Environmental Science and Engineering- Unit I

15 flashcards · Other · by Kalpana Satish

1. Define Environment.

   Environment can be defined as "all the social, economical, physical and chemical factors that surrounds man" or "all abiotic and biotic components around man-all living and non living things surrounds man".

2. What is biotic and abiotic component?

   Biotic -The biotic factors refer to all the living beings present in an ecosystem, Abiotic- Main abiotic factors (non living things)of the ecosystem are include

3. Define Ecology and Ecosystems?

   Ecology is the study of the distribution and abundance of organisms, the flows of energy and materials between abiotic and biotic components of ecosystems. An ecosystem is defined as a natural functional ecological unit comprising of living organisms and their non-living environment that interact to form a stable self supporting system.

4. Types of Ecosystems

5. Classes of Consumers

   Herbivore – primary consumer – eats plants Carnivores – secondary – meat eaters; eat herbivores Tertiary – feed on carnivores Omnivores – eat plants/animals.

6. Energy flow in ecosystems

7. Define food chain.

   A food chain may be defined as, “the transfer of energy and nutrients through a series of organisms with repeated process of eating and being eaten”.

8. What is an ecological pyramid?

   An “Ecological pyramid” is a graphical representation that shows the relative amounts of energy or matter contained within each tropic level in a food chain or food web.

9. What is biodiversity?

   Biodiversity is defined as “the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

10. Levels of Biodiversity

11. Values of Biodiversity

    Consumptive Use Productive Use Medicines Materials Cultural, Social and Ethical Values Aesthetic Value Environmental Services.

12. Threats to biodiversity

    Habitat loss :is mainly due to human population growth, industrialization and changes in the land use patterns, poaching of wild life and man wildlife conflicts. Poaching: Specific threats to certain animals are related to large economic benefits. Man wild life conflicts: Conflicting situations with wild life starts causing immense damage and danger to man.

13. What do you mean by Endemic Species?

    Endemic Species are species of those plants and animals which are found in just one particular region and nowhere else in the world.

14. Some endemic species of India.

    Golden monkey, Niligiri Langur, Indian Wolf, Red Fox, Himalayan Brown Bear, Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros, White Winged Wood Duck, Black Necked Crane, Indian Pea Fowl, Gharial, Indian egg eating Snake, Indian Salamandar etc. are some examples of endemic animal species of India.

15. Conservation of Biodiversity.