MODULE 1

ECOLOGICAL
CONCEPTS

AS1 EE – ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING Page 1

 CONTENTS
1.
Introduction to Environmental Engineering
1
1. Ecology of Life
2
1. Biogeochemical Cycles
3
1. Ecosystems
4

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 INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of the module, the students
must be able to:
1. Discuss the basic terminologies
in Environmental Engineering
2. Discuss the Ecology of Life
3. Explain the different
Biogeochemical Cycles
4. Explain the different
Ecosystems
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 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING

Environmental Engineering

is a profession that applies

mathematics and science to utilize
the properties of matter and
sources of energy in the solution
of environmental sanitation.

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 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING

Includes the provision of safe

palatable and ample public water
supplies; the proposer disposal of or
recycle of wastewater and solid
wastes; the adequate drainage of
urban and rural area for proper
sanitation; and the control of water,
soil and atmospheric pollution, and the
social and environmental impact of
these solutions. Page 5
 1.1 INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING

Concerned with engineering problems

in the field of public health, such as
control of arthropod-borne diseases,
the elimination of industrial health
hazards, and the provision of
adequate sanitation in urban, rural,
and recreational areas, and the effect
of technological advances on the
environment (ASCE, 1973, 1977).
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 What do Environmental Engineers do?

Environmental engineers use the principles of

engineering, soil science, biology, and
chemistry to develop solutions to
environmental problems.

They also address global issues, such as

unsafe drinking water, climate change, and
environmental sustainability. And often
coordinate these activities, making sure the
companies they work for are in compliance
with all environmental regulations.
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 What do Environmental Engineers do?

Environmental engineers study water, soil

and air pollution problems, and develop
technical solutions needed to solve,
attenuate or control these problems in a
manner that is compatible with legislative,
economic, social and political concerns.

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Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering

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1.2 Ecology of Life

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ECOLOGY

The study of the relationships between

living organisms, including humans, and
their physical environment.

The science that focuses on how

organism interact with one another and
with their environment.

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Ecology also provides information about
the benefits of ecosystems and how we
can use Earth’s resources in ways that
leave the environment healthy for future
generations.

Ecologist’s primary goal is to improve

their understanding of life processes,
adaptations and habitats, interactions
and biodiversity of organisms.

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Page 13
Ecology can be classified into
different types:

[Link] Ecology – deals with

interactions among earth’s
ecosystems, land, atmosphere
and oceans.
It helps to understand the large-
scale interactions and their
influence on the planet.
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Ecology can be classified into
different types:

2. Landscape Ecology – deals

with the exchange of energy,
materials, organisms, and other
product of ecosystems.
Landscape ecology throws light on
the role of human impacts on the
landscape structures and functions.
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Ecology can be classified into
different types:

3. Ecosystem Ecology – deals

with the entire ecosystems,
including the study of living and
non-living components and their
relationship with the environment.
This science research how
ecosystems work and interacts.
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Ecology can be classified into
different types:

4. Community Ecology – deals

with how community structure is
modified by interactions among
living organisms.
Community Ecology is made up of
two or more populations of different
species living in a particular
geographic area. Page 17
Ecology can be classified into
different types:

5. Population Ecology – deals with

factors that alter and impact the genetic
composition and the size of the
population of organisms.
Ecologists are interested in fluctuations
in size of a population, the growth of a
population and any other interactions
with the population.
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Ecology can be classified into
different types:

Birth and immigration are the main

factors that increase population, and
death and emigration decrease the
population.

Population density is the number of

individuals in a given volume or area.

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Ecology can be classified into
different types:

6. Organismal Ecology – the

study of individual organism’s
behavior, morphology, and
physiology, in response to
environmental challenges.

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Ecology can be classified into
different types:

Morphology is the study of the

shapes and arrangement of parts
of organisms, in order to determine
their function, their development,
and how they may have been
shaped by evolution.

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Ecology can be classified into
different types:

Physiology is the science of life. It

is the branch of biology that aims to
understand the mechanisms of
living things, from the basis of cell
function at the ionic and molecular
level to the integrated behavior of
the whole body and the influence of
the external environment. Page 22
 LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION
1Organism- an individual
living being

2
Population-a group of individuals of
the same species living in a particular
place

3
Community- population of different species
living in a particular place and potentially
interacting with each other

4
Ecosystem- a community of different species
interacting with one another and with their
environment

5 Biosphere- parts of the earth's air, water,

and soil where life is found

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FEEDING LEVEL OR TROPHIC LEVEL
Producers- autotrophs (self-
feeders), they make the nutrients Consumers- heterotrophs (other-
they need from compounds and feeders), organisms that cannot
energy obtained from their
environment.
produce the nutrients they need.

