Environmental Studies &

Ecosystems

Mohd. Farooq Azam

[email protected]
What do we mean by Environment?
• French word “environ’, meaning external conditions or
surroundings.

• Environment is ‘a word which describes all of the external forces

that affect the life, nature, behavior, growth, development &
maturation of living organisms’ (Douglas and Holland, 1947).
Types of Environment
Natural Environment Anthropogenic Environment

Components such as air, water, soil, land, Alternation of the natural environment to
forest, wildlife, flora, fauna, etc. constitute serve specific uses by the human beings
the Natural Environment. is termed as Anthropogenic Environment.
e.g. Agricultural field, Gardens and
Aquaculture farms.
Types of Environment
Natural Environment Anthropogenic Environment

Components such as air, water, soil, land, Alternation of the natural environment to
forest, wildlife, flora, fauna, etc. constitute serve specific uses by the human beings
the Natural Environment. is termed as Anthropogenic Environment.
e.g. Agricultural field, Gardens and
Aquaculture farms.
Types of Environment
Natural Environment Anthropogenic Environment

Components such as air, water, soil, land, Alternation of the natural environment to
forest, wildlife, flora, fauna, etc. constitute serve specific uses by the human beings
the Natural Environment. is termed as Anthropogenic Environment.
e.g. Agricultural field, Gardens and
Aquaculture farms.
Types of Environment
Natural Environment Anthropogenic Environment

Components such as air, water, soil, land, Alternation of the natural environment to
forest, wildlife, flora, fauna, etc. constitute serve specific uses by the human beings
the Natural Environment. is termed as Anthropogenic Environment.
e.g. Agricultural field, Gardens and
Aquaculture farms.
Types of Environment
Natural Environment Anthropogenic Environment

Components such as air, water, soil, land, Alternation of the natural environment to
forest, wildlife, flora, fauna, etc. constitute serve specific uses by the human beings
the Natural Environment. is termed as Anthropogenic Environment.
e.g. Agricultural field, Gardens and
Aquaculture farms.
Programs about Environment

Environmental Environmental Environmental

Studies Science Engineering

It is a broad It is an It is the application

interdisciplinary interdisciplinary of science and
field of study which academic field that engineering
studies the integrates physical principles to
interaction of and biological improve the quality
human beings with sciences to of environment to
the environment. address the provide healthy
environmental living conditions.
problems.
Multidisciplinary nature of Environmental Studies
Components of Environment
Components of Environment
Atmosphere
30 Km (99% of air)
extends to 120 Km

Lithosphere
Crust: <1% (Thin)
Mantle, Cores.

Hydrosphere
Ocean, Sea, Rivers

Biosphere
All Life
Components of Environment
Vertical Structure of Atmosphere
Components of Environment
Thermal Stratification of Atmosphere

X-rays, UV light heat and ionize gases

No ozone to absorbs UV

Ozone absorbs UV, no convection

Greenhouse gases, convection

Components of Environment
Structure or Lithosphere
Components of Environment
Structure of Hydrosphere
Components of Environment
Structure or Biosphere

Part of the earth where life is found

Ecosystems
What is an ecosystem?

An ecosystem is a grouping of
organisms that interact with each
other and their environment in
such a way as to preserve the
grouping.

Every ecosystem is unique and if you apply yourselves, you

will learn to identify the key features of an ecosystem and
identify the interconnections that exists in the ecosystems.
• Components of an ecosystem
▫ Abiotic components
▫ Biotic components
• Movement of energy and nutrients
▫ Food chain
▫ Food webs
▫ Trophic levels, biomass and biome
• Linkages and interactions in an ecosystem
▫ Carbon cycle and oxygen cycle
▫ Model of nutrient cycle
• Environmental Limitation in ecosystem
development.
Ecosystem Levels of Organization

How do these concepts fit together?

Basic Ecosystem Condition: Latitude
The first condition to define an ecosystem is by how close to the equator it is.
Give us three major categories:
- Tropical
- Temperate
- High-latitude/Polar Zone

High Latitude

Temperate

Tropical

Temperate

High Latitude
Elements of Climate and Ecosystems
Elements of Climate and Ecosystems
 Balance

• Ecosystems will fail if they do not remain

in balance.
• No community can carry more organisms
than its food, water and shelter can
accommodate.
How do they stay balanced?
• To succeed in an ecosystem, plants and
animals have special behavior called
‘adaptations’.
• Examples: Chameleon, Polar Bear, Bengal Tigers
Movement of energy and nutrients
Ecosystems maintain themselves by cycling energy
and nutrients obtained from external sources.

• Food chain
• Food webs
• Trophic level,
biomass and biome
Food Chain

Decomposers
Food Chain
Trophic Levels
• A trophic level means a feeding level.
▫ First level – all producers
▫ Second level – all herbivores
▫ Third level – first level carnivores
▫ Fourth level – second level carnivores
▫ So on……..
• Energy and Nutrients passed through the ecosystem by food chains and
webs from lower trophic level to the higher trophic level.

• However, only 5% to 20% energy and nutrients are transferred into

higher trophic level successfully (ecological efficiency).

