Chapter 01, Stratification of Atmosphere:

ENVIROMENT GENERAL ISSUES..  From the earth’s surface to the 16 km

DEFINITIONS: “Environ” means surrounding and (from equator and at poles it extends to 7
“ment” means action i.e. ~ environment is the Km) above earth’s surface there is
interaction between man and nature. It refers to Troposphere.
the surrounding in which living and non living  Next is Stratosphere, it extends up to 50
things live, interact, grow, and perish. Km. It includes the Ozone Layer. Weather
The English Environment Protection Act, 1990 balloons float in the stratosphere.
defines the environment as “consisting of all, or  After Stratosphere there is Mesosphere
any, of the [media] the air, water and land. The which extends up to 85 Km., Meteors burns
medium of air includes the air within building and up in this layer
the air with other natural or man-made structures
above or below ground.  After Mesosphere, comes the
Thermosphere. Which extends up to 690
COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENT: Km, where ionization of solar radiation
1. Lithosphere takes place and Auroras is seen at the poles.
2. Hydrosphere  At the Height of 100 Km from the Earth,
an imaginary line called Karman Line is
3. Atmosphere
drawn to separate the outer space.
4. Biosphere
 The Exosphere begins at 690 Km and goes
up to 10,000 Km.
Lithosphere:  Beyond Exosphere Magnetosphere
 “Lithos” Greek work for Rock and “Sphere” Exists.
refers for Region.
 Earth’s Tectonic Plate can be found in
Lithosphere.
 There are ten major Tectonic Plate
comprising Continents & Pacific Ocean.
Hydrosphere:
 Hydro= Water and Sphere= Region
 Hydrosphere covers about 70% of the earth
surface
 97.5% of water found in Ocean.
 2.5% earth water is fresh water, out of this
30.8% is available as ground water and
68.9% is in frozen forms as glaciers.
 Amount of 0.3% is available in rivers,
reservoirs and lakes.
Atmosphere:
 Atmos= Air and Sphere= Region
 78.8%= Nitrogen, 20.95%=Oxygen, 0.93%
argon, 0.038%= CO2 and traces of hydrogen,
helium and noble gases.
 iii. Resource depletion
iv. Excessive burning of fossil fuels to
Biosphere: meet growing demands.
 Bio= Life and Sphere= Region v. Rapid urbanization
 Biosphere=All regions where life exists. d. India Ranks 155 out of 178 countries
covered in the environment protection
 Edward Suess (Geologist) coined this
index. China=118, Russia=77, Brazil=73
word.
ranks in this index.
 All the biological components of Earth
living as well as dead fall in the category of
biosphere. 2. Increasing Pollution:
 According to WHO Data 13 out of 20 of
the most populated cities are in India.
ENVIROMENTAL ISSUES
Air: India released the largest volumes of pollutant
1. Exploding Human Population into air after China.
2. Increasing Pollution  Air pollution is the fifth largest killer in the
3. Deforestation country.
4. Climate Change  Except some cities high sulphur diesel spew
noxious Sulphur and Nitrous Oxides into the
5. Public Health
air one of the major cause of Acid Rain.
6. Water & Sanitation Status
 Diesel combustion contains 0.5% sulphur by
7. Water Scarcity weight. It is still quite high as compared to
8. Loss of Biodiversity and Conservation European Standard where it is 0.001%.

9. Genetic Contamination  It is also a fact that threat of acid rain is quite

low in India because of the tropical weather
10.Resource Depletion condition. The dust particles are high in this
11.Sustainability atmosphere and they neutralize the sulphur
dioxide because dust particles are alkaline in
12.Solid Waste in the Silicon Age
nature and so they negate the formation of acid
13.The Environment & Mining Tug of War rain.
14.The Energy & Environment Tussle Land:
 India occupies only 2.5% area of world’s total
area and India shares 16% population in total
1. Exploding Human Population:
world’s population.
a. The world population in 1750 AD was 791
 Heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides has
Million.
depleted soil health.
b. By 2050 this figure is projected to be 11
billion. This means in 400 years we would  High yielding crops has also placed heavy
have added 10,209,000,000 people on the burden on ground water.
planet.
