Types of Pyramid of Biomass

There are basically two types of the Biomass Pyramid: the inverted and the upright. The pyramid is basically a representation of the relation between the biomass and the trophic/ productive levels.

The measurements used in measuring the energy in the Pyramid of Biomass are in calories per square meter. This can also be done using the grams per square meter. The pyramid shows the energy production in every productive level. It has also been used in showing the energy flow via every level accurately. This is the aspect that gives it the name ‘The energy pyramid’.

17. Ecosystem

Territorial ecosystems-key abiotic factors, light availability, water avail., nutrient avail., temperature (deserts, grasslands, savannas, mountain lands, scrublands, temperate deciduos forests, tropical rainforests, tundras, flow of energy, measurement of biomass)

Aquatic ecosystems-light availability, nutrient avail., acidity, temperature, salinity (estuaries, inland water, marine waters)

18.

level D=producers

level C=primary consumers

level B=secondary

level A=tertiary

eagles

snakes

mice

green plants

Above is a typical representation of a state terrestrial energy pyramid

1 pyramid of energy

2 pyramid of numbers

3 pyramid of biomass

1 tertiary 10kcal 2 hyperparasites 3 top carnivore 1kg

secondary 100 parasites primary carnivore10

primary 1000 herbivores herbivores100

producers 10000 producers producers1000

19. Biosphere-regions in which life can exist

Made up of 3 parts:

1 atmosphere (air)

2 hydrosphere (water)

3 lithosphere (rock and sediments)

All life on earth, including man, and all organisms

The life zone on our planet distinguishes our planet from the others in the solar system

Biosphere-the portion of Earth that supports life

Life is found in air or land and in fresh and salt water

The biosphere is the portion of Earth that supports living things

V. I. Vernadsky. The official Rus. interpretation of the noosphere idea tends to observe the evolutionary and materialist foundations of Vernadsky’s biosphere-noosphere conceptualization

20. Hydrosphere

All of the water of Earth

Fresh water: lakes, ponds, rivers, streams. Yet it is essential to a wide variety of life on earth

Salt water: seas, oceans is salty because of the vast quality of minerals salts dissolves in it

Lithosphere

Comprises the Earth’s crust and part of the upper mantle

The Earths solid surface, often called the crust of the Earths. It includes continental and oceanic crust as will as the various layers of the Earth’s interior

Atmosphere

The gases that envelope and surround the Earth make up our atmosphere

Protects us from UV rays

Balances the global temperature on the Earth

Made up of various gases (Nitrogen, Oxygen, water vapour, Carbon dioxide, Ozon, etc.)

Layers of the atmosphere

1 troposphere (contains 80% of all air)

2 stratosphere (absorbs UV rays)

3 mesosphere (protects Earths from meteorits)

4 thermosphere (most meteorits burn up here)

21 cycle is a series of change which comes back to the starting point and which can be repeated.1)Sometimes called nutrient cycles, material cycles describe the flow of matter from the nonliving to the living world and back again.2)The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. Along with the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle, the carbon cycle comprises a sequence of events that are key to making the Earth capable of sustaining life; it describes the movement of carbon as it is recycled and reused throughout the biosphere.

22Oceans contain the greatest quantity of actively cycled carbon in this world and are second only to the lithosphere in the amount of carbon they store.The oceans' surface layer holds large amounts of dissolved organic carbon that is exchanged rapidly with the atmosphere. The deep layer's concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is about 15% higher than that of the surface layer.DIC is stored in the deep layer for much longer periods of time.Thermohaline circulation exchanges carbon between these two layer. 2)Most of the earth's carbon is stored inertly in the earth's lithosphere. Much of the carbon stored in the earth's mantle was stored there when the earth formed.Some of it was deposited in the form of organic carbon from the biosphere.Of the carbon stored in the geosphere, about 80% is limestone and its derivatives, which form from the sedimentation of calcium carbonate stored in the shells of marine organisms. The remaining 20% is stored as kerogens formed through the sedimentation and burial of terrestrial organisms under high heat and pressure. Organic carbon stored in the geosphere can remain there for millions of years. This carbon dioxide can be released into the atmosphere and ocean through volcanoes and hotspots.3) Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert light energy into chemical energy for use in growth and cellular repair.4) Cellular respiration and photosynthesis are important parts of the carbon cycle. The carbon cycle is the pathways through which carbon is recycled in the biosphere. While cellular respiration releases carbon dioxide into the environment, photosynthesis pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