• For this reason, first trophic level has the largest number of organisms,
and second trophic level is less than first one; the third level is less than
second level, and so on.
Trophic levels
Biomass
• Biomass means the total combined weight of any
specified group of organisms.
• The biomass of the first trophic level is the total
weight of all the producers in a given area.
• Biomass decreases at higher trophic levels.
Linkages & Interactions in an ecosystem

Biogeochemical Cycles
• Carbon and Oxygen cycle
• Nitrogen cycle
• A model of nutrient cycle
Carbon Cycle and Oxygen Cycle
Nitrogen Cycle
Model of Nutrient Cycle
• Concept: Nutrients (chemicals, minerals or
elements) are circulated around the ecosystem
and recycled continually.

• Gersmehl identified three storage

compartments.
▫ Litter: the surface layer of vegetation which may
eventually become humus.
▫ Biomass: the total mass of living organisms, per
unit area.
▫ Soil: the nutrients store in soil (weathered
material) and semi-weathered material.
Model of Nutrient Cycle
Environmental Limitation in ecosystem development

• Principles of limiting factors

▫ Law of the maximum
▫ Law of the minimum
• Principle of holocoenotic environment
• Limiting factors of an environment
▫ Light
▫ Temperature
▫ Water
▫ Wind
▫ Topography
▫ Soil
▫ Biotic factors
Law of Maximum and Minimum
Principle of holocoenotic environment
• German ecologist Karl Friederich (1927) suggested that
'community-environmental relationship are holocoenotic'.
This means that there are no 'walls' or ‘barriers’ between the
factors of an environment and the organism or biotic
community.
• If one factor is changed, almost all will change eventually.
• Example:
Temperature 

Evaporation rates 
Dryness of soil  Transpiration 

Free water in soil  Plants absorb soil water 

Limiting factors of an environment
• Light
• Temperature
• Water
• Wind
• Topography
• Soil
• Biotic Factors
Light
▫ Quality of light:
 Red and blue light: green plants (photosynthesis)
 Green light: plants in woods or deep water
 Ultraviolet light: retards plant growth
▫ Duration of light
 Affect the behaviour of plants and animals (flowering,
migration, mating….)
▫ Intensity of light:
 Controlling factor for rate of photosynthesis
 Net productivity is the function of photosynthesis and
respiration.
Temperature
• Very important factor affecting
▫ Directly effects on organisms
▫ Indirectly effects in modifying other environmental
factors such as relative humidity and water
availability.
• Each species has its own minimum, maximum
and optimum temperatures for life. (vary with
age and water balances in the body)
▫ Aquatic life has narrower tolerance ranges for
temperature than those which live on land.
▫ Tropical plants: > 15oC,
▫ Temperate cereals: >-2oC,
▫ Coniferous forests: withstand many degrees below
freezing.
Water
• Water restrict ecosystem development
because ,most organisms need large amounts
of water to survive.
• Water requirement for plants will vary both
with environmental conditions and among
different species.
• Actual rate of transpiration is the function of
▫ relative humidity
▫ Air movement
▫ Size of leaves
▫ Size of stomata
Water

• Plants classification by water requirement.

▫ Xerophytes: plants can survive in extremely arid areas.
▫ Halophytes: plants can survive in saline conditions
▫ Hydrophytes: plants live in water or in moist soil.
▫ Mesophytes: plants we often see in our daily life
Wind

• Wind can act as an environmental factor

▫ Directly by causing mechanical damage to plants
▫ Indirectly affecting relative humidity and evaporation
rates.
• High wind speed increases the rate of transpiration.
• Mountain summits, coasts and open plains
vegetation may be dwarfed as a result of wind
action.
Topography
• Topography can influence ecosystem
development in three major ways.
▫ Direct effects of altitude on temperature
 normal lapse rate (-6.5oC/km)
▫ The combination of changes in temperature and
relative humidity
▫ Slope orientation and angle
 South-facing slopes (in the northern hemisphere)
are warmer and drier than north-facing slopes.
 Angle of slope will be a critical factor in soil
formation and drainage.
Topography
Soil
• Attributes of soils, such as texture, pH, soil
climate and organic content operate in a closely
inter-related fashion to exert control on
▫ rates of decomposition
▫ nutrient cycling,
▫ plant distribution
▫ productivity.
Biotic Factors

• Biotic factors are the interactions that occur

between living things.
• Some species are beneficial or even essential for
the existence of others, whereas some may be
harmful.
▫ The dominant plants will grow tallest and modify the
light conditions for the rest of the community.
▫ Plants struggle for light will influence root development
and the competition for water and nutrients in the soil.
▫ Many plants rely on animals for pollination and seed
dispersal.
▫ Many animals are directly dependent on plants for food.
Biotic Factors
▫ Man is by far the most important biotic
factor.
▫ Man modifies of ecosystems by fire, hunting
and agriculture,…...
▫ Industrialization and the intensification of
agriculture, man has obliterated large areas
of natural systems and caused pollution of
both terrestrial and aquatic habitats.