Water:
c. Over Population led to many related issues
 Water pollution is of 3 types viz.
such as:
 Marine Pollution
i. Habitat Destruction
 Fresh Water Pollution
ii. Land Degradation
 Ground Water Pollution
Deforestation:
 Before industrialization rain forest covers
around 14% of the land and now it reduced to
almost 6%.
 Agriculture has been the prime cause for
deforestation, while logging & fuel wood
recovery accounts for 14% and 4%
respectively.
 Many natures biogeochemical cycles like
carbon cycle, and hydrological cycle disturbed
due to deforestation.
 Soil erosion takes place due to deforestation.
 Habitat destruction takes place due
deforestation.
 The convention in Biological Diversity in Bonn
asserted that deforestation can bring down the
global GDP to 7% by 2050.
Climate Change
 According to The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report,
Some of the observation and impact of climate
change are as follows:
 Each decade is warmer than the previous
decade since 1850.
 Ocean Warming accounts for more than
90% of the solar energy accumulated
between 1971 and 2010.
 Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have
been losing mass over the last two decades.
 Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions
were highest in the history from 2000 to
2010.
 Change in precipitation or melting snow
are altering hydrological systems, affecting
water resources in terms of quantity &
quality. Due to this Fresh Water and marine
species have shifted their geographic range,
seasonal activities, migration patterns,
abundance and species interaction due to
climate change, crop yield have also
reduced.
 Sea Level rise: A 1-Meter seas level rise
will affect cities like Mumbai, Chennai &
Kolkata and will submerge 6000 Sq. Km in
India.
 Neighboring Bangladesh will face serious
inundation problems; and this could trigger
an influx of refugee into India.
Public Health:
 Change in climate will pose biggest health
challenge in the decades to come. Some of
the Health Challenges that experts are
predicting include:
 Spread of Vector Borne Disease
 Diarrhea and related water disease
to
 Trauma or Injuries or death due to
cyclones, hurricanes, floods and
droughts.
 Death due to heat ware
 Widespread lung disorders
 Water Borne Disease
Water & Sanitation Status:
 Improper Sanitation also catalyses the water
contamination.
 According to 2011 census, about 70% Rural &
19% Urban Households do not have toilets.
Water Scarcity:
 Drinking Water availability is a chronic
problem for 11% of the global population.
Genetic Contamination:
 Case in Point is that of “Golden Rice”
grown in Philippines. It is rich in Vitamin A
and supposed to prevent Vitamin A
deficiency, but environmentalist says it
actually induces blindness, Golden Rice is
biosynthesized using gene from daffodil
plant and soil bacterium.
Sustainability:
 There is enough scientific evidence and
data which shows that humans are living
beyond the capacity of the Earth.
 This year (2018)” The Earth Overshoot
Day” was declared in August 1st itself.
  Earth Overshoot Day is calculated by Global Subdivision of Ecology
Footprint Network and is a campaign
supported by dozens of Non-Profit
Organizations.
Toxonomic Types of Levels of
Sold Waste in the Silicon Age:
Affinities Habitat Organization
 Urban Municipal Waste (MSW) is a
heterogeneous mixture of paper, plastic,
cloth, metal, glass, organic matter etc. Toxonomic Effect: This ecology was associated
Beside this industrial wastes, biomedical with biological science therefore it was further
waste, radioactive waste, electronic waste, divided in to two subdivisions.
landfill waste, biodegradable waste, non
biodegradable waste cause many problems
to not only health but also to our
atmosphere.
Plant Ecology Animal Ecology
The Environment & Mining Tug of War: 1. Insect Ecology
 Mining is a highly polluting activity. 2. Bacterial Ecology
Oak Ecology Pine Ecology
 It creates Air, Water and Land pollution and 3. Fish Ecology
also noise pollution during operation, It 4. Avian Ecology
makes the entire area uninhabitable.
5. Ecology of Mosquitoes
 The surface & ground water becomes unfit & Turtle
for human consumption and the waste
water generated pollutes the surface water Types of Habitat: Study of Organism on the
to a large extent adequate to support local basis of their habitat. It is further divided into
aquatic life and terrestrial wildlife.