23 1)The nitrogen cycle is the process by which nitrogen is converted between its various chemical forms. This transformation can be carried out through both biological and physical processes. Important processes in the nitrogen cycle include fixation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification. The majority of Earth's atmosphere (78%) is nitrogen, making it the largest pool of nitrogen2)nitrogen fixation-.Atmospheric nitrogen must be processed, or "fixed", to be used by plants. Some fixation occurs in lightning strikes, but most fixation is done by free-living or symbiotic bacteria known as diazotrophs. These bacteria have the nitrogenase enzyme that combines gaseous nitrogen with hydrogen to produce ammonia, which is converted by the bacteria into other organic compounds.3) The nitrogen cycle is an important process in the ocean as well. While the overall cycle is similar, there are different players and modes of transfer for nitrogen in the ocean. Nitrogen enters the water through precipitation, runoff, or as N2 from the atmosphere. Nitrogen cannot be utilized by phytoplankton as N2 so it must undergo nitrogen fixation which is performed predominately by cyanobacteria.[15] Without supplies of fixed nitrogen entering the marine cycle the fixed nitrogen would be used up in about 2000 years.

The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or the H2O cycle, describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. The mass of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time but the partitioning of the water into the major reservoirs of ice, fresh water, saline water and atmospheric water is variable depending on a wide range of climatic variables. The water moves from one reservoir to another, such as from river to ocean, or from the ocean to the atmosphere, by the physical processes of evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and subsurface flow. In doing so, the water goes through different phases: liquid, solid (ice), and gas (vapor).

25. The oxygen cycle is the cycle that helps move oxygen through the three main regions of the Earth, the Atmosphere, the Biosphere, and the Lithosphere. The Atmosphere is of course the region of gases that lies above the Earth’s surface and it is one of the largest reservoirs of free oxygen on earth. The Biosphere is the sum of all the Earth’s ecosystems. This also has some free oxygen produced from photosynthesis and other life processes. The largest reservoir of oxygen is the lithosphere. Most of this oxygen is not on its own or free moving but part of chemical compounds such as silicates and oxides.

The atmosphere is actually the smallest source of oxygen on Earth comprising only 0.35% of the Earth’s total oxygen. The smallest comes from biospheres. The largest is as mentioned before in the Earth’s crust. The Oxygen cycle is how oxygen is fixed for freed in each of these major regions.

In the atmosphere Oxygen is freed by the process called photolysis. This is when high energy sunlight breaks apart oxygen bearing molecules to produce free oxygen. One of the most well known photolysis it the ozone cycle. O2 oxygen molecule is broken down to atomic oxygen by the ultra violet radiation of sunlight. This free oxygen then recombines with existing O2 molecules to make O3 or ozone. This cycle is important because it helps to shield the Earth from the majority of harmful ultra violet radiation turning it to harmless heat before it reaches the Earth’s surface.

In the biosphere the main cycles are respiration and photosynthesis. Respiration is when animals and humans breathe consuming oxygen to be used in metabolic process and exhaling carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis is the reverse of this process and is mainly done by plants and plankton.

The lithosphere mostly fixes oxygen in minerals such as silicates and oxides. Most of the time the process is automatic all it takes is a pure form of an element coming in contact with oxygen such as what happens when iron rusts. A portion of oxygen is freed by chemical weathering. When a oxygen bearing mineral is exposed to the elements a chemical reaction occurs that wears it down and in the process produces free oxygen.

These are the main oxygen cycles and each play an important role in helping to protect and maintain life on the Earth.

26. Anthropogenic factors in biosphere. Human activities that harm the planet.
Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic impact on the environment includes impacts on biophysical environments, biodiversity, and other resources. The term anthropogenic designates an effect or object resulting from human activity such as:
1. Overhunting
Over-hunting often results in ecosystem species imbalance and environmental stress.
2. Deforestation
Deforestation refers to the cutting, clearing, and removal of rainforest or related ecosystems into less bio-diverse ecosystems such as pasture, cropland, or plantations.
3. Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change.
4.Land Conversion or Urban Development.
Through urban development, the continued rapid construction of road systems and buildings has changed the Earth's natural surface, removing soil nutrients, surface vegetation and trees that filter the air and equalize the carbon cycle.

