Environmental science for

architecture
Ar. Suwatha
 ENVIRONMENT
ECOSYSTEM
BIODIVERSITY

NATURAL RESOURCES

agenda ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

SOCIAL ISSUES & ENVIRONMENT

HUMAN POPULATION & ENVIRONMENT

 Environment
• The word means ‘surrounding’ in
which organisms live. It is the
sum total of conditions that
surround us at a given point in
time & space
• It regulates the growth &
influence of living organisms
including human beings.
• Environment also refers to the
materials and resources for
leading a comfortable life
• . It constitutes both biotic (living)
& abiotic (non-living)

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 scope
Works towards maintenance of ecological balance, conservation and
regulation and preservation of environment.
• Awareness & sensitivity towards environment & related issues
• Motivate active participation in environment protection &
improvement
• Develop skills to identify & solve environmental issues
• Know the necessity of conservation of natural resources
• Evaluate environmental programmers in terms of social, economic,
ecological & aesthetic factors.

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 importance
• Enlighten about the environment issues which are not merely national
issues but are of global importance
• Development like urbanization, industrial growth, transportation systems,
agriculture and housing has stepped ahead ignoring the environmental
impacts of it.
• Population increase reflects the pressure on the natural resources
• Human activities should stop constricting the environment to save living
organisms from extinction
• Development plans should be ecologically planned for sustenance of the
environment.

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public awareness
POVERTY

GROWING POPULATION

NEED FOR ORGANIC

AGRICULTURE

DEVELOPMENT & NATURAL

NEED TO GROUND WATER RESOURCES
 ecology
• It is defined as the scientific study of the
relationships between organisms and the
components of the environment namely abiotic
(non-living) and biotic (living)

Environment is the surrounding in which the organisms

live whereas the Ecology studies the interaction
between the environment and the organisms living in
it.

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levels of ecological organization
COMMUNITY
INDIVIDUAL POPULATION (ecological unit)
(living (group of • Major community
organism) individuals) • Minor community

BIOSPHERE
ECOSYSTEM
(parts of earth where life exists)
(community of plants &
• Atmosphere
animals with abiotic
• Troposphere
BIOME components) • Stratosphere
(large ecological unit) • Mesosphere
• Desert biome • Thermosphere
• Aquatic biome • Exosphere
• Forest biome • Hydrosphere
• Grassland biome • Lithosphere
• Tundra biome • Oceanic lithosphere
• Continental lithosphere
 habitat
• Habitat is the physical environment in which
an organism lives. Each has particular
requirement for its survival.
• Major habitats are:
• Terrestrial
• Arid
• Forest
• Urban
• Coastal
• Freshwater
• Estuarine
• Ocean

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 summary
Environment is the surrounding in
which the organisms live whereas
the Ecology studies the interaction
between the environment and the
organisms living in it.

Environmental understanding is
important for the sustenance of
living organisms and also aims to
share knowledge creating public
awareness.

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ecosystem
 • Ecosystem is defined as a self-sustained community of plants
and animals existing in its own environment. It is also defined
as any unit that includes all organisms in a given area
interacting with the physical environment, so that a flow of
energy give rise to tropic structure, biodiversity and material
cycles within the system.
• An ecosystem is a functional unit of nature where a
community of living organisms interact among themselves
and with the surrounding physical environment.
• It vary in size, may be as large as forest or sea or as small as
pond or back of spider crab’s shell which shelters sponges,
algae and worms.