A. Primary consumers or herbivores (plant eaters) -

animals that eat mostly green plants.
B. Carnivores (meat eaters)-are animals that feed
on the flesh of other animals.
a. Secondary consumers-some b. Tertiary or Higher-level consumers-
carnivores that feed on the other carnivores that feed on the flesh of
flesh of herbivores. other carnivores.

C. Omnivores- eat plants and other animals.

D. Decomposers- consumers that release nutrients from remains
of plants and animals in the process of obtaining their own
nutrients
E. Detritus Feeders or detritivores- feed on the
wastes or dead bodies of other organisms.

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1.3 BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
or
NUTRIENT CYLCES

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 BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
or NUTRIENT CYLCES

The elements and compounds that

make up nutrients move continually
through air, water, soil, rock, and living
organisms within ecosystems, and in the
biosphere in cycles.

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 BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
or NUTRIENT CYLCES
The six elements are used by organisms in a variety of
ways.
Hydrogen and Oxygen are found in water and organic
molecules, both of which are essential to life.
Carbon is found in all organic molecules.
Nitrogen is an important component of nuclei acids and
proteins.
Phosphorous is used to make nuclei acids and the
phospholipids that comprise biological membranes.
Sulfur is critical to the three-dimensional shape of
proteins.

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 WATER CYCLE OR HYDROLOGIC
CYCLE
- describes
how water evaporates
from the surface of the
earth, rises into the
atmosphere, cools and
condenses into rain or
snow in clouds, and falls
again to the surface as
precipitation.
- collects, purifies,
and distributes the earth’s
fixed supply of water.

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CARBON CYCLE
- The carbon cycle is important in
ecosystems because it
moves carbon, a life-sustaining
element, from the atmosphere and
oceans into organisms and back
again to the atmosphere and oceans.
- Today, the carbon cycle is
changing. Humans are moving
more carbon into the atmosphere
from other parts of the Earth system.
More carbon is moving to the
atmosphere when fossil fuels, like
coal and oil, are burned.
More carbon is moving to the
atmosphere as humans get rid of
forests by burning the trees.

. Page 29
 NITROGEN CYCLE
The nitrogen cycle describes how nitrogen moves between plants, animals,
bacteria, the atmosphere (the air), and soil in the ground. Nitrogen is an important
element to all life on Earth.
This picture shows the flow
of the nitrogen cycle. The most
important part of the cycle is
bacteria. Bacteria help the
nitrogen change between states
so it can be used. When nitrogen
is absorbed by the soil, different
bacteria help it to change states
so it can be absorbed by plants.
Animals then get their nitrogen
from the plants.

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 PHOSPORUS CYCLE
- the phosphorus is a key component of molecules that store energy, such as
ATP, DNA & lipids
- insufficient phosphorus can cause a decreased crop yield.

-they circulate through

water, the earth's crust and
living organisms within this
cycle.
-this cycle, unlike other
cycles, does not include the
atmosphere
-the major reservoir for
phosphorus is phosphate salts
containing (PO4)3−

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 SULFUR CYCLE
- Human activities have
affected the sulfur cycle by
releasing large amounts of sulfur
dioxide into the atmosphere. The
burning of large quantities of
fossil fuels, especially from coal,
releases larger amounts of
hydrogen sulfide gas into the
atmosphere.
- As rain falls through this
gas, it creates phenomenon known
-Sulfur enters the ocean in runoff from land, as acid rain, which damages the
natural environment by lowering
from atmospheric fallout, and from underwater
the pH of lakes, thus killing many
geothermal vents. Some ecosystems rely on
of the resident plants and animals.
chemoautotrophs using sulfur as a biological energy
source. This sulfur then supports marine ecosystems
in the form of sulfates.
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1.4 ECOSYSTEMS

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• The concept of ecosystem was first put forth by A.G.
Tansley (1935).

• Ecosystem is the major ecological unit.

• An ecosystem is a community of living and non-living

things that work together – it consists of abiotic (soil,
water, air) and biotic parts (flora, fauna).

