GE8291- ENVIRONMENTAL

SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

DEFINITIONS OF ENVIRONMENT

Some important definitions of environment 

 According to Boring, ‘A person’s environment consists of the sum total of the

stimulation which he receives from his conception until his death.’ Indicating that
environment comprises various types of forces such as physical, intellectual,
mental, economical, political, cultural, social, moral and emotional.

 Douglas and Holland defined that ‘The term environment is used to describe, in
aggregate, all the external forces, influences and conditions, which affect the life,
nature, behavior and the growth, development and maturity of living organisms’.
SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENT
The scope of environmental studies is very wide and it deals with many areas like
 Conservation of natural resources
 Ecological aspects
 Pollution of the surrounding natural resources
 Controlling the pollution
 Social issues connected to it, and
 Impacts of human population on the environment.
IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENT
 Environment Issues are being of Global

It has been well recognized that environment issues like global warming and ozone
depletion, acid rain, marine pollution and biodiversity are not merely national
issues but are global issues and hence require international efforts and cooperation
to solve them

 Development and Environment

Development leads to Urbanization, Industrial Growth, Telecommunication and

Transportation Systems, Hi-tech Agriculture and Housing etc. However, it has
become phased out in the developed world.
NEED FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS:
 Increasing population, Urbanization  and poverty have generated pressure on
the natural resources and lead to a degradation of the environment. To prevent
the environment from further degradation, the supreme court has ordered and
initiated environmental protection awareness through government and non-
government agencies to take part in protecting our environment.

 Environmental Education (EE) is a process of learning by giving an overall

perspective of knowledge and awareness of the environment. It sensitizes the
society about environmental issues and challenges interested individuals to
develop skills and expertise thereby providing appropriate solutions.
 Climate change, loss of biodiversity, declining fisheries, ozone layer depletion,
illegal trade of endangered species, destruction of habitats, land degradation,
depleting ground water supplies, introduction of alien species, environmental
pollution, solid waste disposal, storm water and sewage disposal pose a
serious threat to ecosystems in forest, rural, urban and marine ecosystems.

 Environmental pollution cannot prevented by laws alone. Public participation

is equally important with regard to environmental protection.

 Both formal and informal education on the environment will give the
interested individual the knowledge, values, skills and tools needed to face the
environmental challenges on a local and global level.
CONCEPT OF AN ECOSYSTEM
 Ecosystem was defined by Eugene Odum as "an unit that includes all the
organisms, i.e., the community in a given area interacting with the physical
environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure,
biotic diversity and material cycles, i.e., exchange of materials between living
and non-living, within the system”.

 The ecosystem appears as just another physical, mechanical system. Ecosystem

is necessary for the maintenance of life on Earth. For an ecosystem to function,
both input and output environments are important. The flow of energy, the
cycling of materials and community are the components for making an
ecosystem functional.
STRUCTURE OF THE ECOSYSTEM
 The structure of an ecosystem is characterized by the organization of both
biotic and abiotic components. This includes the distribution of energy in our
environment. It also includes the climatic conditions prevailing in that
particular environment. 

 The structure of an ecosystem can be split into two main components, namely: 

Biotic Components

Abiotic Components
Biotic Components
Biotic components refer to all life in an ecosystem. 
Based on nutrition, biotic components can be
categorized into autotrophs, heterotrophs
and saprotrophs

(a) Autotrophic component (Producers)

(b) Heterotrophic component (Consumers)
(c) Saprotrophic (Decomposers)

Abiotic Components
Abiotic components are the non-living component of an
ecosystem.  It includes air, water, soil, minerals,
sunlight, temperature, nutrients, wind, altitude, turbidity,
etc. 
FUNCTIONS OF THE ECOSYSTEM
 It regulates the essential ecological processes, supports life systems and renders
stability.

 It is also responsible for the cycling of nutrients between biotic and abiotic

components.

 It maintains a balance among the various trophic levels in the ecosystem.

 It cycles the minerals through the biosphere.

 The abiotic components help in the synthesis of organic components that

involves the exchange of energy.
ENERGY FLOW OF THE ECOSYSTEM
Producers include all autotrophs such as plants.
They are called autotrophs as they can produce
food through the process of photosynthesis.
Consequently, all other organisms higher up on
the food chain rely on producers for food.
Consumers or heterotrophs are organisms that
depend on other organisms for food. Consumers
are further classified into primary consumers,
secondary consumers and tertiary consumers.
Decomposers include saprophytes such as fungi
and bacteria. They directly thrive on the dead and
decaying organic matter.  Decomposers are
essential for the ecosystem as they help in
recycling nutrients to be reused by plants.
Ecological Succession
 Ecological succession is a term developed by botanists to describe the change
in structure of a community of different species, or ecosystem. The concept of
ecological succession arose from a desire to understand how large and
complex ecosystems like forests can exist in places known to be recently
formed, such as volcanic islands.

