This document discusses various natural resources including ponds, lakes and rivers, forests, and mangroves. It provides details on the ecology and importance of these resources. Ponds provide habitat and food sources for wildlife. Forests store carbon, regulate climate, purify water, and contain biodiversity. Mangroves have adaptations that allow them to thrive in saline coastal habitats. Natural resources are essential but finite, so sustainable use is important.

1. NATURAL RESOURCES
SUBMITTED TO:
Mrs. Sushama prabha.L
Lecturer in Natural Science
SUBMITTED BY:
Vidya Ravi.J
Natural Science(optional)
SUBMITTED ON:
8/8/2014

2. NATURAL RESOURCES

3. INDEX
Sl.No. Content Page no
1. Introduction 4
2. Pond 4
3. Lakes and Rivers 5
4. Forest 5-6
5. Mangroves 7-8
6. conclusion 8
7. Reference 8
INTRODUCTION
The earth is a relatively small planet with limited resources to support a
certain number of people for a given period of time.If there are more people to

4. share its resources and if they use them or waste them at a fast rate then
these will not last long.The earth has only acertain amount of air,water,soil,raw
materials and minerals.These are called resources.If we use all of them there
will be none left for the future generations.The earth is not limitless;it is
finite.For million’s of years,mankinds need for mineral resources was modest
and had little impact on the environment.With each invention that improved
the chances of human survival,the need for minerals increased.The
development of elaborate industries led to the need for larger quantities of
raw materials such as stone,wood,clay,fibre,skins,and hides and later,metals.
POND
A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man made,that is
usually smaller than a lake.They may arise naturally in floodplains as part of a
river system, or they may be somewhat isolated depressions.Usually they
contain shallow with marsh aquatic plants and animals.
One of the most important features of pond is the presence of standing
water, which provides habitat for wetland plants and animals.Familiar
examples might include water-lilies, frogs, turtles and herons.Often,the entire
margin of the pond is fringed by wetland,and these wetlands support the
aquatic food web,provide shelter for wild life,and stabilize the shore of the
pond.Some grazing animals like geese and muskrats consume the wet land
plants directly as a source of food.In many other cases,however,the pond
plants fall into the water and decay.A large number of invertebrates then feed
on the decaying plants,and these invertebrates provide food for wetland
species including fish,dragonflies,and herons.The open water may allow algae
to grow ,and these algae may support yet another food web that includes
aquatic insects and minnows’A pond ,therefore,may have combinations of
three different food webs,one based on larger plants ,one based up on
decayed plants and one based up on algae.Hence ,ponds often have a large
number of different animal species using the wide array of food sources.They
therefore provide an important source of biological diversity in landscapes.
USE
Globally,the most important service provided by a pond ,at many
scales,is the production of fish and other wild life.These are often also a source

5. of food for humans,as well as important source of recreation.At the same
time,these ponds help maintain water quality by recycling nutrients.
LAKES AND RIVERS
Lakes are defined as large bodies of inland water.If surface water flows
to a place that is surrounded by higher land on all sides,a lake will form.If a
dam is built to hinder a rivers flow,the lake that forms is a reservoir.
Lakes are an essential soure of water in Ontario.The Great Lakes hold
about 1/5 of the worlds,fresh surface water supply.Most of our drinking
water,as well as water used for irrigation,industry and hydropower,come from
fresh water lakes and reservoirs.
THE IMPORTANCE OF LAKES AND RIVERS
Lakes and rivers are vital components of our environment as they,are an
important source of fresh water.It provide habitat for numerous species of
plants and animals including species at risk.These are an essential components
of the water cycle,and also an important source of renewable energy.
FOREST
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high
density of trees.A forest is usually an area filled with trees but any tall densely
packed area of vegetation may be considered a forest, even under water
vegetation such as kelp forest, or non-vegetation such as fungi, and
bacteria.Tree forests cover approximately 9.4 percent of the earth’s surface (or
30% of total land area), though they once covered much more (about 50% of
total land area).
A typical tree forest is composed of the overstory (Canopy or tree layer)
and the understory.The understory is further sub divided in the shrub
layer,herb layer,and also the moss layer and soil microbes.In some complex
forest, there is also a well-defined lower tree layer.Forest are central to all
human life because they provide adiverse range of resources: they store
carbon,aid in regulating the planetary climate,purify water and mitigate
natural hazards such as floods.Forest also contain roughly 90%of the worlds
terrestrial biodiversity.

