BIOSPHERE

WHAT IS BIOSPHERE?
 Biosphere comes from the greek word ‘bios’ which
means life and ‘sphaira’ which means sphere. It is the
layer of the planet earth where life exists, and it has
existed for about 3.5 billion years.
 The biosphere extends from the deepest root systems
of trees, to the dark environment of ocean trenches,
to lush rain forests and high mountaintops.
BIOSPHERE
 Since life exists on the ground, in the air, and in
the water, the biosphere overlaps all these
spheres (lithosphere, atmosphere and
hydrosphere). Although the biosphere measures
about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from top to
bottom, almost all life exists between about 500
meters (1,640 feet) below the ocean’s surface to
about 6 kilometers (3.75 miles) above sea level.
 ORIGIN OF THE BIOSPHERE
 The biosphere’s earliest life-forms,
called prokaryotes, survived without
oxygen. Ancient prokaryotes included Prokaryote is a
single-celled organisms such as microscopic
bacteria and archaea. Some single-celled
organism that has
prokaryotes developed a unique neither a distinct
chemical process. They were able to nucleus with a
use sunlight to make simple sugars membrane nor
other specialized
and oxygen out of water and carbon organelles.
dioxide, a process called
photosynthesis. These photosynthetic
organisms were so plentiful that they
changed the biosphere.
ORIGIN OF THE BIOSPHERE
 Over a long period of time, the atmosphere
developed a mix of oxygen and other gases that
could sustain new forms of life. The addition of
oxygen to the biosphere allowed more complex life-
forms to evolve.
 Millions of different plants and other
photosynthetic species developed. Animals, which
consume plants (and other animals) evolved.
Bacteria and other organisms evolved to
decompose, or break down, dead animals and
plants. The biosphere benefits from this food web.
The remains of dead plants and animals release
nutrients into the soil and ocean. These nutrients
are re-absorbed by growing plants. This exchange
of food and energy makes the biosphere a self-
supporting and self-regulating system.
ORIGIN OF THE BIOSPHERE

 The biosphere is sometimes thought of as one

large ecosystem—a complex community of living
and nonliving things functioning as a single unit.
More often, however, the biosphere is described
as having many ecosystems.
BIOSPHERE RESERVES
 People play an important part in maintaining the
flow of energy in the biosphere. Sometimes, however,
people disrupt the flow. For example, in the
atmosphere, oxygen levels decrease and carbon
dioxide levels increase when people clear forests or
burn fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Oil spills and
industrial wastes threaten life in the hydrosphere.
The future of the biosphere will depend on how people
interact with other living things within the zone of
life.
 In the early 1970s, the United Nations established a
project called Man and the Biosphere Programme
(MAB), which promotes sustainable development. A
network of biosphere reserves exists to establish a
working, balanced relationship between people and
the natural world.
BIOSPHERE RESERVES
 Currently, there are 563 biosphere reserves all over the
world. The first biosphere reserve was established in
Yangambi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Yangambi, in
the fertile Congo River Basin, has 32,000 species of trees
and such endemic species as forest elephants and red
river hogs. The biosphere reserve at Yangambi supports
activities such as sustainable agriculture, hunting, and
mining.
BIOSPHERE RESERVES
 One of the newest biosphere reserves is in Yayu,
Ethiopia. The area is developed for agriculture. Crops
such as honey, timber, and fruit are regularly
cultivated. However, Yayu’s most profitable and
valuable resource is an indigenous species of plant,
Coffea arabica. This shrub is the source of coffee. Yayu
has the largest source of wild Coffea arabica in the
world.
BIOSPHERE
 So once again the biosphere is one of the four
layers that surround the Earth along with the
lithosphere (rock), hydrosphere (water) and
atmosphere (air) and it is the sum of all the
ecosystems.
 And also life on Earth depends on the sun.
Energy, provided as sun light, is captured by
plants, some bacteria and protists, in the
marvellous phenomenon of photosynthesis. The
captured energy transforms carbon dioxide into
organic compounds such as sugars and produces
oxygen. The vast majority of species of animals,
fungi, parasitic plants and many bacteria depend
directly or indirectly on photosynthesis.