Unit :1

Multidisciplinary Nature of Environmental Science

Environmental studies:

• Environment is one subject that is actually global in nature.

• Environmental study deals with the analysis of the processes in water, air, land, soil, and
organism which leads to pollution (or) environment degradation

Multidisciplinary Nature of Environmental Studies

• The study of environmental components is multi disciplinary in nature. Since it includes

all disciplinary such as science, humanities, commerce, meteorology, climatology,
geography and other disciplines.
• Environmental studies is a multi disciplinary programme created to promote the study of
our natural surrounding.

SCOPE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

1. Natural resources–their conservation and management

2. Ecology and biodiversity
3. Environmental pollution and control 4.Social issues in relation to development and
environment
4. Human population and environment

Natural resources-conservation:-
5. Natural aspects such as forests contribute towards maintaining a balance in the
environment, managing and maintaining of forests and wild life is an important task
under natural resources conservation.
Ecosystem structure and function:-
6. The study of the ecosystem mainly consists of the study of the processes that link with
the biotic components to the non living (or) abiotic components.
Environmental pollution and control:-
7. With the knowledge of the environmental science one can look for methods to control
pollution and manage waste effectively.
Environmental management:-
8. There are several independent environmental consultants working with the central and
state pollution control boards. These consultants offer advice related to environment
problems and their solutions. The consultants involved in policy making, pollution control
and maintenance of ecological balance
Research and development:-
9. With increase in public awareness, regarding environment issues, there is tremendous
scope for research and development in this field. They conduct research studies in order
to develop theories of monitoring and controlling environment.
10. Environmental journalism:- There is an increasing demand for people who can report on
environment issues to generate awareness among people. Environmental journalism is
an emerging field which helps in bringing environmental problems to public notice.
Industry:-
• Environmental scientists work towards maintaining ecological balance, conservation of
bio diversity and preserve the natural resources. Rapid industrialization is increasingly
degrading the environment to minimize thobes, there is a growing trend towards
manufacturing of “green” goods and products.
IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
• Environmental studies helps maintain ecological balance by providing a basic operating
knowledge of environmental system and processes.
 • It gives information regarding the changes that takes place due to anthropogenic factors
and helps gain skills of analysing various environmental system and the effect of human
activities on them.
• Environmental studies help to achieve sustainable development and understand the
relationship between development and the environment.
• This discipline helps to educate people regarding their duties towards environmental
protection.
Conclusion:
• Illustrate Depleting Nature of Environmental Resources, Global Environmental Crisis and
the concept of Ecosystem
• Adapt to the concept of 3R (Reuse, Recovery, Recycle).
• Suggest different control measures related to Environmental Pollution.
• Illustrate and analyse various Case Studies related to Environmental Legislation.
• Demonstrate the working of Renewable Energy sources.
• Illustrate the Techniques of Disaster Management and Green Building

concept of sustainability and sustainable development:

Sustainability is basically the ability to provide for the needs of the current generation using
available resources without causing future generations any problem with providing for their
own needs. .

Sustainability is a broad term that describes managing resources without depleting them for
future generations.
Sustainable development describes the processes for improving long-term economic well-
being and quality of life without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs.

The three pillars of sustainability

• Social Equity, Economic viability, Environmental protection.

Important
• Sustainability improves the quality of our lives, protects our ecosystem and preserves
natural resources for future generations.
• Going green and sustainable is not only beneficial for the company; it also maximizes the
benefits from an environmental focus in the long-term
Conclusion;

• Our natural environment makes human life possible, and our cultural
environment helps define who we are. It is therefore essential that
our population and economic growth are
environmentally sustainable.
***
Unit 2 : Ecosystem

What is an ecosystem?
• An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as
well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life.
• Ecosystems contain biotic or living, parts, as well as abiotic factors, or non-living
parts. Biotic factors include plants, animals, and other organisms.
• Abiotic factors include rocks, temperature, and humidity.

Structure and function of ecosystem

The structure of an ecosystem can be split into two main components,

namely:

• Biotic Components
• Abiotic Components

Biotic Components
Biotic components refer to all life in an ecosystem. Based on nutrition,
biotic components can be categorised into autotrophs, heterotrophs
and saprotrophs (or decomposers).