I. Forest Ecology
 Mining operations assembles vas amount of
Earth Material and fine rock and stone II. Grassland Ecology
waste, which are easily dispersed by III. Fresh Water Ecology
moving winds.
IV. Estuarine Ecology
 Mining effects the environment and the
biota by eliminating vegetation and top soil. V. Island Ecology
 It dislocates the fauna, affects agriculture VI. Marine Ecology
activities and adds pollutant and creates
noise. VII. Corel Reef Ecology

Levels of Organization: This approach

Chapter 02 ECOLOGY
 The ecology refers to the study of the
relation of the living organism with their
environment.
 Literally ecology is the study of the plants,
animals, people and other micro organism
with respects to their environment. It also
concerned with the flow of energy and
cycling of materials on land, in oceans, in
air and fresh water.
involves study of ecology on the basis of individual
organism or group of organism in a particular
ecosystem. This ecology is divided into two types.
I. Autecology: Autecology is concerned
with the study of individual species ot
its environment. In this approach
individual species are treated as the
unit of study.
These are studied for the details of their
geographic distribution, morphology,
 Toxonomic position, life cycle and
succession.
II. Synecology: it is concerned with the
study of the groups of organism. It
makes a in-depth study of groups of
organism and these organisms (plants,
animal and micro organism) effects
each other on reciprocal basis and
interact with their habitat.
Such groups are termed as Biological
Community.
Consequently synecology is further
subdivided into 4 divisions.
i. Population Ecology
ii. Community Ecology
iii. Biome Ecology
iv. Ecosystem Ecology
Population Ecology: This involves the study of
pure single species – population.
The population are studied in terms of their size,
growth rate etc.
A population ecologist also makes interaction
between the populations of different species in
community.
Community Ecology: is that branch of ecology in
which all units of study are group of individuals
belonging to different species (plant as well as
animals).
Biotic Components of the community are studied
primarily for the nature of interdependencies
between the different species.
Biome Ecology: studies interaction and inter-
relationship of more than one biological
communities in different stages of succession
under climatic condition of the area concerned.
Ecosystem Ecology:- is a recent development in
ecology in which it is realized that not only biotic
(living) but also abiotic (non living) components of
nature interact with each other and forms an
integrated system known as ecosystem.
Ecological Niche: The term ecological niche
means the physical space occupied by an organism
and its functional role in the community.
 It was first introduced by Joseph Grinnell in
1917.
 It was developed by Charles Elton in 1927.
 G.F Gouse (1934) further expanded the
concept of ecological niche.
 G.E Hutchison (1935) emphasized the
concept as a multifaceted definition of
ecological facts of any given aspects. Following
are the three aspects of Ecological Niche.
Spatial or Habitat Niche denotes the
actual physical space occupied by the
organism.
Tropical Niche which defines the
functional position of the organism in the
ecosystem.
Multidimensional or hyper-volume
niche which refers to the organism position
in the environmental gradients.
Ecological Niche may be defined as -----
1. “All the sites where Organism of a species
can live (Where conditions are suitable
for life) --------JOSEPH GRINNELL (1917)
2. “Ecological Niche is defined as the
function preformed by the species in the
community of which it is a member”
-------CHARLES ELTON (1927)
Three Dimensional Concept of Ecological
Niche: Ecological Niche has three major
components:
1. Time Component
2. Internal Biotic & Abiotic Components
3. External Biotic & Abiotic Components
Time Component is used as parameter for
determining the nature and extent of ecological
interaction.
Internal Biotic & Abiotic Component describes
the internal and external interaction of organism.
Internal Interaction of an organism that includes
regulatory mechanism responsible for
Homeostasis.
External Biotic & Abiotic Component is the
factors like Temperature, Humidity, Food,
Predators etc.
These three components put together can be
used to describe the unique living spaces and
activities of any species.
Gause’s Principle: Also called competition
exclusion principle says that -----No two species
with similar ecological requirement can co- exists
in the same environment. If for example- two
species A & B are found in the same geographical
area with similar geographic requirement and if A
multiplies faster than B, then B is completely
displaces by A in that geographical area.
ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN INDIA
From ecology point of view India is divided into 6
regions.
1. The Himalayan Region
2. The Desert Region
3. The Northern Plains
4. The Peninsular Plateau Uplands Region
5. Coastal Areas
6. Islands
Ecology of the Himalayan Region:
 The glaciers in this region are the source of
many rivers like Ganges, Indus &
Brahmaputra.
 The region is very rich in variety of forest
resources varying from tropical forests at the
foothills to the alpine forests at the Higher
Altitude.
 A large number of ideal natural sites are
available for hydroelectric generation.
 The ecological balance has now been
disturbed due deforestation, mining massive
road construction and large scale construction
of multipurpose projects.
 This led to the increased frequency and
intensity of natural disasters like earthquakes,
landslides, avalanches etc.
 Large scale ecological degradation like rapid
recession of glaciers, silting of river valleys,
shifting of river courses and drying of springs
and lakes.
Ecology of Desert Region:
 The Great Indian Desert located in the north
west of Arravali covers the area of 3,17,000
Sq. Km.
 It is divided into two regions by the isohyer
(line joining places of equal rainfall) of 25 Cm.
 To the west of this line there is a sandy arid
plain called Murusthali
 And east of this line are the semi arid
transitional plains. This area is characterized
by scanty rainfall & frequent droughts.
 The agriculture in this area is very limited and
people depends upon number of indigenous
(Native or Home – grown) plants for food &
fodder.
 Even though the population of this region has
increased rapidly ( in 2001 it is 5.65 Crores
while it reaches to 6.86 crores in 2011)
 The population of Rajasthan is increased at the
rate of 28.41% during 1991-2001 and 21.44 %
during 2001-2011
 The land use is not in accordance with the land
use capability keeping in view the nature of the
soil.
 There has been a phenomenal increase of the
60% in the net area sown during the last five
decades which has resulted in the serious
shrinkage of grazing land both for livestock &
wild animals and also reduces soil fertility and
increase in soil erosion.
 Rajasthan is endowed with as many as 64
metallic & non metallic minerals.
 And with the introduction of large scale mining
,this region experience 10 times more
suspended particulates in the atmosphere than
before .
 Pollutant due to mining & other industrial
activities produces Sulphur Dioxide , nitrogen
dioxide, carbon monoxide hydrocarbons etc.
and suspended particulate matter (SPM) like
 silica, fluorides, asbestos and metallic mineral
fumes have resulted large scale pollution in air.
 This area experienced extraordinary increase
in irrigation facilities with the construction of
Indira Gandhi Canal and there was a
phenomenal growth of agriculture products,
but this boom brought a number of
environmental problems with it.
 With Excessive availability of water and with
other irrigation methods, new problem of
water logging, salt infestation etc. cropped up
and some other problems like Aeolian hazard,
and Changes in Flora & Fauna were also
experienced.
Ecology of Northern Plains:
 It has the largest alluvial tract of the world
which stretches for about 2400 Km from
Punjab in the West to Assam in the east.
 Population Status:
(According to 2011 Census figures)
o 1102 Per Sq. Km. in Bihar
o 1029 Per Sq. Km in W. Bengal
o 828 Per Sq. Km in U.P
o 573/ Sq. Km. in Haryana
o 550/ Sq. Km. in Punjab
o 397/ Sq. Km. in Assam
o The NCT of Delhi has the Highest
Population density of 11297 Per
Sq. Km.
 The over crowing of cities of this plain has
disturbed the ecological balance and its
consequence can be seen on land, water and
air.
 During Green Revolution in mid 1960’s. The
excessive use of fertilizers, insecticides,
pesticides and weedicides etc put hazardous
chemical into soil and water bodies.
 Community Bathing, Burning of dead bodies
near rivers, Industrial Chemical Waste and
urban sanitation waste has been directly put
in to the river contaminates not only the water
but also effected aquatic life of the river.
 Massive Urbanization leads to excessive use of
Fossil Fuel by Automobile & industry adds
enormous amount of pollutant like SO2, CO2,
CO etc. into air.