 The different types of ecological succession exists during different phases of

an ecosystem, and depend on how developed that ecosystem is. In the concept
of ecological succession, ecosystems advance until they reach a climax
community. Many forests that have not been disturbed in many years are
examples of a climax community.
Types of Ecological Succession
 Primary Succession
Primary succession begins in barren areas, such as on bare rock exposed
by a retreating glacier. The first inhabitants are lichens or plants—those that can
survive in such an environment. Over hundreds of years these “pioneer species”
convert the rock into soil that can support simple plants such as grasses.

These grasses further modify the soil, which is then colonized by other
types of plants. Each successive stage modifies the habitat by altering the amount
of shade and the composition of the soil. The final stage of succession is a climax
community, which is a very stable stage that can endure for hundreds of years.
Secondary Succession
 Secondary succession follows a major disturbance, such as a fire or a flood.
The stages of secondary succession are similar to those of primary succession;
however, primary succession always begins on a barren surface, whereas
secondary succession begins in environments that already possess soil. In
addition, through a process called old-field succession, farmland that has been
abandoned may undergo secondary succession.
Difference between Primary Succession and Secondary
Succession
The driving force behind succession, the reason why change occurs, is not always the same:

 Autogenic succession: the replacement of one community by the next results from
changes in the physical environment that have been produced by the resident organisms.
These changes tend to render the site less optimal for the organisms producing the change
and more optimal for those organisms that replace them.

 Allogenic succession: it occurs when geological processes cause changes in the physical
environment, which in turn lead to changes in the biota.

 Biogenic succession: it occurs when there is a sudden interference with an autogenic or

allogenic succession by a living organism which becomes the major agent of successional
change, at least temporally. A sudden change in herbivore pressure on the plant
community or the sudden removal of a segment of the plant community by a pathogen
could be two good examples
Food Chain

 The sun is the ultimate source of energy on earth. It provides the energy required for
all plant life. The plants utilize this energy for the process of photosynthesis, which
is used to synthesize their food.

 During this biological process, light energy is converted into chemical energy and is
passed on through successive levels. The flow of energy from a producer, to a
consumer and eventually, to an apex predator or a detritivore is called the food chain.

 Dead and decaying matter, along with organic debris, is broken down into its
constituents by scavengers. The reducers then absorb these constituents. After
gaining the energy, the reducers liberate molecules to the environment, which can be
utilized again by the producers.
Food Web
 Food web is a network of interconnected food chains. It comprises all the food
chains within a single ecosystem. It helps in understanding that plants lay the
foundation of all the food chains. In a marine environment, phytoplankton
forms the primary producer.
Ecological Pyramids
 An ecological pyramid is the graphical representation of the number, energy,
and biomass of the successive trophic levels of an ecosystem. Charles Elton
was the first ecologist to describe the ecological pyramid and its principals in
1927.
 The biomass, number, and energy of organisms ranging from the producer
level to the consumer level are represented in the form of a pyramid; hence, it
is known as the ecological pyramid.
 The base of the ecological pyramid comprises the producers, followed by
primary and secondary consumers. The tertiary consumers hold the apex. In
some food chains, the quaternary consumers are at the very apex of the food
chain.
 The producers generally outnumber the primary consumers and similarly, the
primary consumers outnumber the secondary consumers. And lastly, apex
predators also follow the same trend as the other consumers; wherein, their
numbers are considerably lower than the secondary consumers.
Importance of Ecological Pyramid
 The importance of ecological pyramid can be explained in the following points:
 They show the feeding of different organisms in different ecosystems.
 It shows the efficiency of energy transfer.
 The condition of the ecosystem can be monitored, and any further damage can be
prevented.
Limitations of the Ecological Pyramid
 More than one species may occupy multiple trophic levels as in case of the food web.
Thus, this system does not take into account food webs.
 The saprophytes are not considered in any of the pyramids even though they form an
important part of the various ecosystem.
 These pyramids are applicable only to simple food chains, which usually do not occur
naturally.
 These pyramids do not deliver any concept in relation to variations in season and
climate.
 They do not consider the possibility of the existence of the same species at different
levels.
Types of Ecological Pyramids