SUSTAINABLE PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE

Unit 2:

Eco System and Food Chain ,

Natural Cycles
Ecological Foot Print
Climate Change And Sustainability
ECO SYSTEM AND FOOD CHAIN

ECOSYSTEM

A complex set of relationship among the living resources, habitats ,and residents of an area.

 An ecosystem includes all of the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a
given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments
(weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere).

 Ecologist A. G. Tansely defined ecosystem as “ the system resulting from the

integration of all the living and non living factors in the environment”

 A community and its physical environment

 Made up of two essential components:
1. Abiotic factors
2. Biotic factors
CLASSIFICATION OF ECOSYSTEM

Ecosystem

Natural Artificial
Ecosystem ecosystem

Aquatic Terrestrial

Fresh
Marine Grassland Tundra
water

Standing Desert
Running
water water
STRUCTURE OF ECOSYSTEM: COMPONENTS

Ecosystem

Biotic Abiotic

Physical Chemical
Producers Consumers
factors factors

Herbivores Carnivores

Tertiary
Decomposers
consumers
ABIOTIC FACTORS
• The non-living components of an ecosystem

• Consists of the elements which may be found in the environment

• Abiotic factors may be:

 Physical
 Sunlight and shade
 Temperature and wind
 Amount of precipitation
 Altitude and latitude
 Nature of soil

 Chemical
 Salinity of water
 Level of dissolved O2 and other gases
 Level of plant nutrients
 pH of soil and water
 Level of natural or artificial toxic substances
BIOTIC FACTORS
 The organisms in an ecosystem are either:
1. Autotrophs(Producers)
Autotrophic organisms may be photoautotrophic or chemoautotrophic
 Photoautotrophs possess chlorophyll and carry on photosynthesis.
 Chemoautotrophs are bacteria that obtain energy from the oxidation of inorganic
compounds such as ammonia, nitrites and sulfides.
2. Heterotrophs(Consumers)
The heterotrophs include humans, animals and microorganisms.
 Heterotrophic organisms need a source of pre-formed nutrients and consume tissues of
other organisms.
 Consumers are classified according to the type of food they eat.
Types of Consumers
Herbivores are animals that feed directly on green plants.
Carnivores are animals that eat other animals.
Omnivores feed on both plants and animals.
Decomposers are fungi and bacteria that extract energy from dead matter,
including waste and return nutrients back to the soil.
Scavengers are animals that feed on dead matter
 ABIOTIC COMPONENTS BIOTIC COMPONENTS

Sunlight Primary producers

Temperature Herbivores

Precipitation Carnivores

Water or moisture Omnivores

Soil or water chemistry (e.g., P, NH4+) Detritivores

etc. etc.
All of these vary over space/time
PRODUCER (AUTOTROPH)

• Producers (autotrophs) are

always at the base of the chain.
• Producers are organisms that
make their own food. Plants
are producers.
HERBIVORE OMNIVORE

• Herbivores are animals that only  An omnivore eats both plants

eat plants. and animals.
• A cow and a deer are herbivores.  Humans and bears are
omnivores
 (DETRITIVORES & SAPROTROPHS)
CARNIVORE DECOMPOSER

 Animals that eat meat are carnivores.

 A lion and a wolf are carnivores.
 A decomposer eats dead or dying
organisms.

So…producers make their own food (e.g., photosynthesis) and consumers don’t.
FUNCTIONING OF ECOSYSTEM

The function of ecosystem can be studied in following terms

 Food chain
 Mineral nutrient cycle
 Energy flow
FOOD CHAIN
The simplest feeding arrangement in an ecosystem

Shows transfer of energy from one trophic level to another.

