is sustained by the extraction of fossil fuels, which consists of oil,
coal and gas.
 Another non-renewable resource that is exploited by humans are Subsoil minerals such as
valuable metals that are mainly used in the production of industrial property.
 Intensive agriculture is an example of a mode of production that hinders many aspects of the
natural environment, for example the degradation of forests in a terrestrial ecosystem and water
pollution in an aquatic ecosystem.
 Problems Arising from the Exploitation of Natural Resources

 Deforestation Forced migration

 Greenhouse gas increase  Natural hazard/Natural disaster
 Desertification  Soil erosion
 Extreme energy  Oil depletion
 Extinction of species  Ozone depletion
 Water pollution  Extinction of rare minerals
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Conservation of Water
Conservation of Soil
Conservation of Energy
 Conservation of Water
 Conservation of water are essential for the survival of mankind, plants and animals. This can be
achieved by adopting the following methods:  Constructing dams and reservoirs to regulate
supply of water to the fields, as well as to enable generating hydroelectricity.  Sewage should
be treated and only the clear water should be released into the rivers.  Industrial wastes
(effluents) should be treated to prevent chemical and thermal pollution of fresh water. 
Judicious use of water in our day-to-day life.  Rainwater harvesting should be done by storing
rainwater and recharging groundwater.
 Conservation of Soil
 Soil conservation means checking soil erosion and improving soil fertility by adopting various
methods. Let us know some of these methods.
 Maintenance of soil fertility: The fertility can be maintained by adding manure and fertilizers
regularly as well as by rotation of crop.
 Make compost from your kitchen waste and use it for your kitchen- garden.
 Reforestation: Planting of trees and vegetation reduces soil erosion by both water and wind. 
Do not irrigate the plants using a strong flow of water as it would wash off the soil.
 Better use sprinkling irrigation.
 Conservation of Energy
 At Home:
 We should not keep lights unnecessarily switched on.
 Reduce the energy your appliances consume by analysing star ratings.
 Use solar cooker for cooking, which will make the food more nutritio
 SUSTIANABLE DEVELOPMENT
  SD is the need of present with compromising the need of future generation,
 In other words, ever generation should leave air, water and soil as pure and unpolluted as
possible. Although it is a difficult thing, it can be achieved through proper environmental
management.
 To meet basic requirement with increase of population, industrialization is must, but it results in
pollution, environmental degradation and causes ecology unbalance.
 As the same time industrialization create job opportunity, rises the standard of living and solve
unemployment problem.
 So require balance between environment and development simultaneously, to achieve goal SD
is only answer.
 SD can be done if following concept are taken care of:
◉ Control of pollution
◉ Reduction of excessive use of resources
◉ Resource conservation
◉ Use renewable energy sources
◉ Recycling and reuse of material for waste minimization
◉ Use cleaner fuel and technology
◉ Concentrating more on social and economic development of the community
◉ Development of good mass transport facility to reduce pollution
◉ By using effective management tool like Environmental management system like ISO 14001,
Environment Impact assessment (EIA) etc
 Energy sources
 Any physical activity in this world, whether carried out by human beings or by nature, is cause
due to flow of energy in one form or the other. The word ‘energy’ itself is derived from the
Greek word ‘en-ergon’, which means ‘in-work’ or ‘work content’. The work output depends on
the energy input.
 Primary and Secondary energy
 Commercial and Non commercial energy
 Renewable and Non-Renewable energy
 Conventional and Non-conventional energy
 Primary and Secondary Energy
 Primary energy sources are those that are either found or stored in nature. Common primary
energy sources are coal, oil, natural gas, and biomass (such as wood). Other primary energy
 Primary energy sources available include nuclear energy from radioactive substances, thermal
energy stored in earth's interior, and potential energy due to earth's gravity. Primary energy
sources are costly converted in industrial utilities into secondary energy sources; for example
coal, oil or gas converted into steam and electricity. Primary energy can also be used directly.
Some energy sources have non energy uses, for example coal or natural gas can be used as a
feedstock in fertilizer plants.
 Commercial Energy and Non Commercial Energy
 Commercial Energy
 The energy sources that are available in the market for a definite price are known as commercial
energy. By far the most important forms of commercial energy are electricity, coal and refined
petroleum products. Commercial energy forms the basis of industrial, agricultural, transport and
commercial development in the modern world. In the industrialized countries, commercialized
fuels are predominant source not only for economic production, but also for many household
tasks of general population. Examples: Electricity, lignite, coal, oil, natural gas etc.
 Non-commercial energy sources
 The energy sources that are not available in the commercial market for a price are classified as
non-commercial energy. Non-commercial energy sources include fuels such as firewood, cattle
dung and agricultural wastes, which are traditionally gathered, and not bought at a price used
especially in rural households. These are also called traditional fuels. Non-commercial energy is
often ignored in energy accounting. Example: Firewood, agro waste in rural areas; solar energy
for water heating, electricity generation, for drying grain, fish and fruits; animal power for
transport, threshing, lifting water for irrigation, crushing sugarcane; wind energy for lifting
water and electricity generation.
Renewable Energy
Conventional & Non-Conventional Energy
 Review questions
1) Define: Environment, Pollution, Pollutant, Environmental Science
2) What are the components of Environment?
3) What are the impact on technology development on environment?
4) Write a short note on environmental degradation
5) Write a short note on Sustainable development
6) What are the scope and principles of Environmental education?