27.The greenhouse effect is the process by which radiation from a planet's atmosphere warms the planet's surface to a temperature above what it would be in the absence of its atmosphere.
A toxic heavy metal is any relatively dense metal or metalloid that is noted for its potential toxicity, especially in environmental contexts.
The term has particular application to cadmium, mercury, lead and arsenic.
Photochemical smog is the chemical reaction of sunlight, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere, which leaves airborne particles and ground-level ozone.

28. Impact of Agriculture. Sustainable Agriculture. Ways to preserve the environment.
Soil erosion is caused by plowing land & removing plant roots.
The environmental impact of agriculture involves a variety of factors from the soil, to water, the air, animal and soil diversity, people, plants, and the food itself. Some of the environmental issues that are related to agriculture are climate change, deforestation, genetic engineering, irrigation problems, pollutants, soil degradation, and waste.
Sustainable agriculture is the act of farming based on an understanding of ecosystem services, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment. (Satisfy human food and fiber needs, sustain the economic viability of farm operations, enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole etc)
Ways to preserve the environment.
1.)Cover crops.
Legumes, grasses and other cover crops recycle soil nutritients, reduce fertilizer need and prevent weed growth.
2.)Controlled grazing .
by managing graze periods and herd densities, farmers can improve nutrient cycling , increase the effectiveness of precipitation and increase the carrying capacity of pastures.
3) biological post control.
The use of predators and parasites to control destructive insects minimizes pesticide use as well as crop damage.
4) Contour plowing.
Contour plowing reduces soil erosion from land runoff. On hilly areas plowing is done across the hill rather than straight up & down.
5) Crop rotation.
Different crops used in the replenish different nutrients. By rotating crops the loss of important plant nutrients is decreased.
6) stop cutting forests/jungles

29. Forest Resources. Biodiversity threat.
One of the most important types of natural resources, they include a country’s existing forest reserves and nontimber resources (such as feed and game resources, the fruits and berries of wild plants, mushrooms, and medicinal plants).
Biodiversity refers to the number and variety of species, of ecosystems, and of the genetic variation contained within species.
Biodiversity is threatened by the sum of all human activities. It is useful to group threats into the categories of over-hunting, habitat destruction, invasion of non-native species, domino effects, pollution, and climate change.
Habitat loss presents the single greatest threat to world biodiversity, and the magnitude of this threat can be approximated from species-area curves and rates of habitat loss. The spread of non-native species threatens many local species with extinction, and pushes the world's biota toward a more homogeneous and widely distributed sub-set of survivors. Climate change threatens to force species and ecosystems to migrate toward higher latitudes, with no guarantee of suitable habitat or access routes. These three factors thus are of special concern.

30.Pollution is the presence of a pollutant in the environment and is often the result of human actions. Pollution has a detrimental effect on the environment. Animals, fish and other aquatic life, plants and humans all suffer when pollution is not controlled.

Physical Pollution

Of the different types of pollution, physical pollution may be the most recognizable. Simply stated, physical pollution is the introduction of discarded materials into the environment. Physical pollution is what you might refer to as trash and is the direct result of human actions. In other words, nature does not produce physical pollution because in natural systems, all byproducts or wastes are eventually recycled back into the environment. For example, in nature, a fallen tree will degrade and eventually return nutrients to the soil.

However, physical pollutants, such as discarded water bottles and plastic bags along with waste materials from industrial or manufacturing processes, do not naturally degrade and can accumulate or leach chemicals into the ground or water supplies as they breakdown. Physical pollutants are often sent to landfills, which are designated areas for trash disposal in which the waste is dumped and then covered by soil.

Landfills keep physical pollutants confined to one area, and many modern landfills are lined with layers of clay or plastic to prevent leakage. However, as buried waste products and organic matter decompose, they can release methane gas, carbon dioxide and other gases that are harmful to the environment.

