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 ecosystem.
’ In an ecosystem Iiving 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 of ozone layer and production
of huge amount ofgarbage.
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) Naturalecosystem: The ecosystem
which exist in nature on its own.
Example: forest, lake, ocean.
(ii) Artificalecosystem: 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
(i) Abiotic Components: Allthe non
living components such as air, water, land,
light, temperature etc. form the abiotic
Components.
(ii) BioticComponents: 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 abiotic components
(photosynthesis), hence called producers.
Consumers: Include allanimalswhich
depend on producers directly or
indirectly for their food.
Division of Consumers
() Herbivores: Plant eaters. Example:
goat, deer.
(ii) Carnivores: Flash eaters. Example:
tiger, crocodile.
(iii) Omnivores: Eats both plants and
animals. Example: human.
(iv) Parasites: Live on the body of host
and take food from 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
(c)
(a) (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 afood chain varioussteps vwhere
transfer of energy takes place is called a
trophic level.
Flow of energy between trophic levels.
Top Carnivores
Canivores
Herbivores
Producers
Sunlight
Diagram shouing flou af erergy in anecosystem
- Flowof energy in a food chain is
unidirectional.
Green plants capture 1% of sunlight
andconvert it into food energy.
’ 10percent law:Only 10% of energy is
transferredto 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,
foodchains contain 3-4 trophic levels.
Tertiary
consumers
Secondary
Consumers
Primary consumers
Producers
Trophiclevels
" Decrease in energy
1kJ 10 kJ 100 kJ 1000 kJ
"Biological magnification: The
concentration of harmfulchemicals
increases with every next trophic level in
afood chain. This is called biological
magnification.
, Maximum concentration of such
chemicalsget accumulated in human
bodies as human occupy the top level in
any foodchain.
Food web
- In nature large numbers of food chains
are interconnected forming afood web.
"Environmentalproblems: 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 harmful UV (ultraviolet) radiations of
thesunlight, thus protecting living beings
from many health hazards such as skin
cancer, cataract, destruction of plants etc.
’ Ozone (03) layer is present at higher
levels of atmosphere (i.e. stratosphere). It
is adeadly poison at ground level.
Formationof ozone molecule
(i) The high energy UV radiations break
down the O2 molecules into free oxygen
(0) atoms.
O-(UV) O+0 (atoms)
(ii) These oxygen atoms thencombine
with oxygen (O2) molecule to form the
Ozone molecule.
O2 +O ’ O3 (0zone)
Depletion of ozone layer
’ The decrease in the thickness of ozone
layer over Antarctica was first observed
in 1985 andwas 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 to stop CFC production at
1986 levels (KYOTO PROTOCOL) by all
countries.
Garbage disposal
- Improvements in lifestyle have
resulted in accumulationof large amounts
of waste materials.
Types of materials in Garbage
() Biodegradable: Substances which can
be decomposed by the action of micro
organisms are called biodegradable
wastes.
Example: fruit andvegetable peels,
cotton, jute, dung, paper, etc.
(ii) 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.
- Micr0-organisms release enzymes
which decompose the materials but these
enzymes are specific in their action that's
why enzymes cannot decompose allthe
materials.
Methods of waste disposal
() Biogas plant: Biodegradable waste can
be used in biogas plant to produce biogas
and manure.
(ii) Sewage treatment plant: The drain
water 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.
(iv) Composting: Organicwastes 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 a conventional technique
to use an item again. Example: newspaper
for making envelops.