Our Environment

Environment includes all of the external factors

affecting an organism. These factors may be other living
organisms (biotic factors) or nonliving variables (abiotic
factors), such as temperature, rainfall, day length, wind,
and ocean currents.
What happens when we add waste to our environment?
Some of this waste may be broken down by
Biological processes (eg. Saprophytes like fungi
and

bacteria)

and

this

waste

is

called

BIODEGRADABLE.
Examples: plant and animal waste, vegetable
peels etc.
Some of this waste will not be broken down by
Biological Processes and this waste is called
NONBIODEGRADABLE.
Examples: Polythene bags, plastics, metal
objects etc. Non biodegradable substances can be
harmful to the environment.

An ecosystem is a natural system consisting of all

plants, animals and microorganisms (biotic factors) in an
area functioning together with all the non-living physical
(abiotic) factors of the environment.
The abiotic components of an ecosystem include
various

physical

and

chemical

factors.

Physical factors: Eg. Sunlight and shade , average

temperature, average precipitation, nature of soil (for
terrestrial ecosystems) etc.
Chemical factors: Eg. Level of water and air in soil , level
of plant nutrients dissolved in soil moisture (for
terrestrial) and in the water (for aquatic) etc.
Biotic Components: Organisms that make up the
biotic component of an ecosystem are usually
classified as
autotrophs and heterotrophs, based on how they get
their food or organic nutrients they need to survive.

1 primary consumers.
1. Tertiary or higher level consumers feed only on
animal-eating animals.
Omnivores can eat both plants and animals.Examples
are pigs, rats, cockroaches, and humans Autotrophs
(producers)-are organisms that can manufacture the
organic compounds they need as nutrients from simple
inorganic compounds obtained from their environment.
In most terrestrial ecosystems, green plants are the
producers.

In

aquatic

ecosystems,

most

of

the

producers are phytoplankton, consisting of various

species of of floating and drifting bacteria and protist.
Some producers , mostly specialized bacteria, can
extract inorganic compounds from their environment and
convert them into organic nutrient compounds without
the presence of sunlight. These producers are called
chemosynthesis.
Heterotrophs(consumers)-are organisms which cannot
synthesize the organic nutrients they need and get their
organic or other consumers. There are several classes
of of consumers, depending on there food source.

1. Primary consumers (herbivores) feed directly on

plants or other producers.
2. Secondary consumers (carnivores) feed only on.
3. Detrtivores (decomposers and detritus feeders)
live off of detritus, parts of dead organisms and
castoff fragments and waste of living organisms.
Decomposers digest detritus by breaking down the
complex organic molecules in these materials into
simpler,

inorganic

compounds.

Decomposers

consist of various bacteria and fungi.

Natural and Artificial Ecosystems
Natural ecosystems: Forests, ponds and lakes
Artificial Ecosystems (manmade): gardens, crop fields,
aquarium
FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS
A food chain is the flow of energy from one organism to
the next. Organisms in a food chain are grouped into
trophic levels from the Greek word for nourishment,
trophikos based on how many links they are removed
from the primary producers. They usually start with a
primary producer and end with a carnivore. A food

chain shows how each living thing gets its food. i.e.
WHO EATS WHOM. Each link in this chain is food for
the next link.Grass

Deer

Lion

Most animals are part of more than one food chain and
eat more than one kind of food in order to meet their
food and energy requirements. These interconnected
food chains form a food web.
A food web extends the food chain concept from a
simple linear pathway to a complex network of
interactions.
Food webs

show

how

many

animals

are

interconnected by different paths.

FOOD WEBS show how plants and animals are
connected in many ways to help them all survive.

Trophic levels are the feeding position in a food chain

such as primary producers, herbivore, primary
carnivore, etc. Green plants form the first trophic
level, the producers. Herbivores form the second
trophic level, while carnivores form the third and even
the fourth trophic levels.