The transfer of food energy from the source through a series of
organism by regular eating and eaten up.
In food chain each stage of transfer of food energy is known as Trophic Level
Therefore trophic level refers to successive levels of energy flow that form the link of food
chain
A Trophic Level includes a group of organisms that
obtain food in a similar manner.
 Producers
 Primary consumers
 Secondary consumers
 Tertiary consumers
 Quaternary consumers
TYPES OF FOOD CHAINS

 AQUATIC- Water-related food chains with sea plants and animals

 TERRESTRIAL- Land-related food chains with land plants and animals
Grazing food chain: Common in nature.
Producer form the first link , herbivores as second and secondary
consumer as the third
Detritus food chain: The organic waste and dead matter derived from grazing
food chain is termed as detritus.
Detrivores are the animal that consume detritus and in doing so
contribute to decomposition and recycling of nutrient
Eg algea, bacteria, earthworms, millipedes
Organism in this food chain are generally smaller, and functional role do
not fall in categories
However grazing and detritus food chain are interlinked
FOOD WEBS
 It is not possible to depict the real world by means of simple food chain, because
the interconnection between different trophic level in real world are extremely
complex
 Various food chain are interlinked with each other and these interlocking pattern
formed by several food chain linked together are called Food Web

• Many food chains interacting with

each other.

• The arrow always points away

from the organism being eaten to
the organism doing the eating.

• Shows the movement of energy

and matter in an ecosystem
NATURAL CYCLES

Earth’s three natural cycles

 Water Cycle
 Nitrogen Cycle
 Carbon Cycle
WATER CYCLE
The water cycle is very important to Earth because it naturally recycles water giving
a fresh supply to life.
Sun fuels the evaporation in the water cycle.
As water evaporates from unclean bodies of water such as swamps, mud puddles
and ditches it is naturally purified and falls as clean precipitation.
It is the movement of water among oceans, atmosphere, land, and living things.
Precipitation-
water moving from atmosphere to land
Ex: rain, snow, sleet, hail
91% falls into the ocean, 9% on
land renews fresh water supply
Evaporation : water moving from the land to the atmosphere
The sun’s heat causes water to change from liquid to vapor
Condensation : water vapor becoming liquid again due to cool atmosphere
Transpiration : water moving from living things back into the atmosphere
Ex: evaporation from leaves, perspiration from humans

Ground Water-
 precipitation that seeps
into the ground and is
stored in underground
caverns and porous rock
 Provides water for the soil,
streams, rivers, and oceans

WATER CYCLE
NITROGEN CYCLE
1. Nitrogen is a gas in the earth’s atmosphere. Nitrogen is important to all living things.
2. 78% of our atmosphere is nitrogen gas
3. The nitrogen cycle describes the movement of nitrogen through living things to
atmosphere and back again. Nitrogen helps animals build muscle and perform daily
activities.
4. Nitrogen is important to decomposers and plants. When animals die, the bacteria in soil eat
the remains. As they do this they break down the nitrogen from these animals into
something that plants can eat. Animals receive nitrogen by eating plants.
5. As animals die the cycle continues.
6. Other bacteria decompose dead animals and
animal waste and return nitrogen to the atmosphere

Nitrogen fixation- the process of bacteria

changing nitrogen gas into usable nitrogen for
plants.
 Nitrogen Fixation: Lightning and bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into nitrates (NO3)
and ammonia (NH3)
 Protein Production: Plants use nitrogen molecules to make amino acids
 Conversion: Consumers convert plant proteins to animal proteins
 Waste : Decomposers break down animal and plant matter into nitrogen compounds
 Return to Atmosphere: Nitrogen compounds break down into gas and return to air
 Runoff : Runoff of nitrates in fertilizers enters groundwater and soil
 Nitrous Oxide from burning fossil fuels falls as Nitric Acid in rainwater

NITROGEN CYCLE
CARBON CYCLE The movement of carbon from the environment into living things and back again

 All living things are made of carbon.

