Introduction Environment – Environment – everything that surrounds man Types: Types: - natu natura rall envir nviron onm ment ent encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally in the area o - build en environment refers to the human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity o o buildings, parks, cities and supporting infrastructures infrastructures Human and Environment - human human impacts impacts to the the environ environment ment refer refers s to the human human activi activities ties on on biophysic biophysical al envir environmen onments, ts, biodiversity and other resources - thes these e act activ ivit itie ies s inc inclu lude des s: agricultural agricultural practices o deforestation, agriculture chemicals, soil degradation shing o overshing, ecological disruption irrigation o soil salination, reduced river discharge, evaporation, withdraw of groundwater, and drainage livestock production o Pollution, fossil fuels, water and land consumption nergy industry o !limate change, biofuel use, fossil fuel use, electricity generation, renewable energy "anufacturing o !leaning agents, nanotechnology, paint, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products o "ining rosion, sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, contamination of soil, contamination of groundwater and surface water Transport Transport o #se of fossil fuels, air pollution, emission of carbon dio$ide, tra%c congestion, congestion, invasion of natural habitat and agricultural agricultural lands &lso a'ect a'ects s human human health health both due due to patholog pathological ical e'ect e'ects s of chemica chemicals, ls, radiat radiation ion and some some biologi biological cal agents
Environmental Engineering - The applica application tion of science science and enginee engineering ring princip principles les to protect protect and utili(e utili(e natura naturall resource resources, s, control control environmental pollution, improve environmental )uality to enable healthy ecosystems and comfortable habitation of humans Ecology - is the scientic scientic analysis analysis and study of interactions among organisms and their environment* environment* - it is an interdisciplinary eld that includes biology biology and and arth science* science * - incl includ udes es the the stu study dy of int inter erac acti tion ons s organisms organisms have have with each other, other organisms, and with abiotic components of components of their environment environment** - +tudy of of ec ecosystems - Topics : diversity,, diversity o distribution, o amount biomass biomass, , o number population population of particular organisms, o the cooperation and competition between organisms, both within and among ecosystems o Ecosystems - are are compose composed d of dynami dynamica cally lly inte intera racti cting ng parts parts inc includ luding ing organisms organisms,, the communities communities they they make up, and the non-living components of their environment
-
community of living biotic organisms Plants, animals and microbes in con.unction with nonliving components abiotic of their environment air, water and mineral soil, interacting as system processes includes primary production, pedogenesis, nutrient cycling, and various niche construction activities, regulate the /u$ of energy and matter through an environment* Provide a variety of goods and services to human society
cology e$plains the o 0ife processes, interactions and adaptations The movement of materials and energy through living communities o The successional development of ecosystems o o The abundance and distribution of organisms and biodiversity in the conte$t of the environment* Concepts: BIODIVERSITY - an abbreviation of 1biological diversity1 describes the diversity of life from genes to ecosystems and spans every level of biological organi(ation* - 2iodiversity includes species diversity, ecosystem diversity, and genetic diversity and scientists are interested in the way that this diversity a'ects the comple$ ecological processes operating at and among these respective levels - 2iodiversity plays an important role in ecosystem services which by denition maintain and improve human )uality of life* Preventing species e$tinctions is one way to preserve biodiversity and that goal rests on techni)ues that preserve genetic diversity, habitat and the ability for species to migrate* HBITT ! describes the environment over which a species is known to occur and the type of community that is formed as a result ! habitats can be dened as regions in environmental space that are composed of multiple dimensions, each representing a biotic or abiotic environmental variable3 that is, any component or characteristic of the environment related directly e*g* forage biomass and )uality or indirectly e*g* elevation to the use of a location by the animal ! refers to the kind of place where an organism normally lives* ! It includes the arrangement of food, water, shelter and space that is suitable to meet an organism4s needs* ! 5ou can think of this as the 1address1 where an organism lives "ICHE ! is the 1occupation1 of an organism* It denes the role of an organism in an ecosystem, such as a 1sheating wader1 for a heron, or a 1plant-.uice-sipping summer bu((er1 for a cicada* ! &n organism4s niche may change during di'erent life stages* 6or e$ample, a tadpole typically lives in the water and eats plant material, while the adult frog may catch insects from the shore* 2I7" ! !
!
Biomes are larger units of organization that categorize regions of the Earth's ecosystems, mainly according to the structure and composition of vegetation There are different methods to define the continental boundaries of biomes dominated by different functional types of vegetative communities that are limited in distribution by climate, precipitation, weather and other environmental variables. Biomes include tropical rainforest, temperate broadleaf and mixed forest, temperate deciduous forest, taiga, tundra, hot desert, andpolar desert.
