Chapter 15

Our Environment
We have heard the word ‘environment’ often being used on the television, in
newspapers and by people around us.

Our elders tell us that the ‘environment’ is not what it used to be earlier;
others say that we should work in a healthy ‘environment’; and global summits
involving the developed and developing countries are regularly held to discuss
‘environmental’ issues.

In this chapter, we shall be studying how various components in the

environment interact with each other and how we impact the environment.
Environment is the sum total of all external factors, substances,
living beings and conditions that surround an organism and
influence the same without becoming its part.

It consists of both living and non-living components which has

several sub-components which are interlinked and
interdependent on each other and how we impact the
environment.
ECO-SYSTEM — WHAT ARE ITS COMPONENTS?

All organisms such as plants, animals, microorganisms and human beings as

well as the physical surroundings interact with each other and maintain a
balance in nature.

All the interacting organisms in an area together with the non-living

constituents of the environment form an ecosystem.

Thus, an ecosystem consists of biotic components comprising living organisms

and abiotic components comprising physical factors like temperature, rainfall,
wind, soil and minerals.
For example, if you visit a garden you will find different plants, such as grasses,
trees; flower bearing plants like rose, jasmine, sunflower; and animals like
frogs, insects and birds.

All these living organisms interact with each other and their growth,
reproduction and other activities are affected by the abiotic components of
ecosystem. So a garden is an ecosystem.

Other types of ecosystems are forests, ponds and lakes. These are natural
ecosystems while gardens and crop-fields are humanmade (artificial)
ecosystems
We have seen in earlier classes that organisms can be grouped as producers,
consumers and decomposers according to the manner in which they obtain their
sustenance from the environment.

Let us recall what we have learnt through the self sustaining ecosystem created by
us above.

Which organisms can make organic compounds like sugar and starch from
inorganic substances using the radiant energy of the Sun in the presence of
chlorophyll?

All green plants and certain bacteria which can produce food by photosynthesis
come under this category and are called the producers
Organisms depend on the producers either directly or indirectly for their
sustenance?

These organisms which consume the food produced, either directly from
producers or indirectly by feeding on other consumers are the consumers.

Consumers can be classed variously as herbivores, carnivores, omnivores

and parasites.
Imagine the situation where you do not clean the aquarium and some fish and plants
have died. Have you ever thought what happens when an organism dies?

The microorganisms, comprising bacteria and fungi, break-down the dead remains and
waste products of organisms.

These microorganisms are the decomposers as they break-down the complex organic
substances into simple inorganic substances that go into the soil and are used up once
more by the plants.

What will happen to the garbage, and dead animals and plants in their absence? Will the
natural replenishment of the soil take place, even if decomposers are not there?
TERMINOLOGY

ECOSYSTEM: An Ecosystem consists of all the living organisms in an area along

with the non living components and their interaction

There are different types of ecosystem : NATURAL ECOSYSTEM and ARTIFICIAL

ECOSYSTEM

NATURAL ECOSYSTEM: forests, deserts, grass lands, mountains, ponds, lakes,

rivers, oceans etc.

ARTIFICIAL ECOSYSTEM: gardens, parks, crop fields, aquarium, zoo etc

 ECOSYSTEM consists of two
components : BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC
[Link] COMPONENTS: are living components like plants, animals
and microorganisms. They consist of producers, consumers and
decomposers

PRODUCERS: are green plants which produce food by photosynthesis

CONSUMERS: are herbivores which get their food directly from

plants, carnivores which get their food indirectly from plants and
omnivores which get their food directly or indirectly from plants.

DECOMPOSERS: are microorganisms which decompose dead plants

and animals. They decompose complex organic substances into
simple inorganic substances in the soil which are again used by plants
2. Abiotic components

Are non living

components like
air, water, soil ,
minerals, sunlight,
temperature, wind
etc.
 Part 2
PART -2
FOOD CHAIN AND WEBS
CLASS VIDEO :

And webs
 Food chain and webs

4 we have formed a
series of organisms
feeding on one
another. This series or
organisms taking part
at various biotic levels
form a food chain.

Food chain in nature (a) in forest, (b) in grassland and (c) in a pond
Each step or level of the food chain forms a
trophic level.

The autotrophs or the producers are at the Tertiary consumer (snake)

first trophic level.

Secondary consumer (rat)

They fix up the solar energy and make it
available for heterotrophs or the consumers. Primary consumer
(grasshopper)

The herbivores or the primary consumers

Producer (grass)
come at the second, small carnivores or the
secondary consumers at the third

larger carnivores or the tertiary consumers

form the fourth trophic level
We know that the food we eat acts as a fuel to provide us energy to do work.

Thus the interactions among various components of the environment involves flow of energy from
one component of the system to another.

As we have studied, the autotrophs capture the energy present in sunlight and convert it into
chemical energy. This energy supports all the activities of the living world.

From autotrophs, the energy goes to the heterotrophs and decomposers.