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COMPONENTS OF THE ECOSYSTEM
Ecosystems are either land-based (terrestrial) or
water-based (aquatic).
Terrestrial ecosystems found in large
geographical areas characterized by similar types
of vegetation make up a biome.
The biomes together with the aquatic ecosystems
of the world are referred to as the biosphere.

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COMPONENTS OF THE ECOSYSTEM
Biomes are large sections of land, sea, or
atmosphere. Forests, ponds, reefs, and tundra
are all types of biomes, for example.
They're organized very generally, based on the
types of plants and animals that live in them.
Within each forest, each pond, each reef, or each
section of tundra, you'll find many different
ecosystems.

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COMPONENTS OF THE ECOSYSTEM

The map below shows the broad distribution of

biomes on Earth.

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COMPONENTS OF THE ECOSYSTEM
Ocean ecosystems are most common on Earth,
as oceans and the living organisms they contain
cover 75% of the Earth's surface. Freshwater
ecosystems are the rarest, covering only 1.8% of
the Earth's surface. Terrestrial, land, ecosystems
cover the remainder of Earth.

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COMPONENTS OF THE ECOSYSTEM
The biome of the Sahara Desert, for instance, includes a wide
variety of ecosystems. The arid climate and hot weather
characterize the biome. Within the Sahara are oasis ecosystems,
which have date palm trees, freshwater, and animals such as
crocodiles. The Sahara also has dune ecosystems, with the
changing landscape determined by the wind. Organisms in these
ecosystems, such as snakes or scorpions, must be able to survive in
sand dunes for long periods of time. The Sahara even includes a
marine environment, where the Atlantic Ocean creates cool fogs on
the Northwest African coast. Shrubs and animals that feed on small
trees, such as goats, live in this Sahara ecosystem.

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COMPONENTS
a. Abiotic Components OF THE ECOSYSTEM

Abiotic components of an ecosystem consist of the

nonorganic aspects of the environment that determine
what life forms can thrive.

Examples: temperature, average humidity, topography

and natural disturbances.

Temperature varies by latitude; locations near the equator

are warmer than are locations near the poles or the
temperate zones.
Humidity influences the amount of water and moisture in
the air and soil, which, in turn, affect rainfall.
Topography is the layout of the land in terms of elevation.
For example, according to the University of Wisconsin,
land located in the rain shadow of a mountain will
receive less precipitation.
Natural disturbances include tsunamis, lightning storms,
hurricanes and forest fires.
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COMPONENTS OF THE ECOSYSTEM

b. Biotic Components

The biotic components of an ecosystem are the life

forms that inhabit it.
The life forms of an ecosystem aid in the transfer and
cycle of energy. They are grouped in terms of the means
they use to get energy.

Producers such as plants produce their own energy

without consuming other life forms; plants gain their
energy from conducting photosynthesis via sunlight.

Consumers exist on the next level of the food chain.

- herbivores, carnivores and omnivores.

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1.4.1 WHAT HAPPENS
TO ENERGY IN AN
ECOSYSTEM?

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Gross primary productivity (GPP)- the
rate at which an ecosystem's producers
convert solar energy into chemical energy in
the form of biomass found in their tissues.

Net primary productivity (NPP)- the

rate at which producers use photosynthesis
and store chemical energy minus the rate at
which they use some of this stored chemical
energy through aerobic respiration

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1.4.2 WHAT HAPPENS TO
MATTER IN AN
ECOSYSTEM?

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CHEMICAL ENERGY- commonly released through aerobic
respiration and used by producers, consumers, and decomposers
to fuel their life processes.
Food web- a complex network of
interconnected food chains

Food chain- a sequence of

organisms, each of which serves as
a source of nutrients or energy for
the next

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 NUTRIENTS CYCLE WITHIN AND AMONG
ECOSYSTEMS
The producers of an ecosystem take up several basic inorganic
nutrients from their non-living environment. These materials get
transformed into the bio mass of the producers. Then they are utilised by
the consumer population and are ultimately returned to the environment
with the help of the reducers or decomposers.
This cyclic exchange of nutrient material between the living or­ganisms
and their non-living environment is called biogeochemical cycle. As
indicated by the name the nutrients circulate through life {bio) and through
earth (geo) repeatedly (cycle). The biogeochemical (material or nutrient)
cycles conserve the limited source of raw materials in the environment.

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