6. Forest can be classified in different ways and to different degrees of
specificity.One such way is in terms of the “biome” in which they exist,
combined with leaf longevity of the dominant species(whether they are
evergreen or deciduous).Another distinction is whether the forest are
composed predominantly of broad leaf trees,coniferous(needle-leaved)
trees,or mixed.
1. TEMPERATE NEEDLE LEAF
Temperate needle leaf forests mostly occupy the higher latitude regions
of the northern hemisphere,as well as high attitude zones and some warm
temperate areas,especially on nutrient-poor or otherwise unfavourable
soils.These forests are composed entirely, or nearly so, of coniferous
species’(coniferophyta).
2. TEMPERATE BROAD LEAF AND MIXED
Temperate broad leaf and mixed forests include a substantial
component of trees in the Anthophyta.They are generally characteristic of the
warmer temperate latitudes, but extend to cool temperate ones, particularly in
the southern hemisphere.
They include such forest type as the mixed deciduous forests of the
united states and their counter parts in China and Japan, the broadleaf
evergreen rain forests of Japan, Chile and Tasmania, the sclerophyllous forests
of Australia, central Chile, the Mediterranean and California, and the Southern
beech Nothofagus forests of Chile and Newzealand.
3. TROPICAL MOIST FOREST
There are many different types of tropical moist forests although most
extensive are the lowland evergreen broad leaf rain forests.Frests located on
mountain are also included in his category divided largely in to upper and
lower montane formation on the basis of the variation of physiognomy
corresponding to changes in attitude.
4. TROPICAL DRY FOREST
Tropical dry forests are characteristic of areas in the tropics affected by
seasonal drought.The seasonality of rain fall is usually reflected in the

7. deciduousness of the forest canopy,with most treesbeing leafless for several
months of the year.However ,undersome conditions,eg: less fertile soils or less
predictable drought regimes, the production of ever green species increase
and the forests are characterized as “sclerophyllus”.Thorn forest, a dense
forest of low stature with a high frequency of thorny or spiny species , is found
where drought is prolonged ,and especially where grazing animals are
plentiful. On very poor soils, and especially where fire is a recurrent
phenomenon, woody savannas develop.
MANGROVES
Mangroves are various types of trees up to medium height and shrubs
that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics-mainly
between latitude 25 degree N and 25 degree S.The remaining
mangrove forest areas of the world in 2000 was 53.the term “mangrove”
comes to English from Spanish (perhaps by way of Portuguese),and is likely to
originate from Gurani.i t was earlier “mangrow”, but this word was corrupted
via folk etymology influence of the word “grove”.
BIOLOGY
Of the recognized 110 mangrove species, only about 54 species in 20
genera from 16 families constitute the “true mangroves”, species that occur
almost exclusively in mangrove habitats.Demonstrating convergent evolution,
many of these species found similar solutions of the tropical conditions of
variable salinity, tidal ange,anaerobic soils and intense sunlight.
1. ADAPTATION TO LOW OXYGEN
Red mangroves, which can survive in the inundated area, prop
themselves above the water level with stilt roots and can then absorb air
through pores in their bark. Black mangroves live on higher ground and make
many pnematophores which are also covered in lenticels.These breathing
“tubes” typically reach heights of up to 30cm.The roots also contain wide
aerenchyma to facilitate transport which in the plants.
2. LIMITING SALT INTAKE

8. Red mangroves exclude salt by having significantly impermeable roots which
are highly suberised, acting as an ultrafiltration mechanism to exclude sodium
salts from the rest of the plant.
3. LIMITING WATER LOSS
Because of the limited fresh water available in salty inter tidal soils,
mangroves limit the amount of water they lose through their leaves.They can
restrict the opening of their stomata.
4. NUTRIENT UP TAKE
The biggest problem mangroves faces is nutrient uptake.Because the soil
is perpetually water logged,little free oxygen is available.Anaerobic bacteria
liberate nitrogen gas,soluble iron,inorganic phosphate,sulfides and
methane,which make the soil much less nutritious.
SACRED GROVES
A sacred grove or sacred woods are any grove of trees of special
religious importance to a particular culture.Sacred groves were most
prominent in the Ancient Near East and prehistoric Europe.But feature in
various cultures through out the world.They were important features of the
mythological landscape and cult practice of celtic.
CONCLUSION
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist
relatively undisturbed by humanity, in anatural form.A natural resource is
often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in
various ecosystems.Natural resources are derived from the environment.Some
of them are essential for our survival while most are used for satisfying our
wants.
REFERENCES
Environmental science Education-A.Panneer selvam, Mohana
Ramakrishnan.