notes

1. Module 3
Environment and Ecosystem
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2. DEFINITION
 Surrounding were originally a natural landscape
like a forest, a river, a mountain, a desert, or
mixture of those components are called
environment.
 ECOSYSTEM
An ecosystem is comprised of all the non-living
elements and living species in a specific local
environment. Components of most ecosystems
include water, air, sunlight, soil, plants,
microorganisms, insects and animals. Ecosystems
may be terrestrial – that is, on land – or aquatic.
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3. Scope of Environment Studies
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 Developing an awareness and sensitivity to the total
environment and its related problems
 Motivating people for active participation in environmental
protection and improvement.
 Developing skills for active identification and development
of solutions to environmental problems.
 Imbibe and inculcate the necessity for conservation of
natural resources.
 Evaluation of environmental programmes in terms of
social, economic, ecological and aesthetic factors.

4. IMPORTANCE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
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 We will begin to appreciate and adopt the idea of
"DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT DESTRUCTION OF
THE ENVIRONMENT“
 Knowledge about "VARIOUS TYPES OF
ENVIRONMENTS & DIFFERENT
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS“.
 Playing an effective role in protecting the environment by
"DEMANDING CHANGES IN LAW AND
ENFORCEMENT SYSTEMS".
 Having a "POSITIVE IMPACT" on "QUALITY OF
LIFE".
 Creating a "CONCERN AND RESPECT FOR THE
ENVIRONMENT".

5. NEED FOR PUBLIC AWARENESS
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 Prevent Degradation of environment due to
population and Environment.
 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.

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7. Energy flow
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 In ecology, energy flow, also called the calorific flow,
refers to the flow of energy through a food chain, and
is the focus of study in ecological energetic.
In an ecosystem, ecologists seek to quantify the
relative importance of different component species and
feeding relationships
 Water cycle.
 Carbon cycle.
 Nitrogen cycle.
 Oxygen cycle.
 Energy cycle

8. Water cycle
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9. Water cycle
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 Condensation
 Precipitation
Transpiration
 Evaporation

10. Carbon Cycle
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11. Nitrogen cycle
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12. NITROGEN CYCLE
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 NO3 = NITRATE
 NO2 = NITROGEN DIOXIDE.
 NH3 = FREE AMMONIA (TOXIC OR
DANGEROUS GAS)
 NH4 = AMMONIA (NON TOXIC SALT).
 NITRIFICATION.
 DENITRIFICATION. The loss or removal of
nitrogen or nitrogen compounds specifically:
reduction of nitrates or nitrites commonly by
bacteria (as in soil) that usually results in the
escape of nitrogen into the air.

13. Oxygen cycle
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14. Energy Cycle
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15. Ecological Succession
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Ecological succession
Ecological succession is the process of change in
the species structure of an ecological community
over time. The time scale can be decades (for
example, after a wildfire), or even millions of
years after a mass extinction.
 Primary succession.
 Secondary succession.

16. Food Chains
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17. Food Chain and Food Web
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18. Food Chain and Food Web
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Food Chain:
Food chain shows how each living thing gets food, and how
nutrients and energy are passed from creature to creature. Food
chains begin with plant-life, and end with animal-life. Some
animals eat plants, some animals eat other animals. A simple
food chain could start with grass, which is eaten by rabbits.
Food Web:
A food web consists of many food chains. A food chain only follows just
one path as animals find food. eg: A hawk eats a snake, which has eaten
a frog, which has eaten a grasshopper, which has eaten grass. A food
web shows the many different paths plants and animals are connected.

19. Energy pyramid
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20. Citech, Bangalore
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Primary Producers:
The one that gathers energy from an energy spot such as the
sun; an example may be grass.
Primary Consumer:
The one that gets its energy directly from the primary
producer, such as a grasshopper who eats the grass.
Secondary consumer:
One gets energy directly from the primary consumer, example
Rat who eats the grasshopper.
Tertiary consumer:
One who gets the energy from the secondary consumer

21. Ecosystem
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An ecosystem is a community of living organisms
in conjunction with the nonliving components of
their environment, interacting as a system. These
biotic and abiotic components are linked together
through nutrient cycles and energy flow.