 The carbon cycle describes how carbon moves through the environment.
 Carbon is found as a gas in the air and as called carbon dioxide.
 Plants use this gas, water and the sunlight to make food and grow.
 Animals eat plants and receive the carbon from them.
 Carbon is essential to all living things because it is part of our molecules.
 As animals grow and breathe they release carbon dioxide into the air.
 Plants consume the carbon dioxide and continue the cycle
Photosynthesis : Plants use CO2 from the atmosphere to make high-energy carbon molecules
Metabolism: Organisms use high energy carbon molecules for growth
Respiration : CO2 is released through aerobic respiration (breathing, for example)
Waste: Carbonates released into ground and water supply
Gas Exchange: CO2 is exchanged between the air and water
Decomposition: When organisms die and decay, the carbon molecules in them enter the soil.
Microorganisms break down the molecules, releasing CO2
Pollution: Remains of dead organisms are converted into fossil fuels (over millions of years!)
Combustion of fossil fuels and wood releases CO2
Photosynthesis- carbon moves from the environment into living things
Plants use carbon dioxide from the air to make sugar
Animals get carbon from eating plants
Respiration- carbon moves from living things back to the environment
Sugar molecules are broken down to release energy and carbon dioxide
is given off when we exhale

Decomposition-
carbon moving from dead
organisms back to the
environment.
Fungi and bacteria decompose
dead organisms
Combustion- the process of burning fuel
Burning fossil fuels releases carbon
back into the atmosphere
CARBON CYCLE
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS

Imagine your footprint in the sand or dirt.

A footprint actually displaces sand or dirt.
The larger the footprint, the more dirt or
sand is displaced.
With the Ecological Footprint concept, the
more we consume and throw out, the
more natural resources we use – and our
symbolic Ecological Footprint grows.

Ecological footprints measure the extent to which humans are using the Earth’s bioproductive capacity`
FOOTPRINT BASICS - OVERVIEW

 Humanity -needs what nature provides, but how do we

know how much we’re using and how much we have to
use?

 The Ecological Footprint has emerged as the world’s

premier measure of humanity’s demand on nature.

 It measures how much land and water area a human

population requires to produce the resource it
consumes and to absorb its wastes, using prevailing
technology.
Ecological Footprint measures how much land and water area a human population
requires to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb its wastes under prevailing
technology
That is, it measures the extent to which humanity is using nature's resources faster
than they can regenerate

But today, humanity's Ecological Footprint is over 23%

larger than what the planet can regenerate
It now takes more than one year and two months for the Earth to regenerate what we
use in a single year
When humanity's ecological resource demands exceed what nature can supply, we
reach ECOLOGICAL OVERSHOOT

The effects: collapsing fisheries, carbon-induced climate change, species

extinction, deforestation, and the loss of groundwater

The human footprint has more than tripled since 1960
HOW IS FOOTPRINT CALCULATED?

• The amount of material consumed by that person (tons per year) is divided by
the yield of the specific land or sea area (annual tons per hectare) from which it
was harvested, or where its waste material was absorbed.
SAMPLE HUMAN FOOTPRINT

What is the average human footprint if one person uses 23.47 Ha of land
and the Earth´s average available for each human is 15.71 Ha?
CURRENT WORLD FOOTPRINT

• Answer:

23.47 Ha needed / 15.71 Ha available.

= 1.49 (or 150% of land use)

• This means we are overshooting the Earth's biological capacity by nearly

50%. To sustain present levels of consumption, we would need:

• Is this sustainable?
Definition

1. An area of land required to support a defined human population at a given standard

of living.
2. The measure takes account of the area required to sustainably provide all the
resources needed by the population and assimilate all its wastes.
-IBO

Ecological Footprint measures the area of land needed to..

 Provide food, housing land, energy needs, building materials, clothes, and
other resource needs
 It also includes land to recycle all wastes, including carbon dioxide from the
burning of fossil fuels. (Remember photosynthesis: plants take in carbon dioxide.)
CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Five of the most important causes of unsustainability are:

1. Human Induced Climate Change,
2. Deforestation and
3. Land Use Change,
4. Over Consumption Of Resources,
5. Over Generation Of Waste And Over Fishing.