• Producers include all autotrophs such as plants. They are called

autotrophs as they can produce food through the process of
photosynthesis. Consequently, all other organisms higher up on the
food chain rely on producers for food.
 • Consumers or heterotrophs are organisms that depend on other
organisms for food. Consumers are further classified into primary
consumers, secondary consumers and tertiary consumers.
o Primary consumers are always herbivores that they rely on
producers for food.
o Secondary consumers depend on primary consumers for
energy. They can either be a carnivore or an omnivore.
o Tertiary consumers are organisms that depend on secondary
consumers for food. Tertiary consumers can also be an
omnivore.

o Quaternary consumers are present in some food chains. These

organisms prey on tertiary consumers for energy. Furthermore,
they are usually at the top of a food chain as they have no
natural predators.
• Decomposers include saprophytes such as fungi and bacteria. They
directly thrive on the dead and decaying organic
matter. Decomposers are essential for the ecosystem as they help in
recycling nutrients to be reused by plants.

Abiotic Components
Abiotic components are the non-living component of an ecosystem. It
includes air, water, soil, minerals, sunlight, temperature, nutrients, wind,
altitude, turbidity, etc.
The functions of the ecosystem are as follows:
1. It regulates the essential ecological processes, supports life
systems and renders stability.
2. It is also responsible for the cycling of nutrients between biotic
and abiotic components.
3. It maintains a balance among the various trophic levels in the
ecosystem.
4. It cycles the minerals through the biosphere.
5. The abiotic components help in the synthesis of organic
components that involves the exchange of energy.

Energy flow in an ecosystem:

• Energy flow is the flow of energy through living things within an ecosystem
 • All living organisms can be organized into producers and consumers, and
those producers and consumers can further be organized into a food chain.

Food chain and Food webs:

A food chain refers to the order of events in an ecosystem, where one living organism eats another
organism, and later that organism is consumed by another larger organism. The flow of nutrients
and energy from one organism to another at different trophic levels forms a food chain.
The food chain also explains the feeding pattern or relationship between living organisms. Trophic
level refers to the sequential stages in a food chain, starting with producers at the bottom,
followed by primary, secondary and tertiary consumers. Every level in a food chain is known as a
trophic level.
The food chain consists of four major parts, namely:

• The Sun: The sun is the initial source of energy, which provides energy for everything on
the planet.
• Producers: The producers in a food chain include all green plants. This is the first stage in
a food chain. The producers make up the first level of a food chain. The producers utilize
the energy from the sun to make food. Producers are also known as autotrophs as they
make their own food. Producers are any plant or other organisms that produce their own
nutrients through photosynthesis. For example, green plants, fruits, phytoplanktons, small
plants, and algae are some examples of producers in a food chain.
• Consumers: Consumers are all organisms that are dependent on plants or other
organisms for food. This is the largest part of a food web, as it contains almost all living
organisms. It includes herbivores which are animals that eat plants, carnivores which are
animals that eat other animals, parasites are those organisms that live on other organisms
by harming them and lastly the scavengers, which are animals that eat dead animals’
carcasses.
Here, herbivores are known as primary consumers and carnivores are secondary consumers. The
second trophic level includes organisms that eat producers. Therefore, primary consumers or
herbivores are organisms in the second trophic level.

• Decomposers: Decomposers are organisms that get energy from dead or waste organic
material. This is the last stage in a food chain. Decomposers are an integral part of a food
chain, as they convert organic waste materials into inorganic materials like nutrient-rich
soil or land.
Decomposers complete a life cycle, as they provide nutrients to soil or oceans, that can be utilized
by autotrophs or producers. Thus, starting a whole new food chain.

Food Web:
Several interconnected food chains form a food web. A food web is similar to a food chain but the
food web is comparatively larger than a food chain. Occasionally, a single organism is consumed
by many predators or it consumes several other organisms. Due to this, many trophic levels get
interconnected, and the food chain fails to showcase the flow of energy in the right way. But, the
food web is able to show the proper representation of energy flow, as it displays the interactions
between different organisms.
When there are more cross interactions between different food chains, the food web gets more
complex. This complexity in a food web leads to a more sustainable ecosystem.
Types of Food Chain
There are two types of food chains, namely detritus food chain and grazing food chain. Let’s look
at them more closely:

• Detritus food chain: The detritus food chain includes different species of organisms and
plants like algae, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, mites, insects, worms and so on. The detritus
food chain begins with dead organic material. The food energy passes into decomposers
and detritivores, which are further eaten by smaller organisms like carnivores. Carnivores,
like maggots, become a meal for bigger carnivores like frogs, snakes and so on. Primary
consumers like fungi, bacteria, protozoans, and so on are detritivores which feed on
detritus.
• Grazing food chain: The grazing food chain is a type of food chain that starts with green
plants, passes through herbivores and then to carnivores. In a grazing food chain, energy in
the lowest trophic level is acquired from photosynthesis.
In this type of food chain, the first energy transfer is from plants to herbivores. This type of food
chain depends on the flow of energy from autotrophs to herbivores. As autotrophs are the base for
all ecosystems on earth, the majority of ecosystems in the environment follow this kind of food
chain.

