MEV-011: FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ECOLOGY TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT Course Code : MEV-011 Course Title : Fundamentals of Environmental Science and Ecology Assignment Code : MEV-011/TMA-01/January & July session 2021 Maximum Marks 100 5x20-100 Note: This assignment is based on the entire course Answer any five questions. All question carries equal marks. Please write all answers in your own words Discuss the principles and scope of environmental science. Describe various environmental issues at global, regional and local levels. Define ecology and describe various environmental factors with suitable examples. Write short notes on any two of the following: a. Ecological Succession b. Population Growth ©. Major Biomes 6. Canying Capacity 5. Explain the structure and function of ecosystem with suitable examples, 6. Explain the need, purpose and approaches to restoration ecology Write short notes on any two of the following a. Environmental management standards b. Foundation and Scope of Environmental Economics ¢, Sustainable solutions to environmental problems 8. Discuss the concept and milestones in education for environment and sustainable developmentMEV-011: FUNDAMENTALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ECOLOGY TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT Course Code : MEV-011 Course Title : Fundamentals of Environmental Science and Ecology Assignment Code : MEV-011/TMA-01/January & July session 2021 Note: This assignment is based on the entire course. Answer any five questions. All question carries equal marks. Please write all answers in your own words. Maximum Marks 100 5x20=100 1. _Discuss the principles and scope of environmental science. ‘Ans:- The Environment is about the surrounding external conditions influencing development or growth of people, animal or plants; living or working conditions etc. This involves three questions ie., what is surrounded, by what surrounded and where surrounded, The answer to the first is living objects in general and man in particular. Human life is concerned to be the main in the study of environment. However, human life cannot exist or be understood in isolation from the other forms of life like animal life and from plant life. Environment belongs to ll ving beings andi thus important for all. Hence, environment refers to the sum total of conditions surround in space and time. The scope of the term ‘Environment’ has keen changing and widening by the passage of time. In the primitive age, the environment consisted of only physical espects of the planet earth ie,,land, water and air as biological communities. As of now, it includes social, economic and political conditions also.The answer for the question where surrounded is in nature that physical component of the planet earth, viz land, ait, water etc,, support and affect life in the biosphere The environment consists of four segments of the earth namely atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and. biosphere: 1. Atmosphere: The Atmosphere forms a distinctive protective layer about 100 km thick around the earth. A blanket of gases called the atmosphere surrounds the earth and protects the surface of earth from the Sun's harmful, ultraviolet rays. It sustains life on the earth. It also regulates temperature, preventing the earth from becoming too hot or too cold. it saves it from the hostile environment of outer space. The atmosphere is. compoted of nitrogen and oxygen besides, argon, carton dioxide and trace gases. ‘The atmosphere has a marked effect on the energy balance at the surface of the Earth. It absorbs most of the ‘cosmic rays from outer space and a major portion of the electromagnetic radiation from the sun. Ittransmitsonly ultraviolet, visible, near infrared radiation (300 to 2500 nm) and radio waves. (0.14 to 40m) while filtering out tissue-damaging ultra-violate waves below about 300 nm. 2. Hydrosphere: The Hydrosphere comprises all types of water resources oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, streams, reservoirs, polar icecaps, glaciers, and ground water. Oceans represent 97% of the earth’s water and about 2% of the water resources is locked in the polar icecaps and glaciers. Only about 1% is available as fresh water as surface water in rivers, lakes, streams, and as ground water for human use. 3, Lithosphere: Lithosphere is the outer mantle of the solid earth. it consists of minerals occurring in the earth's crusts end the soil e.g. minerals, organic matter, air and water, 4, Biosphere: Biosphere indicates the realm of living organisms and their interactions with environment, viz atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere, The scope of environmental studies is very wide and it deals with many areas like i) Conservation of natural resources, il) ecological aspects, ill) pollution of the surrounding natural resources, iv) controlling the pollution, v) social issues connected to it, and vi) impacts of human population on the environment. Environment Issues are being of Global: It has been well recognised that environment issues like global warming and czone depletion, acid rain, marine pollution and biodiversity are not merely national issues but are global issues and hence require international efforts and cooperation to solve them. 2. Development and Environment: Development leads to Urbanization, Industrial Growth, Telecommunication and Transportation Systems, Hi-tech Agriculture and Housing etc. However, it has become phased out in the developed world. The North. intentionally moves their dirty factories to South to cleanse their own environment. When the West developed, it did so perhaps in ignorance of the environmental impact of its activities. Development of the rich countries of the world has undesirable effects on the environment of the entire world. 