Chemical Pollution

Chemical pollution is another type of pollution. It is defined as the introduction of chemicals into the environment. Chemicals may not be seen by the naked eye, but they can cause problems in all areas of the environment, from the air we breathe to the freshwater we drink to the soil we use for growing crops.

Agricultural practices are one example of a chemical pollution source. Pesticides used to control insects and fertilizers used to make soil more fertile contain nitrogen, phosphorus and other chemicals. These chemicals can run off of a farmer's field and enter waterways. Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilize tiny plant life in the body of water, causing rapid growth and eventually depleting oxygen levels in the water to the point where fish and other species of life cannot survive. Chemical pollution from pesticides and fertilizers can also contaminate soil if used in excess. Other sources of soil contamination include the leaking of chemicals from mines and landfills.

Chemical pollution is also seen in the air. The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, release chemical pollutants into the atmosphere. These fossil fuels may be used in our vehicles or by utilities or industries. These chemical pollutants are referred to as greenhouse gases, which are gases in the atmosphere that absorb infrared radiation and trap heat.

For example, the car you drive to work most likely runs on fossil fuels. As this fuel is burned, the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Another example is the release of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere when coal is burned. Sulfur dioxide contributes to acid rain, which is the phenomenon by which impurities combine with water vapor and fall to the earth.

Biological pollution (bioinvasion impacts or biopollution) is a term that defines adverse effects of invasive alien species (IAS) on quality of aquatic and terrestrial environment.
Biopollution may cause adverse effects at several levels of biological organization:

· an individual organism (internal biological pollution by parasites or pathogens),

· a population (by genetic change, i.e. hybridization of IAS with a native species),

· a community or biocoenosis (by structural shifts, i.e. dominance of IAS, replacement or elimination of native species),

· a habitat (by modification of physical-chemical conditions),

· an ecosystem (by alteration of energy and organic material flow).

Air Pollution:The main sources of air pollution in India and elsewhere are mineral dust and gases, automobiles, thermal power plants and industries. Any contamination in the air may not only cause many diseases and loss of vision but can also disturb the whole atmospheric system. Air pollution can also cause acid rain which damages soil, vegetation and aquatic life of the region.

The heavy use of automobiles causes pollution and smog from automobile emissions. This has become a serious problem in almost all the countries—developed and developing.

The bad urban air bums the eyes, damages lung tissues and increases the levels of lead and other poisons in the human body and agricultural products. It is not known how many deaths occur nationally because of air pollution. Air pollution caused massive smog in London in 1952 killing some 4,000 people.

Water Pollution:

Contamination of water from any external source that makes it harmful to life is known as water pollution. With the fast industrial development and modem civilization, the problem of water pollution is increasing day by day. The major sources of water pollution are domestic effluents, agricultural effluents, sewage disposal, industrial wastes, radioactive wastes and oil leakages, etc.

All the Indian rivers, including the holy river Ganga, have become highly polluted today. Even, the Ganga Action Plan to control its water from pollution has not been proved successful. The impact of water pollution is widespread. It causes many severe water-borne diseases, such as diarrhea, trachoma, intestinal norms, hepatitis, jaundice, etc.

According to WHO, 21 per cent of all communi­cable diseases in India are water-borne diseases. Oil is the major pollutant of the sea water. Huge tankers routinely dump oil into the sea. This act of dumping poisons smothers or coats sea plants and animals and kills them.

Land pollution: - Lands used for industrial activities (gas stations, manufacturing factories, etc) are left contaminated after use. Several releases of chemicals, oil and other substances to the land. Contaminated sites abound everywhere in major locations of the world. Besides the chemicals released on the contaminated lands, several debris and wastes that constitute dangers are left on the sites. For more detailed account follow the link to the left on Land Pollution

How do we help

· Don't litter, especially in or near water sources

· Organize a community cleanup event near a river or lake where you live

· Use green household cleaners and laundry detergents

· Use natural lawn fertilizers, such as manure instead of chemical fertilizers

• Recycle paper, plastics, aluminum cans and other materials to reduce garbage in landfills
• Join a community effort to replant trees
• Buy reusable cloth grocery bags to use instead of plastic bags

33.Acid Rain:

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 857