 All these increasingly impact human communities and ecosystems, in particular,

they threaten food and water supplies and lead to large scale loss of Biodiversity
and loss of Soil.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABILITY

 Climate change and sustainability are likely to be the most significant environmental
phenomena of the 21st century
 The links between climate change and sustainable development are strong.
 While climate change will know no boundaries, poor and developing countries,
particularly the LDCs, will be among those most adversely affected and least able to
cope with the anticipated shocks to their social, economic and natural systems.
 The IPCC projects that by 2080, millions of people will be displaced due to sea-level
rise, with densely-populated and low-lying countries, like many SIDS(Small Island
developing States), facing the greatest threat from storm surges and rising seas.
Internationally Agreed Development Goals & Climate Change
 Internationally agreed frameworks and goals have set an agenda for integrating climate
change and sustainable development.
 AGENDA 21, which addresses climate change under its Chapter 9 (Protection of the
atmosphere), recognizes, " that activities that may be undertaken in pursuit of the
objectives defined there in should be coordinated with social and economic
development in an integrated manner, with a view to avoiding adverse impacts on the
latter, taking into full account the legitimate priority needs of developing countries for
the achievement of sustained economic growth and the eradication of poverty."
AGENDA 21
 Both Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) assert that
the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the key instrument for
addressing climate change.
 The Kyoto Protocol, which entered into force on 16 February 2005, sets binding
emission reductions targets for industrialized countries for the first commitment period
2008-2012.
Rapidly raising greenhouse gases, enhanced land and sea temperatures and increased
frequency and magnitude of extreme events pose enormous risks to various economic
activities and fresh water availability and affect the sustainability of agriculture and food
security of billions of people around the world, especially in the developing countries.
Severe weather events that
are responsible for natural
disasters impact the socioeconomic
development of many nations

• Financial losses in 2005 are

more than $200 billions with
insurance claims running at
more than $70 billions. In
2004, losses totalled about
$145 billions and claims
reached $45 billions
Climate is a renewable resource, but is variable in time and space.
For proper and efficient use of the other two natural resources (soil and plant/animal
genetic material), knowledge of the role of climate is an essential precondition.
Biological entities, such as crops, are not abstract entities, but a product of their temporal
and genetic history in varying environments and there are lethal environmental thresholds
which an organism can not transcend.
The relationships between the productive capacity of the resource base and the adsorptive
capacity of the environment
- the increasing problems of water and air pollution, soil erosion, and potential changes
in the micro and macro-climate - are not well understood
Figure below locates its key topics schematically in the context of the three pillars of
sustainable development.
 Topics shown in the centre of the triangle (the ‘three-legged stool’of sustainable
development) are linked with all three pillars. Other topics, placed outside the
triangle, are located closer to one leg or another.
 The arrows leading from the centre indicate that adaptation to climate change
can influence the processes that join the pillars rather than the individual
pillars themselves.
 For example, the technical and economic aspects of renewable resource
management could illustrate efforts to support sustainable development by
working with the economy-ecology connection – all nested within a decision
space of other global development pressures, including Poverty.
Assignment Topics: AUG - 11,12,13,14 – each group 20 min. -minimum
DAY 1
1. Eco Building Materials And Construction – Mukesh, Malavika, niharika, Salman
2. Biomimicry, -Vignesh, Akhil, parvathi, carol
3. Low Impact Construction,-harshad, Priyanka,salam, Shanmathi,jayarubini
DAY 2
4. Recyclable Products And Embodied Energy. – Raajam, Abirami,rajarajan,devi
5. Life Cycle Analysis. Anjana, shreya, imad, lakshmi, Manisha
6. Energy Sources – Renewable And Non-renewable Energy. Anushree, Pallavi, hakeem, fazil
DAY 3
7. Urban Ecology –Prithvi,munavar,shahensha,jamal
8. Social And Economic Dimensions Of Sustainability,- Vidya,muthahar,zain,fasee,
9. Urban Heat Island Effects- Shilpa,v,narasimhan,inthizar,slachi