3, Explosive Increase in PollutionWorld census reflects that one in every seven persons in this planet lives in India. Evidently with 16 per cent of the world's population and only 2.4 per cent of its land area, there is @ heavy pressure on the natural resources including land. Agricultural experts have recognized soil health problems like deficiency of micronutrients and organicmatter, soll salinity and damage of soll structure. 2 Describe various environmental issues at global, regional and local levels. ‘Ans:- Environmental issues are harmful effects of human activity on the biophysical environment {citation needed][dubious — discuss] Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the natural environment on the individual, organizational or governmental levels, for the benefit of both the environment and humans. Environmentalism, a social and environmental movement, addresses environmental issues through advocacy, education and activism. Air pollution and climate change. Problem: Overloading of the atmosphere and of ocean waters with carbon, Atmospheric CO2 absorbs and re- ‘emits infrared-wavelength radiation, leading to warmer alr, soils, and ocean surface waters - which is gocd: The planet would be frozen solid without this. Unfortunately, there's now too much carbon in the air. Burning of fossil fuels, deforestation for agriculture, and industrial activities have pushed up atmospheric CO2 concentrations from 280 parts per million (ppm) 200 years ‘ago, to about 400 ppm today. That's an unprecedented rise, in both size and speed. The result: climate disruption. Deforestation. Problem: Species-rich wild forests are being destroyed, especially in the tropics, often to make way for cattle ranching, soybean or palmoil plantations, or other agricultural monocultures. Today, about 30 percent of the planet's land area is covered by forests - which is ebout half as much as before agriculture got started around 11,000 years ago. About 7.3 million hectares (18 million acres) of forest are destroyed each year, mostly in the tropics. Tropical forests used to cover about 15 percent of the planet's land area; they're now down to 6 or 7 percent. Much of this remainder has been degraded by logging or burning. Not only do natural forests act as biodiversity reserves, they are also carbon sinks, keeping carbon out of the atmosphere and oceans. Species extinction,Problem: On land, wild animals are being hunted to extinction for bushmeat, ivory, or "medicinal" products. At sea, huge industrial fishing boats equipped with bottom-trawling or purse-seine nets clean out entire fish populations. The loss and destruction of habitat are also major factors contributing to a wave of extinction - Unprecedented in that it is caused by a single species: humans, The IUCN's Red List of threatened and ‘endangered species continues to grow. Not only do species inherently deserve to exist, they also provide products and "services" essential to human survival. Think bees and their pollinating prowess - necessary for growing food. Soil degradation. Problem: Overgrazing, monoculture planting, erosion, soil compaction, overexposure to pollutants, land-use conversion - there's a long list of ways that soils are being damaged. About 12 million hectares of farmland a year get seriously degraded, accordingto UN estimates. Overpopulation. Problem: Human population continues to grow rapidly worldwide, Humanity entered the 20th century with 1.6 billion people; right now, we're about 7.5 billion. Estimates put us at nearly 10 billion by 2050. Growing global Populations, combined with growing affiuence, is putting ever greater pressure on essential natural resources, like water. Most of the growth is happening on the African continent, and in southern and eastern Asia. Define ecology and describe various environmental factors with suitable exemples. ‘Ans:- Ecology isa branch of science, including human science, population, community, ecosystem and biosphere. Ecologyis the study of organisms, the environment and how the organisms interact with each other and their environment. Its studied at various levels, such as organism, population, community, biosphere and ‘ecosystem. ‘An ecologist’s primary goalis to improve their understanding of life processes, adaptations and habitats, interactions and biodiversity of organisms. Biotic components Biotic components are living factors of an ecosystem. A few examples of biotic components include bacteria, animals, birds, fungi, plants, etc. Abiotic componentsAbiotic components are non-living chemical and physical factors of an ecosystem. These components could be acquired from the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere. A few examples of abiotic components include