Transfer of Energy in Food Chains: Energy and organic

compounds are passed from one trophic level to the next.
What is the efficiency of the transfer? In a highly efficient
transfer almost all of the energy would be transferred -- 80%
or more. In a low efficiency transfer very little energy would
be transferred -- less than 20%. In a typical food chain, not all
animals or plants are eaten by the next trophic level. In
addition, there are portions or materials (such as beaks, shells,
bones, etc.) that are also not eaten. That is why the transfer of
matter and energy from one trophic level to the next is not an
efficient one.
One way to calculate the energy transfer is by measuring or
sizing the energy at one trophic level and then at the next.
Calorie is a unit of measure used for energy. The energy
transfer from one trophic level to the next is about 10%. For
example, if there are 10,000 calories at one level, only 1,000
are transferred to the next. This 10% energy and material
transfer rule can be depicted with an ecological pyramid that
looks like this:

To summarize: In the flow of energy and inorganic nutrients

through the ecosystem, a few generalizations can be made:
1 The ultimate source of energy (for most ecosystems) is
the sun
2 The ultimate fate of energy in ecosystems is for it to be
lost as heat.
3 Energy and nutrients are passed from organism to
organism through the food chain as one organism eats
another.
4 Decomposers remove the last energy from the remains of
organisms.
5 Inorganic nutrients are cycled, energy is not.

Biological magnification
Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification, or
biological

magnification

is

the

increase

in

concentration of a substance, such as the pesticide

DDT, that occurs in a food chain as a consequence of:
Food chain energetics
Low (or nonexistent) rate of excretion/degradation
of the substance.
Biological magnification is the tendency of pollutants to
become concentrated in successive trophic levels.
Often, this is to the detriment of the organisms in which
these materials concentrate, since the pollutants are
often toxic. Biomagnification occurs when organisms at
the bottom of the food chain concentrate the material
above its concentration in the surrounding soil or water.
Pollutants that biomagnify have another characteristic.
Not only are they taken up by the producers, but they
are absorbed and stored in the bodies of the consumers.
This often occurs with pollutants soluble in fat such as
DDT

The "best" example of biomagnification comes from

DDT. This long-lived pesticide (insecticide) has improved
human health in many countries by killing insects such
as mosquitoes that spread disease. On the other hand,
DDT is effective in part because it does not break down
in the environment. It is picked up by organisms in the
environment and incorporated into fat. Even here, it
does no real damage in many organisms (including
humans). In others, however, DDT is deadly or may
have more insidious, long-term effects. In birds, for
instance, DDT interferes with the deposition of calcium
in the shells of the bird's eggs. The eggs laid are very
soft and easily broken; birds so afflicted are rarely able
to raise young and this causes a decline in their
numbers.

HOW

DO

OUR

ACTIVITIES

AFFECT

THE

ENVIRONMENT?
Environmental Problems: Depletion of Ozone Layer,
Waste Disposal
Ozone depletion
describes two distinct, but related observations: a slow,
steady decline of about 4 percent per decade in the total
amount of ozone in Earth's stratosphere since around
1980; and a much larger, but seasonal, decrease in
stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions during
the same period. The latter phenomenon is commonly
referred to as the ozone hole.
CFCs and other contributory substances are commonly
referred to as ozone-depleting substances (ODS).
Since the ozone layer prevents most harmful UVB

wavelengths (270315 nm) of ultraviolet light (UV light)

from passing through the Earth's atmosphere, observed
and projected decreases in ozone have generated
worldwide concern leading to adoption of the Montreal
Protocol banning the production of CFCs and halons as
well as related ozone depleting chemicals such as
carbon tetrachloride and trichloroethane. The ozone
layer in the stratosphere blocks out the suns deadly
ultraviolet rays. It acts as our planets natural sunblock.It
is suspected that a variety of biological consequences
such as increases in skin cancer, damage to plants, and
reduction of plankton populations in the ocean's photic
zone may result from the increased UV exposure due to
ozone depletion.

Waste Disposal
Every year, millions of tons of "trash are generated..
Less than one-quarter of it is recycled; the rest is
incinerated or buried in landfills. With a little forethought,
we could reuse or recycle more than 70 percent of the
landfilled waste, which includes valuable materials such

as glass, metal, and paper. This would reduce the

demand on virgin sources of these materials and
eliminate potentially severe environmental, economic,
and public health problems.
The Eco friendly mantra is
REDUCE

REUSE

RECYCLE