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Environment 01 _ Daily Class Notes

The document provides an overview of ecology and the environment, defining key concepts such as abiotic and biotic factors, levels of organization in ecology, and the structure of ecosystems. It explains the components of the biosphere, including habitats and niches, and discusses the types of biomes and their climatic influences. The document emphasizes the interdependence of living organisms and their physical surroundings.

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4 views

Environment 01 _ Daily Class Notes

The document provides an overview of ecology and the environment, defining key concepts such as abiotic and biotic factors, levels of organization in ecology, and the structure of ecosystems. It explains the components of the biosphere, including habitats and niches, and discusses the types of biomes and their climatic influences. The document emphasizes the interdependence of living organisms and their physical surroundings.

Uploaded by

somya.rastogi652
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Environment

Lecture – 01
Basics of Ecology & Environment
2

Basics of Ecology & Environment


Environment:
❖ The environment is defined as the sum total of living, and non-living components, influences and events
surrounding an organism.
❖ The term environment comes from the French word "environer" which means 'surroundings'.
❖ It is sum total of biotic and abiotic components.
Components of the Environment:

❖ Abiotic factors: Abiotic are non-living components;


such as water, soil, and atmosphere.
❖ Biotic factors: Biotic factors are living things within an
ecosystem; such as plants, animals, and bacteria.
What is Ecology?
❖ The study of the interactions between living organisms
and their biotic and abiotic environments.
❖ Therefore, it is the study of the relationship of plants
and animals to their physical and biological environment.
Levels of Organisations in Ecology:
3

Organism:
❖ It is an individual living being that has the ability to act or function independently. It may be plant, animal,
bacterium, fungi, etc.
Population:
❖ It is a group of organisms usually of the
same species, occupying a defined area
during a specific time.
Community:
❖ It refers to all the populations of
different species living and interacting in a particular area or
habitat. A community may consist of different species of plants,
animals, fungi, and microorganisms, which are interdependent
and affect each other's survival and well-being.
Ecosystem:
❖ An ecosystem is defined as a structural and functional unit of
biosphere. consisting of a community of living beings and the
physical environment, both interacting and exchanging materials
between them.
❖ The term "ecosystem" was first coined by British ecologist Arthur Tansley in 1935.
Functional Units of an Ecosystem:
❖ Productivity: It refers to the rate of biomass production.
❖ Energy flow: It is the sequential
process through which energy
flows from one trophic level to
another. The energy captured
from the sun flows from
producers to consumers and then
to decomposers and finally back
to the environment.
❖ Decomposition: It is the process
of breakdown of dead organic
material. The topsoil is the major site for decomposition.
❖ Nutrient cycling: In an ecosystem, nutrients are consumed and recycled back in various forms for the
utilisation by various organisms.
Biomes:
❖ Biomes may be defined as a large natural ecosystem wherein it is the total assemblage of plant and animal
communities.
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❖ Here, all the biota have the minimum


common characteristics and all the areas of
biomes are characterized by more or less
uniform environmental conditions.
❖ Climatic conditions determine the
boundaries of biomes.
❖ Climatic conditions of biomes influence the
vegetation pattern, this vegetation pattern
facilitates the specific adaptation in
flora(plants) and fauna(animals)

Types of Biomes:

Terrestrial Biomes Aquatic Biomes


Tropical rainforest Sea
Temperate forest River
Grasslands Wetlands
Deserts Mangroves
Taiga (It is the largest terrestrial biome. It comprises 11% of biome space.) Coral reefs
Tundra Estuaries
Intertidal zone
Biosphere:
❖ The biosphere is a part of the
earth where life can exist.
❖ It represents a highly
integrated and interacting
zone comprising atmosphere
(air), hydrosphere (water)
and lithosphere (land).
❖ The biosphere is
approximately 20 km thick.
❖ Most life occurs between
500m below the surface of the ocean and about 6 km above the sea level.
❖ The biosphere refers to the narrow zone of the earth in which all life forms exist.
❖ Life becomes possible in this zone. It is because this is the zone in which all the three essential things which
are required for the sustenance of life are found in the right mixture. They are land (lithosphere), air
(atmosphere), and water (hydrosphere).
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❖ Range of biosphere: It extends vertically into the atmosphere to about 8km, downward into the ocean to
depths of about 10.4 km, and into about 27,000 ft of the earth’s surface where maximum living organisms
have been found.
❖ Most of the organisms are found in the range of 6 km into the atmosphere and
200 m in the ocean.
Habitat:
❖ It is the place where an organism or a community of organisms lives, including
all living and nonliving factors or conditions of the surrounding environment.
❖ Microhabitat is a term for the conditions and organisms in the immediate vicinity
of a plant or animal.
Niche:
❖ A niche refers to the unique role or position of a species within an ecosystem, including the physical and
biological conditions it requires to survive and reproduce.
❖ It can be described by the specific set of environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, light, soil
type, and food availability, that a species requires to survive and thrive.
❖ The niche of an organism and its interactions are determined by where it stands in the ecological structure of
the ecosystem. (Producers, Consumers, Decomposers)
   

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