sunlight, soil, ait, moisture minerals and more. Living organisms are grouped into biotic components, whereas non-living components like sunlight, water, topography are listed under abiotic components. The different types of ecology are given below: Global Ecology It deals with interactions among earth’s ecosystems, land, atmosphere and oceans. It helps to understand the large-scale interactions and their influence on the planet. Landscape Ecology It deals with the exchange of energy, materials, organisms and other products of ecosystems. Landscape ecology throws light on the role of human impacts on the landscape structures and functions. Ecosystem Ecology It deals with the entire ecosystem, including the study of living and non-living components and their relationship with the environment. This science researches how ecosystems work, their interactions, etc. Community Ecology It deals with how community structure is modified by interactions among living organisms. Ecology community is made up of two or more populations of different species living in a particular geographic area. Population Ecology It deals with factors that alter and impact the genetic composition and the size of the population of organisms. Ecologists ere interested in fluctuations in the size of population, the growth of a populetion and any other interactions with the population. In biology, a populstion can be defined as a set of individuals of the same species living in given place at @ given time. Births and immigration are the main factors that increase the population end death and emigration are the main factors that decrease the population. Population ecology examines the population distribution and density. Population density is the number of individuals in a given volume or area. This helps in determining whether a particular species is in endanger or its ‘number is to be controlled and resources to be replenished.Organismal Ecology Organismal ecology is the study of an individual organismn’s behaviour, morphology, physiology, etc. in response to environmental challenges. It looks at how individual organisms interact with biotic and abiotic components, Ecologists research how organisms are adapted to these non-living and living components of their surroundings. Individual species are related to various adaptations like physiological adaptation, morphological adaptation, and behavioural adaptation. Molecular Ecology The study of ecology focuses on the production of proteins and hew these proteins affect the organisms and their environment. This happens at the molecular level. DNA formsthe proteins that interact with each other and the environment. These interactions give rise to some complex organisms Write short notes on any two of the following: a. Ecological Succession ‘Ans:- Ecological succession is the steady and gradual change in a species of a given area with respect to the changing environment. It is a predictable change and is an inevitable process of nature as all the biotic components have to keep up with the changes in our environment. The ultimate aim of this process is to reach equilibrium in the ecosystem. The community that achieves this aim is called a climex community. In an attempt to reach this equilibrium, some species increase in number while some other decrease. In an area, the sequence of communities that undergo changes is called sere. Thus, each community that changes is called a seral stage or seral cormmunity.. All the communities that we observe today around us have undergone succession over a period of time since their existence. Thus, we can say that evolution is a process that has taken place simultaneously along with that of ecological succession. Also, the initiation of life on earth can be considered to be a result of this succession process. If we consider an area where life starts from scratch by the process of succession, itis known as primary succession. However, if life starts at a place after the area has lostall the life forms existing there, the process is called secondary succession, It is obvious that primary succession is a rather slow process as life has to start from nothing whereas secondary succession is faster because it starts at a place which had already supported life before. Moreover, the first species that comes into existence during primary succession is known as pioneer species. Primary SuccessionPrimary succession is the succession that starts in lifeless areas such as the regions devoid of soil or the areas where the soil is unable to sustain life, When the planet was first formed there was no soil on earth. The earth was only made up of rocks. These rocks were broken down by microorganisms and eroded to form soil. The soil then becomes the foundetion of plant life. These plants help in the survival of different animals and progress from primary succession to the climax community. Secondary Succession ‘Secondary succession occurs when the primary ecosystem gets destroyed. For eg. @ climax community gets destroyed by fire. It gets recolonized after the destruction. This is known as secondary ecological succession. ‘Small plants emerge first, followed by larger plants. The tall trees block the sunlight and change the structure of the organisms below the canopy. Finally, the climax community arrives. Cyclic Succession This