 Forests in the Plain have been destroyed to
land for agriculture and to obtain forest
products. According to latest data
agriculturally rich Punjab & Haryana have
only 3.9% & 3.59% respectively of their total
land under forests.
 High Density of population growth causes
malnutrition disease, hunger poor quality of
life and these factors are responsible for
environmental pollution and ecological
degradation.
 The most backward region in this plain is the
area comprising of eastern part of U.P and
western part of Bihar.
Ecology of Peninsular Plateau
 Triangular in shape, coinciding with southern
edge of the Great plain of North India to
Kanyakumari in south, From Kachch along the
western flank of the Aravali range near Delhi
and then roughly parallel to the Yamuna and
Ganga as far as RajMahal Hills and Ganga Delta.
 In North are the Aravali Range, The Vindhya
Range, The Satpura, The Bharmar and the
Rajmahal Hills.
 Its eastern & western boundaries are formed
by Eastern & Western Ghats.
 It has the total area of 16 Lakh Sq. Km., this
plateau measures 1600 Km in north south and
1400 Km is east-west direction.
 The main environmental problem are those
related to Mining, Deforestation,
Industrialization, power generation,
urbanization, vehicular movement and
development project.
 Much of the forest area has been lost to shifting
agriculture popularly known as Jhuming.
 The Chotanagpur Plateau has the richest
deposits of large number of Minerals and called
“Mineral Heartland of India”.
 A large number of thermal plants (Singrauli,
Satpura, Korba, Amarkantak, Durgapur and
Talcher etc.) and coal washeries especially in
Jharkhand- West Bengal coal belt are injecting
huge quantities of smoke & hazardous
chemicals into atmosphere.
 Korba thermal plant emits such large
quantities of ash that it has earned the dubious
name of Ash Chamber. Refuge from thermal
plant pollutes water bodies in the
neighborhood.
 Urbanization also contributes to
environmental & ecological degradation.
According to 2011 Census. Of the total
population, 48.5%, 45.23% and 42.58%
population of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra &
Gujarat respectively lives in urban areas.
 Another Development which is havoc with
ecology are construction of dams. For Example
Narmada Valley Project ( consist of 30 Major,
135 Medium and 3000 minor dams), Koyna
Project, Koel Project Mahi-Kadama Project,
Bodhghat Project, Srisalem Project, Bedthi
project, ukai project, hirakund project,
sharawathi project, rengali project and
Naniboam project.
 These projects have submerged thousands of
hectares of fertile agriculture land, green
fragile land and villages displaced millions of
people and animal from their natural habitat.
Ecology of Coastal Areas
 About 6100 Km long coastline surrounded by
Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean & Bay of Bengal in
the east.
 Between the West Coast & Western Ghats is the
West Coastal Plain and Similarly there in East
Coastal Plain between the Eastern Ghats & East
Coast.
 Ecology of all the coastal areas is threatened by
economic activities like Shipping, Oil
Exploration, Fishing, prawn culture farming
and disposal of urban & industrial wastes.
 Sea is extremely polluted; about 11 km of
coastline has been critically polluted due to the
scrapping of hazardous ships.
 Maximum damage is along the coastline of
Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, found by
Benjamin Harpern of the National Centre for
Ecological Analysis and synthesis in California.
 India’s main sources of Mineral oil are the
continental shelf along the coast of
Maharashtra & Gujarat.
 Extraction of Mineral Oil from these areas
adversely affects the marine life & ecology of
these areas.
 In Aug. 2010, Collision of two cargo ships of the
Mumbai coast spread to Konkan coast,
polluting beaches and villages up to 8 Km from
the accident spot.
 Mangroves provide extensive energy to
tropical estuaries and their biomass
productivity is much higher as compared to
other ecosystems. They stabilize the shorelines
and act as a protection against devastating
impact of cyclones & Tsunamis etc.
 They also check the encroachment by sea and
soil against erosion.
 Many of the mangroves have been destroyed
by the unwanted activities of man and many
have been lost from our coasts. At present only
Sundarbans Mangroves, Mahanadi Mangroves,
Krishna Godavari Mangroves, Cauvery Delta
mangroves, Goa and Ratnagiri mangroves and
Gujarat Mangroves have been left.
