Environment

Environment
environ + ment = encircle all around Environment : The complex of physical, chemical and biotic factors that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Environmental factors
Substances (soil , water) Conditions (temperature, light) Forces (wind , gravity) Organisms (plants , animals) Time

Environment factors

Ecology
Ecology is the defined study of the relations of organisms, or groups of organisms to their environment, or the science of the interrelations between living organisms and their environments.

 Ecology is the science of all the relations of all organisms to their environments (Taylor) Ecology is the study of plants and animals in relation to their environment

Environment management
It is not merely a management of

environment but it is essentially the management of environment of activities with intolerable constraints imposed by the environment itself and with full consideration of ecological factors.

Management of environment involves

environmental planning, conservation of resources, environmental status evaluation and environmental legislation and administration

Characteristic features of EM
It deals with a world affected by humans It supports sustainable development It concerns with short term and long term

planning as well as from local to global scale It seeks to integrate natural and social science, policy making and planning

Sustainable development
Development that meets the needs of the

present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs OR Improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying of the supporting ecosystem

Eco development
UNCED (3-14 June,1992) at Rio De Janeiro

, accepted sustainable development as eco development UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development Rio Declarationfor environment and development programme for sustainable development.

Ecosystems

Ecosystem
An organic community of plants and animals

viewed within its physical environment or habitat. (Monkhouse & Small) Ecosystems are ecological systems in which plants and animals are linked to their environment through a series of feedback loops Eg: terrestrial ,aquatic, fresh water ,marine ecosystems

Components of ecosystem
Biotic components (living) Abiotic components (physical environment or non-living)

Biotic components
Autotrophs (producers) Hetrotrophs (consumers) Macro consumers (Herbivores, Carnivores, Omnivores) Micro consumers (Decomposes or Osmotrophs)

Abiotic components Solid mineral matter of the earth (lithosphere) Oceans,rivers,lakes (hydrosphere) Gaseous mixture in the air (the atmosphere)

Energy flow
Energy is defined as the ability to do work and

is the essence of life. Without energy transfers there could be no life and no ecological systems. The energy reaching the earths surface is transformed and/or absorbed by plants and other organisms

Biogeochemical cycling
The growth of life requires about 40 elements. Hydrogen Oxygen Carbon All the elements continue to cycle at the

ecosystem level; they are also an integral part of the larger or global cycle

Hydrological cycle
Also known as water cycle Involves a interchange of water between

earths surface and the atmosphere through rainfall and evatranspiration

Carbon cycle
Carbon moves from the atmospheric pool to

green plants (producers) , then to animals (consumers) and finally to bacteria and other micro organisms (decomposers) that return to atmosphere, through decomposition of dead organic matter

Oxygen cycle
The plants release oxygen in photolysis of

water during photosynthesis. Again gaseous oxygen is used in respiration of all organisms and in the oxidation of organic matter.

Nitrogen cycle
Chief sources of nitrogen for plants are

nitrates in the soil. Nitrogen fixers are Rhizobium ,blue-green algae Plants in turn are eaten by animals. The dead organic matter formed due to death of plants and animals is decomposed by bacteria, fungi ..etc , which releases nitrogen either in free state to atmosphere or as ammonia gas

Phosphorus cycle
Phosphorus rocks erode and release

phosphates to ecosystems. A major portion of phosphates goes into the sea in the form of sedimentation. Sea birds returning phosphorus to the cycle from sea to land

Sulfur cycle
The reserve pool of sulfur is soil and it is

made available to the plants in the soil by the activity of sulfur bacteria. Some quantities are added to the atmosphere by burning the fossil fuels Later sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide return to the soil as sulfates or sulfuric acid with rain