OUR ENVIRONMENT
ECO-SYSTEM — WHAT ARE ITS COMPONENTS?
- All the interacting organisms in an area together with the non-living
constituents of the environment form an ecosystem.
- An ecosystem consists of biotic components comprising living
organisms and abiotic components comprising physical factors like
temperature, rainfall, wind, soil and minerals.
- The types of ecosystems are forests, ponds and lakes. These are
natural ecosystems while gardens and crop-fields are human-made
(artificial) ecosystems.
- All green plants and certain bacteria which can produce food by
photosynthesis come under this category and are called the producers.
- Organisms which consume the food produced, either directly from
producers or indirectly by feeding on other consumers, are the
consumers. Consumers can be classed variously as herbivores,
carnivores, omnivores and parasites.
- Microorganisms, comprising bacteria and fungi, break down the dead
remains and waste products of organisms. These microorganisms are
the decomposers as they break down the complex organic substances
into simple inorganic substances that go into the soil and are used up
once more by the plants.
Food Chains and Webs
Each step or level of the food chain forms a trophic level. The
autotrophs or the producers are at the first trophic level. They fix up
the solar energy and make it available for heterotrophs or the
consumers.
The herbivores or the primary consumers come at the second, small
carnivores or the secondary consumers at the third and larger
carnivores or the tertiary consumers form the fourth trophic level.
The green plants in a terrestrial ecosystem capture about 1% of the
energy of sunlight that falls on their leaves and convert it into food
energy.
When green plants are eaten by primary consumers, a great deal of
energy is lost as heat to the environment, some amount goes into
digestion and in doing work and the rest goes towards growth and
reproduction. An average of 10% of the food eaten is turned into its
own body and made available for the next level of consumers. n
Therefore, 10% can be taken as the average value for organic matter
that is present at each step and reaches the next level of consumers.
Since so little energy is available for the next level of consumers, food
chains generally consist of only three or four steps. The loss of energy
at each step is so great that very little usable energy remains after
four trophic levels. n There are generally a greater number of
individuals at the lower trophic levels of an ecosystem, the greatest
number is of the producers.
The length and complexity of food chains vary greatly. Each organism
is generally eaten by two or more other kinds of organisms which in
turn are eaten by several other organisms. So instead of a straight-line
food chain, the relationship can be shown as a series of branching lines
called a food web
Firstly, the flow of energy is unidirectional. The energy captured by the
autotrophs does not revert to the solar input and the energy which
passes to the herbivores does not come back to autotrophs. As it
moves progressively through the various trophic levels it is no longer
available to the previous level. Secondly, the energy available at each
trophic level gets diminished progressively due to loss of energy at
each level.
The use of several pesticides and other chemicals to protect our crops
from diseases and pests. These chemicals are either washed down into
the soil or into the water bodies. From the soil, these are absorbed by
the plants along with water and minerals, and from the water bodies
these are taken up by aquatic plants and animals.
As these chemicals are not degradable, these get accumulated
progressively at each trophic level. As human beings occupy the top
level in any food chain, the maximum concentration of these chemicals
get accumulated in our bodies. This phenomenon is known as
biological magnification. This is the reason why our food grains such as
wheat and rice, vegetables and fruits, and even meat, contain varying
amounts of pesticide residues. They cannot always be removed by
washing or other means.
HOW DO OUR ACTIVITIES AFFECT THE
ENVIRONMENT?
Two major environmental problems - >
Ozone Layer and How it is Getting Depleted
- Ozone is a deadly poison. However, at the higher levels of the
atmosphere, ozone performs an essential function. It shields the
surface of the earth from ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun. This
radiation is highly damaging to organisms, for example, it is known to
cause skin cancer in human beings.
- Ozone at the higher levels of the atmosphere is a product of UV
radiation acting on oxygen (O2) molecule. The higher energy UV
radiation splits apart some molecular oxygen (O2) into free oxygen (O)
atoms. These atoms then combine with molecular oxygen to form
ozone.
- The decrease in amount of Ozone in atmosphere has been linked to
synthetic chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are used as
refrigerants and in fire extinguishers.
Managing the Garbage, we Produce
- Enzymes are specific in their action; specific enzymes are needed for
the break-down of a particular substance. That is why we will not get
any energy if we try to eat coal! Because of this, many human-made
materials like plastics will not be broken down by the action of bacteria
or other saprophytes. These materials will be acted upon by physical
processes like heat and pressure, but under the ambient conditions
found in our environment, these persist for a long time.
- Substances that are broken down by biological processes are said to
be biodegradable.
- Substances not broken down in this way are non-biodegradable. These
substances may be inert and simply persist in the environment for a
long time or may harm the various members of the ecosystem.
- Improvements in our lifestyle have resulted in greater amounts of
waste material generation. Changes in attitude also have a role to
play, with more and more things we use becoming disposable.
Changes in packaging have resulted in much of our waste becoming
nonbiodegradable.