Ecology of Indian Islands
 India has two groups of Islands namely
Andaman & Nicobar Island in Bay of Bengal &
Lakshadweep group of Arabian Sea.
 These islands are blessed with large stretches
of coral reef. But they are suffering due human
interface.
 An increasing trend in coral bleaching along
these groups of islands.
 A famous Blair Reef near Port Blair is dying
due to dumping of large quantities of saw dust
into sea.
 At certain occasion there is a leakage of oil
from the oil tankers as well as Oil pipeline
pollutes sea water.
 Further reef have been destroyed in many
parts of the sea because they are used as a raw
material in cement industries.
 Deforestation and construction activities in
these islands have led to large scale soil
erosion; the eroded soil material is carried to
the sea where it cause great damage to coral
reefs.
 Dugongs (a species of marine mammal)
were very common in the past, but are
extremely rare due to pollution of the sea and
are fast becoming endangered species.
 Some of the corals, sea cucumbers and
ornamental fishes have high market value and
there massive collection led to ecological
disorder.
 Growing tourist industries is another danger to
the ecology of these islands.
-------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 03 ECOSYSTEM
 Term “Ecosystem” was first proposed by
ecologist A.G Tansley (1935), who defines it
as “ the system resulting from the
integration of all the living and non-living
factors of environment”
 Professor E.P Odum (1913-2003) is widely
recognized as the “Father of Ecosystem
Ecology”. His monumental book entitled
“Fundamental of Ecology” (first published in
1953).
 Many Terms such as----
 Biocoenosis (Karl Mobius, 1877)
 Micocosm (S.A Forbes, 1877)
 Geobiocoenosis (V.V Dokuchaev 1896-1903)
 Biosystem (Theinemann, 1939)
 Bionest Body (Vernadsky 1944)
 Ecosphere (Coles, 1958)
Properties of Ecosystem
 It represents the sum of all living organism and
physical environment.
 It contains three basic components viz.
(i) Energy (ii) Biome (iii) Habitat
 Occupies well defined area on the surface of
the earth
 Viewed in terms of time unit (temporal
dimension)
 Interaction between biotic & abiotic
components on one hand and among the
organism on the other hand.
 Open system of continuous input & output of
matter & energy.
 Sun is the main source of energy in ecosystems.
 Itself attains the state of equilibrium unless
some external factors affecting it.
 A functional unit in which the biotic
components (plants, animals, humans and
micro organism) and abiotic components (air,
water, land etc.), components are closely
related to each other through a series of large
scale cyclic mechanisms.
 It has its own productivity which is the process
of building organic matter.
 Size may vary from a small cow shade to whole
of biosphere.
 Each ecosystem has different sequence of
development.
 A “sere” represents the development of a
series of sequential successions starting from
primary succession and ending into the last
succession in a sere as “climatic climax”. This is
the most stable situation of an ecosystem.
 Ecosystems are natural resource systems.
 Ecosystems are structured as well as
organised.
Kind of Ecosystem
Natural Ecosystem Artificial Ecosystem
I. Natural Ecosystem: Self operated under
natural condition and there is no interference
by man.
o Terrestrial Ecosystem: Forest Ecosystem,
Grassland Ecosystem etc.
o Aquatic Ecosystem:
 Fresh Water: which may be Lotic
(running water such as rivers, streams,
springs etc.) or Lentic (Standing Water:
Lakes, pools, ponds, puddles, ditches
etc.) or Marine may be deep bodies:
Oceans, Seas or estuary etc.
II. Artificial Ecosystem:
o Ecosystem maintained by man, in
which natural balance is disturbed
Examples: Cropland Ecosystem
Structure of Ecosystem:
 E.P Odum recognized two components of
ecosystem: (i) Autotrophic (ii) Heterotrophic
and thus following components were
recognized by Odum.
 Abiotic Components: Non living Components
includes—Sunlight, CO2, O2, N2, Calcium Ca,
Water H2O etc.
 Biotic Components: Living Components,
further divided into two categories.