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structure
• The composition of
biological community
including species number,
biomass, life history &
distribution in space.
• The quantity and
distribution of non-living
material, such as nutrient
water.
• The rage of condition of
existence such as
temperature, light
 abiotic components
• It includes the non-living part of the ecosystem which enters
the body of a living organism, taking part in many
physiological activities including metabolism and return to
environment
Physical
factors Organic
substance
Inorganic s
substance
s
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 physical factors Temperature
Different zones – tropical, subtropical, temperate and alpine
The distribution of living
Humidity
organisms in a particular
habitat may be affected by Amount of water vapour in atmosphere
certain factors called physical
Light
factors.
Sun is the main source of energy to all life

Soil

Atmospheric pressure
Pressure of atmosphere varies with altitude

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 inorganic factors Water

Degree of survival & growth

Oxygen

For both respiration & photosynthesis

Carbon dioxide

Photosynthesis & dissolution of CO2 in ocean define

pH level

Nitrogen
• Building blocks of all proteins

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 organic factors Protein

Responsible for nearly every cellular life

Carbohydrates

For both respiration & photosynthesis

Lipids

Photosynthesis & dissolution of CO2 in

ocean define pH level

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 biotic components
• An ecosystem include living beings like plants, animals, fungi and
microorganisms that make up ecological communities.
• The organism are interdependent and closely associated with members
of food chain/ web.

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 function
• The rate of biological energy flow (i.e) production & respiration rates of
the community
• The rate of material or nutrient cycles
• Biological regulation including both regulation of organism by
environment and regulation of environment by organism
• It functions as a unit, under the following aspects:
• Productivity
• Decomposition
• Energy flow
• Nutrient cycling

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 interaction

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functional attributes of ecosystem
ENERGY FLOW

FOOD CHAIN &

FOOD WEB

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS

ECOLOGICAL ECOLOGICAL
REGULATION SUCCESSION
 food chain
Plants by photosynthesis
convert solar energy into
protoplasm. Small herbivores
consume the vegetable matter
and convert into animal matter
which in turn eaten by large
carnivores. This sequence of
eaten and being eaten,
produces transfer of food
energy known as food chain.
Producer → Primary consumer → Secondary consumer → Tertiary consumer → Decomposer

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 food web
The food relationship
between various
organisms is being
depicted by linking all the
possible prey and
predators of different food
level. In an ecosystem
linking of feeding habit
relations will provide a
food web.

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2023 ECOSYSTEM 24
 energy flow
• Biological activities require energy which ultimately comes from the sun. Solar
energy is transformed into chemical energy by a process of photosynthesis this
energy is stored in plant tissue and then transformed into heat energy during
metabolic activities.
• Thus in biological world the energy flows from the sun to plants and then to all
heterotrophic organisms. The flow of energy is unidirectional and non-cyclic. This
one way flow of energy is governed by laws of thermodynamics which states that:
(a) Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed but may be transformed
from one form to another
(b) During the energy transfer there is degradation of energy from a
concentrated form (mechanical, chemical, or electrical etc.) to a dispersed form
(heat).
• No energy transformation is 100 % efficient; it is always accompanied by some
dispersion or loss of energy in the form heat. Therefore, biological systems including
ecosystems must be supplied with energy on a continuous Basis.

20XX presentation title 25

models in ecosystem
• Single Channel Energy Flow
Model: The flow of energy
takes place in a unidirectional
manner through a single
channel of producers to
herbivores and carnivores. The
energy captured by autotrophs
does not revert back to solar
input but passes to herbivores;
and that which passes to
herbivores does not go back to
autotrophs but passes to
consumers.
models in ecosystem
• Y- shaped energy model: This
is more realistic and practical
than the single channel energy
flow model because: •It
conforms to the basic stratified
structure of ecosystems •It
separates the two chains i.e.
grazing & detritus food chain in
both time and space. •Micro
consumers (bacteria & fungi)
and the macro consumers
(animals) differ greatly in size-
metabolism relations in two
models in ecosystem
• Universal energy flow model :As the
flow of energy takes place, there is
gradual loss of energy at each level
there by resulting in less energy
available at the next tropic level as
indicated by narrower pipes (energy
flow) and smaller boxes (stored
energy in biomass). The loss of
energy is mainly the energy which is
not utilized (U). This is the energy
loss in locomotion, excretion etc. or
it the energy lost in respiration (CR)
which is for maintenance. The
remaining energy is used for
production (P).
 Ecological pyramids

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thank you
Ar. Suwatha