22. Types of Ecosystem
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 Forest ecosystem
 Grassland ecosystem.
 Desert ecosystem.
 Aquatic ecosystem.

23. Forest Ecosystem
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Forest ecosystem has two parts
 The non living or abiotic aspects of the
forest.
The abiotic factors of an ecosystem are all the
nonliving things that affect the survival and
reproduction of living organisms(rocks, climate,
soil, sunlight, rain and temperature)
 The living or biotic aspects of the forest.
Biotic factors are the living parts of the ecosystem,
such as plants, animals, insects, fungi and bacteria.

24. Types of forest ecosystem
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 Coniferous forest.
 Evergreen forest.
 Deciduous forest.
 Thorn forest.
 Mangrove forest.

25. Coniferous forest
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26. Coniferous forest
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Grow in the Himalayan mountain where the
temperature is low.
 Tall stately trees in the forest with needle like
leaves.
Download sloping branches so that snow can slip
off the branches
Vegetation composed primarily of cone-bearing
needle-leaved.
Found in areas that have long winters and
moderate to high annual precipitation in Taiga.
Both terms are used to describe the entire
circumpolar coniferous forest with its

27. Conservation of forest ecosystem
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 Forest conservation is the practice of planting and maintaining forested
areas for the benefit and sustainability of future generations.
 Forest stores carbon and release oxygen called as earth lung.
 upkeep the natural resources.
 50% of the earth's biodiversity occurs in forests.
 Reduce global warming, absorb toxic gases & noise, reduce
pollution, conserve soil, mitigate natural hazards such as floods&
landslides & so on.
Deforestation due to
Expansion of agriculture timber plantation, other land uses like pulp
and paper plantations, urbanization, construction of roads, industries.

28. Evergreen forest
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29. Evergreen forest
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 Found tropical zone ,temperate zone or
rainforest. Generally found in between tropical of
cancer and Capricorn.
 Hot and humid climatic conditions with a short dry
season
 In India evergreen forest found at western ghat,
Himalaya, Northeast and Andaman Nicobar
island
 Heavy rainfall More than 225cm.
 Dense and multilayered
 Worldwide spread in southern China,
southeastern Brazil, parts of southeastern North

30. Deciduous forest
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31. Deciduous forest
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 Found in Indian states of Bihar, Orissa,
and Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan states.
 The temperate deciduous forest has four distinct
seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
 Temperate deciduous forest gets about 51-152
centimetres of rain every year.
 There is an approximately 6 month growing
season.
 During the winter months the trees lose their
leaves.

32. Thorn forest
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33. Thorn forest
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Those forests are found from plains up to 400m
the common trees of top storey are Acacia
ferruginea, Acacia leucophloea, Albizzia
amara and Azadirachta indica. In india,
Tamilnadu
Found in semiarid regions of india
Which are sparsely distributed, are surrounded
by open grassy areas.
Thorns plants are able to conserve the water.

34. Mangrove forest
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The Sundarbans contain the world's largest
mangrove forests and one of the most biologically
productive of all natural ecosystems. ... Covering
133,010 ha, the area is estimated to comprise
about 55% forest land and 45% wetlands in the
form of tidal rivers, creeks, canals and vast
estuarine mouths of the river

35. Mangrove forest
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Grow in the river deltas.
The plants are usually grow in
saline and
fresh water.
 Grow in muddy areas and they
having
 breathing roots
 Sundarbans Mangroves, West Bengal. The Great
Sundarbans is the largest Mangroves region in the world
and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. ...
 Bhitarkanika Mangroves, Odisha.
Bhitarkanika Mangroves is India's second
largest forest,located in Odisha. ...
 Godavari – Krishna Mangroves, Andhra Pradesh. ...
 Pichavaram Mangroves, Tamil Nadu.

36. Grassland Ecosystem.
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Grassland Ecosystem is an area where the
vegetation is dominated by grasses and other
herbaceous (non-woody) plants. It is also called
transitional landscape because grassland
ecosystems are dominated by the grass with few or
no trees in the area where there is not enough for a
forest and too much of a forest.