1) Autotrophs: Are those which derived
their food themselves and are self
nourishing organism. They are called
producers, they use water, nutrient energy
etc. to produce their food. They are
further divided into two types.
a) Phototrophs: Mostly green plants
(phytoplankton) and algae. They are
called Phototrophs because they use
sun’s energy to convert relatively
simple chemicals (CO2, Water, &
Nutrients) into complex chemicals like
Carbohydrates (Sugar, Starch etc.),
Lipid (Oil, Wax, etc.) and proteins.
b) Chemotrophs: Are those producers
which contribute to build up organic
matter by converting chemical
compound into energy.
2) Hetrotrophs:
 They are often called consumers. These
types of organism involve in Utilization, Re-
arrangement and decomposition of
complex material.
 These Organisms obtain the energy- rich
chemical directly or indirectly from
autotrophs.
 They are also subdivided into two types.
3) Macroconsumers (Phagotrophs): feed
on other organism living or dead, whole
body or parts of the body. They are also
classified into 5 types:
a) Herbivores (feed plants)
b) Carnivores (feed animals)
c) Omnivores (feed both)
d) Scavengers (feed dead organism -
Vultures, Hyenas)
e) Detrevores: injest fragment of dead or
decaying tissues or wastes (Earth
Worm, Shrimp etc.
4) Microconsumers:
a) They are known as decomposers.
b) They feed on waste products of living
organism or the tissue of dead
organisms
c) They are saprotrophs (Osmotrophs)
and include chiefly bacteria, some
protozoan’s and fungi
d) They breakdown complex compound of
dead or living organism and play a
major role in retrieving complex organic
and inorganic matter and returning
nutrient to physical environment in the
form which is available to autotrophs
and can be used by producers as food.
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMID:
(i) Pyramid of Numbers
(ii) Pyramid of Biomass
(iii) Pyramid of Energy
 An ecological pyramid may be defined as a
graphic representation of the numbers of
biomass or status of accumulated energy at
different tropic level in a food chain in an
ecosystem.
 The Idea of Ecological pyramid was given by
English Biologist Charles Elton in 1927 and
these pyramid often called Eltonian Pyramids.
(1) Pyramid of Numbers: These pyramids
show the relationship between producers,
herbivores and carnivores at successor
tropic level in their members.
In the pyramid of Grassland
ecosystem, Grass is producer which has
maximum numbers, then primary
consumes are herbivores like rabbit, mice
etc. they are lesser in number then grass.
After that the Snakes, Lizard they
are lesser then primary consumers.
Finally at the top the tertiary
consumers like hawk eagle which are in
least numbers.
Hawk

Snakes
Rodents
Grass
Chapter 4 Biodiversity
 Lovejoy introduced this word in 1980
 Five living kingdoms on planet namely ~
Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plants, Animals.
 Definition: The biodiversity simply means
the number of species of plants, animals
and micro organism occurring in a given
habitat.
 The UN declared MAY 22, 2011 as
international Day for Biological
Diversity.
Types of Biodiversity:
1) Genetic Diversity: This refers to the
genetic composition among individual
within species. Examples ----
 Oryza Sativa- A rice species
consider the mother of all rice
species in India.
 Rau Wolfa Vomitoria- A medical
plant in Himalayan Range
 Homo Sapiens- the Species to
which present Human is belong
2) Species Diversity: Also known as
Organism Diversity. It is the variability
within a population or among the species of
community. It means the variety of species
found in a given area, place or region. The
species diversity can be measured by
types.
 Species Richness: Indicates the total
number of species per unit area. For
Example- Amphibian diversity in
Western Ghats is greater than that of
Eastern Ghats.
 Species Evenness: It means the relative
abundance of diversity of species in a
given area.
3) Ecosystem Diversity: it refers to the
presence of different type of ecosystem.
The diversity of ecosystem is dictated by
the nature of physical environment, its
geography, climate, & Soil structure etc.
Example:
India with its rainforest, desert, coral reefs,
wetland, estuaries, mountain ranges,
temperate forests, alpine vegetation has
greater ecosystem diversity than any other
countries such as Norway.
Measurement of Biodiversity:
Alpha Diversity: it is measured by counting the
numbers of species in a particular ecosystem, also
called local diversity.
