Topics in the Chapter
• Introduction
•Ecosystem
Types of ecosystem
Natural ecosystem
Artificial ecosystem
Abioticcomponents
Biotic components
Producers
Consumers
• Division of consumers
Herbivores
Carnivores
Omnivores
Parasites
Decomposers
•Food Chain
Flowof energy between trophic levels
Biological magnification
•Food vweb
Environmental problems
•Ozone layer
•Ozone layer
Formation of ozone molecule
Depletion of ozone layer
•Garbage disposal
Types of materials in Garbage
Biodegradable
Non-biodegradable
•Methods of waste disposal
Biogas plant
Sewagetreatment plant
Land fillings
Composting
Recycling
Reuse
Introduction
Everything that surrounds us is
environment. It includes both living (biotic)
and non-living (abiotic) components.
Interaction between these biotic and
abioticcomponents form an ecosystenm.
In an ecosystem living components
depend on each other for their food which
give rise to food chains and food webs in
nature.
Human activities lead to environmental
problems such as depletion ofozone layer
and production of huge amount of garbage.
Ecosystem
Allthe interacting organisms in an area
together with the non-living constituents of
the environment form an ecosystem. E.g.,
forest,pond etc.
Types of ecosystem
It is of two types
(i) Natural ecosystem: The ecosystem which
exist in nature on its own.
Example: forest, lake,ocean.
(ii) Artifical
ecosystem: Man-made
ecosystems are called artificial ecosystem.
Example: crop field, aquarium, garden.
Components of an
ecosystem
Abiotic components Biotic components
(Air, water, land) (Plant, animals)
Producer Consumer Decomposers
Herbivore Carnivore
Omnivore Parasites
()Abiotic Components: Allthe non-living
components such as air,water, land, light,
temperature etc. form the abiotic
components.
(ii) Biotic Components: All the living
components such as plants, animals,
bacteria, fungi etc. form the biotic
components.
•On the basis of nutrition biotic
components are further divided into:
Producers: All green plants and blue
green algae can produce their own food
using abioticcomponents (photosynthesis),
hence called producers.
Consumers: Include all animals which
depend on producers directly or indirectly
for their food.
Division of Consumers
(i)Herbivores: Plant eaters.
Example: goat,
deer.
(i)Carnivores: Flash eaters. Example: tiger,
crocodile.
(ii) Omnivores: Eats both plants and
animals. Example: human.
(iv)Parasites: Live on the body of host and
take foodfrom it. Example: lice, cascuta.
Decomposers: Include organisms which
decompose the dead plants and animals.
Example: bacteria, fungi. These help in the
replenishment of natural resources.
Food Chain
(c)
la)
(b)
(a) in forest
(b) in grassland
(c) in a pond
Food chain is a series of organisms in
which one organism eats another organism
as food. For example:
• Grass Deer Lion
In a food chain various steps where
transfer of energy takes place is called a
trophic level.
Flow of energy between trophic levels
Top Carnivores
Carnivores
Herbivores
Producers
Sunlight
Diagram shouing flou ofenergy in an ecosystem
Flowof energy ina food chain is
unidirectional.
Green plants capture 1% of sunlight and
convert it into food energy.
10percent law: Only 10% of energy is
transferred to the next trophic level. The
remaining 90% energy is used in life
processes (digestion, growth, reproduction
etc.) by present trophic level.
Due to this gradual decrease in energy,
food chains contain 3-4 trophic levels.
Tertiary
consumers
Secondary
consumers
Primary consumers
Producers
Trophic levels
Trophic levels
• Decrease inenergy
1kJ 10 kJ 100 kJ 1000 kJ
•Biological magnification: The concentration
of harmfulchemicals increases with every
next trophic level in a food [Link] is
called biologicalmagnification.
Maximum concentration of such
chemicals get accumulated in human bodies
as human occupy the top level in any food
chain.
Food web
In nature large numbers of food chains
are interconnected forming afood web.
•Environmental problems: Changes in the
environment affect us and our activities
change the environment around us. Human
activities leads to pollution, deforestation
etc.
Ozone layer
Ozone layer is a protective blanket
around the earth which absorbs
most of the
harmfulUV (ultraviolet) radiations of
the
sunlight,thus protecting living
beings from
many health hazards such as skin
cancer,
cataract,destruction of plants etc.
Ozone (O3)layer is present at higher
levels of atmosphere (i.e. stratosphere).It is
a deadly poison at ground level.
Formation of ozone molecule
()The high energy UV radiations break
down the O, molecules into free oxygen (0)
atoms.
O(UV) O+0 (atoms)
(i)These oxygen atoms then combine with
OXygen (0,)molecule to form the ozone
molecule.
O, +0-03 (ozone)
Depletion of ozone layer
The decrease in the thickness of ozone
layer over Antarcticawas first observed in
1985 and was termed as ozone hole.
This decrease was linked to excessive use
of synthetic chemicals like
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)which are used
in refrigerators, ACs,fire-extinguishers,
aerosols sprays etc.
United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP)
succeeded in forging an agreement
tostop CFC production at 1986 levels
(KYOTO PROTOCOL)by allcountries.
Garbage disposal
Improvements in lifestyle have resulted in
accumulation of large amounts of waste
materials.
Types of materials in Garbage
(i) Biodegradable: Substances which can be
decomposed by the action of micro
organisms are called biodegradable wastes.
Example: fruit and vegetable peels,cotton,
jute, dung, paper, etc.
(i)Non-biodegradable wastes:
Substances
which cannot be decomposed by the
action
of micro-organisms are called non
biodegradable wastes.
Example: plastic, polythenes,
metals,
synthetic fibres, radioactive
wastes,
pesticides etc.
Micro-organisms release enzymes which
decompose the materials but these enzymes
are specific in their action that's why
enzymes cannot decompose all the
materials.
Methods ofwaste disposal
()Biogas plant: Biodegradable waste can be
used in biogas plant to produce biogas and
manure.
Sewage treatment plant: The drain water
(ii)
can be cleaned in sewage treatment plant
before adding it to rivers.
(ii)Land fillings: The wastes are buried in
low lying areas and are compacted by rolling
with bulldozers.
(iii) Land The wastes are buried in
fillings:
low lying areasand are compacted by rolling
with bulldozers.
(iv) Composting: Organic wastes are filled in
acompost pit and covered with a layer of
soil, after about three months garbage
changes to manure.
(v) Recycling: Non-biodegradable wastes are
recycled to make new items.
(vi) Reuse: It is aconventional technique to
use an item again. Example: newspaper for
making envelops.