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Understanding the Environment Basics

The document provides an introduction to the environment. It defines environment and discusses its key components. The environment includes both biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) elements that surround us. It is divided into natural, human, and human-made components. The environment provides essential resources like air, water, and land that support life. It also sustains life through genetic diversity and assimilates waste. Ecosystems are complex interactions between living organisms and their physical environment. Ecosystems have biotic components like plants and animals, and abiotic components like soil, air and nutrients.

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Haisam
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Topics covered

  • Surrounding elements,
  • Natural resources,
  • Air quality,
  • Environmental sustainability,
  • Human components,
  • Hydrosphere,
  • Climate change,
  • Chemical factors,
  • Consumers,
  • Life support system
62 views6 pages

Understanding the Environment Basics

The document provides an introduction to the environment. It defines environment and discusses its key components. The environment includes both biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) elements that surround us. It is divided into natural, human, and human-made components. The environment provides essential resources like air, water, and land that support life. It also sustains life through genetic diversity and assimilates waste. Ecosystems are complex interactions between living organisms and their physical environment. Ecosystems have biotic components like plants and animals, and abiotic components like soil, air and nutrients.

Uploaded by

Haisam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Topics covered

  • Surrounding elements,
  • Natural resources,
  • Air quality,
  • Environmental sustainability,
  • Human components,
  • Hydrosphere,
  • Climate change,
  • Chemical factors,
  • Consumers,
  • Life support system

Introduction To

Environment
Ms. Sadia Tariq
Lecture # 1
Introduction
• The Environment is our basic life support system and is composed of
living beings, physical surroundings, and climatic conditions.
• It is derived from a French word, “Environ”, which means “to surround”.
• The word Environment was invented by Thomas Caryle in Scotland in
1828
• The term environment includes all biotic and abiotic entities around us.
• Biotic refers to the world of living organisms, whereas Abiotic refers to the
world of non-living elements.
• The Environment provides us with the essential elements – air, water,
food, and land which are essential for life to flourish on the Earth.

Introduction To Environment 2
Types of Environment
Our Environment is divided into 3 main types:
1. Natural components (air, water, land & living things),

2. Human components (individual, family, community), and

3. Human-made (Man Made) components (roads, monuments, industries), and is a combination of natural and human-
made phenomena.

Components of Environment
The components of the environment are mainly divided into two categories.

• Biotic Environment:
It includes all living organisms such as animals, birds, forests, insects, reptiles and microorganisms like algae, bacteria, fungus,
viruses, etc.

• Abiotic Environment:
It includes all non-living components such as air, cloud, dust, land, mountains, rivers, temperature, humidity, water, water
vapour, sand, etc.

Introduction To Environment 3
The Natural Environment could be further classified into four domains:
1. Lithosphere,
2. Hydrosphere, domains of the environment
3. Biosphere, and
4. Atmosphere
Functions of Environment
1) Provides the supply of resources
• The environment offers resources for production.
• It includes both renewable and non-renewable resources.
• Examples: Wood for furniture, soil, land, etc.
(2) Sustains life
• The environment includes the sun, soil, water, and air, which are essential for human life.
• It sustains life by providing genetic and biodiversity.
(3) Assimilates waste
• Production and consumption activities generate waste.
• This occurs mostly in the form of garbage.
• The environment helps in getting rid of the garbage.
(4) Enhances the quality of life
• The environment enhances the quality of life.
• Human beings enjoy the beauty of nature that includes rivers, mountains, deserts, etc.
• These add to the quality of life.
Introduction To Environment 4
Ecosystem
• Living organisms seem to interact amongst themselves and with the physical environment. This, in short, can be called an ecosystem.

• Ecology or environmental biology is the field that studies this complex set of relationships between the living organisms and their
surrounding environment.

Components of Ecosystem
There are two main components of an ecosystem which are in constant communication with each other. They are the biotic components and
the abiotic components.

Biotic Components of Ecosystem:


• The living components of an ecosystem are called the biotic components.
• Some of these factors include plants, animals, as well as fungi and bacteria.
• These biotic components can be further classified, based on the energy requirement source.
• Producers, consumers, and decomposers are the three broad categories of biotic components.

Abiotic Components of Ecosystem


• Abiotic components are the physical and/or the chemical factors that act on the living organisms at any part of their life. These are also
called as the ecological factors.
• The physical and chemical factors are characteristic of the environment.
• Light, air, soil, and nutrients, etc. form the abiotic components of an ecosystem.

Introduction To Environment 5
Definition of Environment
“Everything that surrounds us is called environment”
OR
“A sum total of all the living and non-living elements and their effects that influence human life”.

Introduction To Environment 6

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