However, as we saw in the previous Chapter on ‘Sources of Energy’, when one form of energy is
changed to another, some energy is lost to the environment in forms which cannot be used again.

The flow of energy between various components of the environment has been extensively studied
and it has been found that
The green plants in a terrestrial ecosystem capture about 1% of the energy of sunlight
that falls on their leaves and convert it into food energy.

When green plants are eaten by primary consumers, a great deal of energy is lost as
heat to the environment, some amount goes into digestion and in doing work and the
rest goes towards growth and reproduction. An average of 10% of the food eaten is
turned into its own body and made available for the next level of consumers.

Therefore, 10% can be taken as the average value for the amount of organic matter
that is present at each step and reaches the next level of consumers.
Since so little energy is available for the next level of consumers, food chains generally
consist of only three or four steps. The loss of energy at each step is so great that very
little usable energy remains after four trophic levels

There are generally a greater number of individuals at the lower trophic levels of an
ecosystem, the greatest number is of the producers

The length and complexity of food chains vary greatly. Each organism is generally eaten by
two or more other kinds of organisms which in turn are eaten by several other organisms.
So instead of a straight line food chain, the relationship can be shown as a series of
branching lines called a food web
Flow diagram
From the energy flow diagram , two things become clear. Firstly, the flow of
energy is unidirectional.

The energy that is captured by the autotrophs does not revert back to the solar
input and the energy which passes to the herbivores does not come back to
autotrophs.

As it moves progressively through the various trophic levels it is no longer

available to the previous level.

Secondly, the energy available at each trophic level gets diminished progressively
due to loss of energy at each level.
Another interesting aspect of food chain is how unknowingly
some harmful chemicals enter our bodies through the food chain.

You have read in Class IX how water gets polluted.

One of the reasons is the use of several pesticides and other

chemicals to protect our crops from diseases and pests.

These chemicals are either washed down into the soil or into the
water bodies.
From the soil, these are absorbed by the plants along with water and minerals, and from
the water bodies these are taken up by aquatic plants and animals. This is one of the ways
in which they enter the food chain.

As these chemicals are not degradable, these get accumulated progressively at each
trophic level.

As human beings occupy the top level in any food chain, the maximum concentration of
these chemicals get accumulated in our bodies. This phenomenon is known as biological
magnification.

This is the reason why our food grains such as wheat and rice, vegetables and fruits, and
even meat, contain varying amounts of pesticide residues. They cannot always be
removed by washing or other means.
 Quiz
Can you name the producers and consumers in the right order?
HOW DO OUR ACTIVITIES AFFECT THE
ENVIRONMENT?
We are an integral part of the environment.

Changes in the environment affect us and our activities change the

environment around us.

In this chapter, we shall be looking at two of the environmental problems in

detail,

That is, depletion of the ozone layer and waste disposal.

 Ozone Layer and How it is Getting
Depleted
Ozone (O3 ) is a molecule formed by three atoms of
oxygen.

While O2 , which we normally refer to as oxygen, is

essential for all aerobic forms of life.

Ozone, is a deadly poison. However, at the higher levels of

the atmosphere, ozone performs an essential function.

It shields the surface of the earth from ultraviolet (UV)

radiation from the Sun.

This radiationis highly damaging to organisms, for example,

it is known to cause skin cancer in human beings.
Ozone at the higher levels of the atmosphere is a product of UV radiation
acting on oxygen (O2 ) molecule.

The higher energy UV radiations split apart some moleculer oxygen (O2 )
into free oxygen (O) atoms.

These atoms then combine with the molecular oxygen to form ozone as
shown—
The amount of ozone in the atmosphere began to
drop sharply in the 1980s.

This decrease has been linked to synthetic chemicals

like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are used as
refrigerants and in fire extinguishers.

In 1987, the United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP) succeeded in forging an
agreement to freeze CFC production at 1986 levels.

It is now mandatory for all the manufacturing

companies to make CFC-free refrigerators
throughout the world.
Managing the Garbage we Produce

In our daily activities, we

generate a lot of material that
are thrown away. What are some
of these waste materials? What
happens after we throw them
away? Let us perform an activity
to find answers to these
questions
We have seen in the chapter on ‘Life Processes’ that the food we eat is digested by various enzymes
in our body.

Have you ever wondered why the same enzyme does not break-down everything we eat?

Enzymes are specific in their action, specific enzymes are needed for the break-down of a particular
substance.

That is why we will not get any energy if we try to eat coal! Because of this, many human-made
materials like plastics will not be broken down by the action of bacteria or other saprophytes.

These materials will be acted upon by physical processes like heat and pressure, but under the
ambient conditions found in our environment, these persist for a long time.
Substances that are broken down by biological processes are said to be
biodegradable.

How many of the substances you buried were biodegradable?

Substances that are not broken down in this manner are said to be non-
biodegradable.

These substances may be inert and simply persist in the environment for a long
time or may harm the various members of the eco-system.