is only the change in the structure of an ecosystem on @ cyclic basis. Some plants remain dormant for the rest of the year and emerge all at once. This drastically changes the structure of an ecosystem. © Major Blomes ‘Ans: Biomes are those regions of this planet where plants, animals, insects and people live in particular type of environment, While the hot and humid biome, called the tropical rainforest exists, in Brazil, the frosty biome, called the Arctic tundre, exists in Alaska, The flora and fauna are adapted to that particular temperature, and ‘any small change in temperature can lead to an increase or decrease of a certain species of plant or animal. The climate and geography of 2 region determine what kind of biome can exist there, The plants and animals living in each biome are as different as their climates. No organism in the biome lives alone, Each organism, in one or other way, is dependent on other living or non living things in its surroundings. The survival of biomes and its organisms depends on ecological relationships throughout the world, The exact number of biomes in this world is still not known. Major biomes include Tundra, Rainforests, Deserts, Tundra, Grasslands, Mountains and Forests, Major Biomes of the World Coniferous Forest The coniferous woodland biome is found in the south of the Arctictundra. It extends from Alaska, across North America, to the Atlantic Ocean, and crosswise over Eurasia. The bi planet, in the Northern Hemisphere, is known as the “Taiga(T¥-guh) or boreal forests.’ These woodlands are comprised principally of cone-bearing trees, for example, spruce, fir, and hemlock, which are appropriate for the cool atmosphere.The temperature in the coniferous biome goes below the freezing point for most of the time, and the weather remains cold with only snowfall. Due to such harsh conditions, not many plant species exist there, Animals like ermine, the moose, the red fox, the snowshoe rabbit thrive in this biome. The cold weather makes it very difficult for plants end animals to survive. Deciduous Forest This biome is in the Northern Hemisphere. Significant areas of deciduous forest are found in eastern North America, Europe, and East Asia. The word “Deciduous” means “out ata certain season.” This is why Deciduous means forest where leaves fall out of the trees during winters. The characteristic rotting of the fallen leaves enhances the dirt and helps to support a variety of types of animal and plant life. In any case, the fruitful soilis likewise useful for individuals, and in Europe, the greater part of the deciduous ‘woods have been cut down to make space for farms and homes, This s the reason why most of the Decicuous forests have now disappeared. ‘The trees in Deciduous forests lose their leaves during winter, and the color of leaves changes during autumn ‘The most common types of trees are known as ash, oak, lime, beech, birch and northern arrowwood. As soil is fertile, some of the great agricultural regions are found in this biome. 5. Explain the structure and function of ecosystem with suitable examples. ‘Ans:- An ecosystem can beas small as an oasis in ¢ desert, or as big as an ocean, spanning thousands of miles. ‘There are two types of ecosystem: Terrestrial Ecosystem Aquatic Ecosystem Terrestrial Ecosystems Terrestrial ecosystems are exclusively land-based ecosystems. There are different types of terrestrial ecosystems distributed around various geological zones. They are as follows: + Forest Ecosystems © Grassland Ecosystems Tundra Ecosystems Desert Ecosystem Forest EcosystemA forest ecosystem consists of several plants, animals and microorganisms thet live in coordination with the abiotic factors of the environment. Forests help in maintaining the temperature of the earth and are the major carbon sink. Grassland Ecosystem Ina grassland ecosystem, the vegetation is dominated by grasses and herbs. Temperate grasslands, savanna grasslands are some of the examples of grassland ecosystems. Tundra Ecosystern Tundra ecosystems are devoid of trees and are found in cold climates or where rainfall ie scarce. These are covered with snow for most of the year. The ecosystem in the Arctic or mountain tops is tundra type. Desert Ecosystem, Deserts are found throughout the world, These are regions with very little rainfall. The days are hot and the nights are cold. Aquatic Ecosystem Aquatic ecosystems are ecosystems present ina body of water. These can be further divided into two types, namely: + Freshwater Ecosystem + Marine Ecosystem Freshwater Ecosystem ‘The freshwater ecosystem is an aquatic ecosystem that includes lekes, ponds, rivers, streams and wetlands. ‘These have no salt content in contrast with the marine ecosystem, Marine Ecosystem ‘The marine ecosystem includes seas and oceans. These have a more substantial salt content and greater biodiversity in comparison to the freshwater ecosystem. Structure of the Ecosystem ‘The structure of an ecosystem is characterised by the organisation of both biotic and abiotic components. This includes the distribution of energy in our environment. It also includes the climatic conditions prevailing in that particuler environment.‘The structure of an ecosystem can be split into two main components, namely: '* Biotic Components '* Abiotic Components WhatsApp-75038-67488