Beta Diversity: it is obtained by comparing the
number of species unique between two adjacent
ecosystems.
Gamma Diversity: It is measure of overall
diversity for different ecosystem with in ecological
region with characteristic flora & fauna bounded
by natural boundaries. This is the diversity of
habitat over the total landscape or geographical
area.
Example: Biodiversity of continent with its seas,
oceans, lake, river, mountain, plains & forests etc.
Indian Biodiversity:
 India lies on indo Australian plate, and has
geographical area of 329 million hectares,
 India has 17 mega-diverse nation and 3
biodiversity hotspots.
 India comprises 2.5% of land mass on
Earth, 17% of world population and 8% of
world’s biodiversity.
 45,968 species of plants & 91,364 species of
animals, documented so far. This form 7-
8% of the world’s recorded species.
 The country’s plant biota consists of 45,000
species, of which 15,000 are flowering
variety, 35% of these flowering plant are
endemic to India.
 In Western Ghats of Kerala, 5000 species of
flowering plants can be found. Twenty-two
species of Monocotyledons are endemic .
 Of the 1000 species of orchids available in
the world, 675 can be found in the north
east India.
 The animal kingdom consists of 75000
Species of which 33% reptiles and 62
amphibians are endemic.
  8 Lakhs insect species and one lakh 2) Fuel Value
molluscs are available in India. 3) Genetic Value
 India has 668 protected areas.
 India contributes about 8% of the known
global diversity.
Indirect Use:
 India has 3 hotspot of biodiversity out of 34
of world’s total. Namely ~ Himalayas, Indo- 1. Supporting Service or Ecosystem Services
Burma and Western Ghats. o Water Cycle
 India has 18 biosphere reserves in the o Soil Formation
country. o Nutrient Recycling
 India has nine sites under UNESCO’s world o Carbon Cycle
Network of Biosphere Reserves. o Dilution of Pollution
 India has 4.2% are of the country under
protected area network comprising of 102 2. Regulating Services of Ecosystem Process:
National parks, 515 Wild life Sanctuaries, There are many life processes taking place in an
47 conservation reserves and 4 community interconnected ecosystem.
reserves. o Examples: Pollination
Values of Biodiversity o Air Purification
o Earthworm’s turnover of soil.
1) According to Botlin & Keller there are 9 values
o Wild Microbes biodegrade the dry fallen
or benefits provided by biodiversity.
twigs, leafs, dead animal plants into useful
1. Utilitarian 6. Aesthetic nutrients.
2. Public Service 7. Recreational 3. Cultural Services
3. Ecological 8. Spiritual o Theological
4. Moral 9. Creative o Spiritual
5. Theological o Creative
4. Aesthetic Values
2) The Values and services provided by the 5. Ethical Values or Moral Values
Biodiversity is immense and it is categorized 6. Optional Values
under the following Heads. Threats to Biodiversity: To keep every
i.) Direct Use nation on alert the United Nations General
ii.) Indirect Use Assembly has designated 2011-2020 as the
Biodiversity Decade.
Direct Use:
Facts on threats:
(i) Provisioning Service: The provisioning
services include those services in which 1. One in 10 plant species are under threat
various products are obtained from the forest, 2. Seventy five percent of the global forest have
including genetic resources, timber, food & been damaged so far
fiber etc. 3. Every minute a section of rain forest
According to an estimate released by disappear.
convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the 4. Australia leads the world in species
forest forms the source for more than 5000 destruction
commercial products. 5. Next 25 years will be witness vanishing of half
(a) Consumptive Use Value:- of known animals and microorganism.
6. Human threat to 70% coastal region.
1) Food
7. The Indo- Burma and new Calcidona are worst
2) Medicinal Values effected hotspot of biodiversity with only 5%
3) Fisheries Values of the native habitat (95% of native habitat
4) Fodder Values degraded) viz. tropical, subtropical, moist
(b) Productive Use Values:- broadleaf forest.
1) Timber Value
8. At least 10% of India’s recorded flora & fauna
possibly more of its wild fauna are on the list
of threatened species.
9.