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Grassland Ecosystem

38. Types of Grassland Ecosystem
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 Himalayan posture belt
 Terai grasslands
 Bugyal grasslands
 Khajjiar grasslands.
 Banni grasslands.
 Shola grasslands

39. Shola Grasslands
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40. Shola Grasslands
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Shola is tropical mountain forest found in rolling hills
and valleys in the higher mountain regions of South
India. The shola and grassland found in the higher
altitude hill regions of the Nilgiris, Kanyakumari and
in the Western Ghats ranges of Karnataka, Kerala and
Tamil Nadu. Shola forests are home to many
threatened and endemic species such as endangered
Nilgiri tahr,Lion-tailed macaque,25 types of trees,
reptiles,the amphibians and 300 species of birds
Laughingthrushes, Nilgiri woodpigeons and Nilgiri
flycatcher.

41. Terai Grasslands
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42. Terai
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The Terai is belt of marshy grasslands, savannas and
green forests in Indian subcontinent,located at the
outer foothills of the Himalaya, the Siwalik
Hills,the Ganges and Brahmaputra Plain. Terai-
Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion in India are
Valmiki and Dudhwa National Parks and home to a
number of wild animals greater one-horned
rhinoceros,wild water buffalo and reptiles
including the gharial, mugger crocodile and soft-
shelled turtles.

43. Bugyal Grasslands
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44. Bugyal Grasslands
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Bugyal is a high altitude alpine grass lands in
Uttarakhand also known as nature’s own gardens
with green grass and seasonal flowers. The Bugyal
alpine meadows are snow-covered in winter and
during the summer burst into beautiful flowers and
grass. Nandadevi National Park and Biosphere
Reserve,Valley of Flowers Biosphere
Reserve,Dayara Bugyal in Roopkund,Kushkalyan
Bugyal in Tungnath are very fragile ecosystems in
India.

45. Khajjiar Grasslands.
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46. Khajjiar Grasslands.
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Khajjiar is a small plateau in Chamba district
Himachal Pradesh and surrounded by green
meadows and dense forests. Grasslands of Khajjiar
is covered by dense deodar and fir forest lies in the
path of the Ravi River and offers numerous
trekking opportunities. Kalatop Khajjiar Sanctuary
is best animal sanctuary at Kalatop and Khajjiar to
spot Himalayan Black Marten,Himalayan bear and
species of deers,wild Goats and antelope.

47. Banni Grasslands
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Banni grasslands is grassland ecosystem on the edge of the
desert of The marshy salt of Rann of Kutch,spread across
an area of 3,847 square kilometres. Banni Grasslands are
known for rich wildlife,biodiversity and supports numerous
animal genetic resources like Banni buffalo, Kankrej Cattle,
Sheep, Goat, Camel and horse. Banni Grasslands
Reserve has identified as one of the last remaining
habitats of the Cheetah in India and the only reintroduction
site

48. Conservation of Grassland Ecosystem
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Solutions
 Continue education efforts on how to protect the
soil and prevent soil erosion.
 Protect and restore wetlands, which are an
important part of grassland ecology.
 Rotate agricultural crops to prevent the sapping of
nutrients.
 Plant trees as windbreaks.

49. Desert Ecosystem
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Deserts are areas of land that are arid, or dry, and get
less than 10 inches of rain per year. Deserts can be hot
or cold. Plants and animals in the desert ecosystem
have adaptations that allow them to survive the lack of
rainfall and extreme temperatures.
The characteristics of hot deserts include
High temperatures
Greater evaporation than precipitation usually
Strong winds and
Lack of cloud cover; considerable variation in the
occurrence of precipitation, its intensity and
distribution;
Low humidity.

51. Aquatic Ecosystem
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An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem in a
body of water. Communities of organisms that
are dependent on each other and on their
environment live in aquatic ecosystems.
Fresh water ecosystem.
 Marine ecosystem.
 Brackish water ecosystem.

52. Fresh water ecosystem
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Freshwater ecosystems include ponds and
lakes as well as rivers and streams.
Aquatic Ecostystem

53. Marine ecosystem
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Marine ecosystems include oceans and coral
reefs.

54. Brackish water ecosystem
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55. Brackish water ecosystem
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Brackish water is water having more salinity than
freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may
result from mixing seawater with
fresh water together, as in estuaries, or it may
occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes
from the Middle Dutch root "brak".