Conclusion
Understanding food chains is vital, as they explain the intimate relationships in an ecosystem. A
food chain shows us how every living organism is dependent on other organisms for survival. The
food chain explains the path of energy flow inside an ecosystem.
 1.Food chain Food web

What is Ecological Succession?

• ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION IS: The observed process of change in the species

structure of an ecological community over a period of time
• Ecosystems are constantly changing. Ecological succession is a gradual process of
change and replacement of the types of species in a community. Each new community
makes it harder for the previous community to survive.

Types of Ecological Succession

There are two main types of Ecological Succession: primary and secondary
Primary Succession:
• It is the process of creating life in an area where no life existed earlier.
• An example of an area in which a community has never lived before, would be a new
lava or rock from a volcano that makes a new island.
• Begins in a place without any soil, like: * Sides of volcanoes * Landslides
• Flooding Starts with the arrival of living things such as lichens that do not need any soil
to survive. They are called Pioneer Species
• When lichens die, they decompose, adding small amounts of organic matter to the rock
to make soil.
• Simple plants like mosses and ferns can grow on this new soil
• The simple plants die, adding more organic material. The soil layer thickens, and
grasses and other plants begin to take over.
 • These plants die, and they add more nutrients to the soil. Shrubs and trees can survive
now, on this soil.
• Insects, small birds and mammals can now begin to move in. What was earlier only bare
rock, now supports a variety

Secondary Succession

• Secondary Succession is the process of re-stabilization that follows a disturbance in an

area, where life has formed an ecosystem.
• Secondary Succession occurs on a surface where an ecosystem has previously existed.
It is the process by which one community replaces another community which has been
partially or totally destroyed, might be by natural process such as floods, earthquake etc.
• When an existing community has been cleared by any type of disturbance, such as fire,
cyclone etc. and the soil remains intact, the area begins to return to its natural
community.
• Because these habitats previously supported life, secondary succession begins.

Why does Ecological Succession Occur?

• Because it is the process of life for plants and other living organisms.
• Because organisms alter soil structure and the species communities constantly change
over a period of time.
• Succession will continue until the environment reaches its final stage – the Climax
Community
• Gradual Change from Pioneer Stages to Climax Community
How Ecological Succession takes place?
• Succession will continue until the environment reaches it’s final stage, ---- the Climax
Community.
• A climax community is a mature, stable community that is the final stage of ecological
succession This type of community remains the same through out the time, if it is not
disturbed.
• A stable group of plants and animals which is the end result of succession process, does
not always mean only big trees. They could be: * Cacti in deserts or * Grasses in fields
Physical Factors
• The two main physical factors that determine the nature of the community that develops
in an area are:
• Temperature
• The amount of rainfall.
Threats to Succession
• The grasses that move in as pioneer species are often thought as weeds.
• The subsequent growth of shrubs are considered undesirable “brush”.
• But, without these intermediate stages, the disturbed habitat can’t return to forest.
How do Humans affect Ecological succession?
• Clearing the land for garden and preparing the soil for planting is a type of major external
event that radically re-structure and disrupt a previously stabilized ecosystem.
• This disturbance may immediately begin a process of ecological succession.
Does Ecological Succession ever stop? And conclusion:
Over a long period of time, the climate conditions of an ecosystem is bound to change.
• No ecosystem has existed or will remain unchanged over a Geological
Forest Resources: case study

• Use and over-exploitation, deforestation, case studies.

• Timber extraction, mining, dams and their effects on forests and
tribal people

Water Resources: case study

• Use and over-utilisation of surface and ground water,

• floods, drought, conflicts over water, dams – benefits and problems.

Mineral Resources:(desert) case study

• Use and exploitation, environmental effects of extracting

• and using mineral resources, case studies.

Food Resources: case study

• World food problems, Changes in land use by agriculture and

• grazing, Effects of modern agriculture, Fertilizer/ pesticide problems,
Water logging and salinity

Energy Resources: case study

 • Increasing energy needs, Renewable/ non renewable,
• Use of Alternate energy sources, Case studies

Land resources: case study

• Land as a resource, land degradation, man-induced land-slides,

• soil erosion and desertification.

Grassland ecosystem

• Grassland Ecosystem is an area where the vegetation is dominated by

grasses and other herbaceous (non-woody) plants. It is also called
transitional landscape because grassland ecosystems are dominated
by the grass with few or no trees in the area where there is not enough
for a forest and too much of a forest

Economic importance of Grassland Ecosystem

• Grass lands biomes are important to maintain the crop of many
domesticated and wild herbivores such as horse, mule, ass, cow, pig,
sheep, goat, buffalo, camel, deer, zebra etc. which provides food, milk,
wool and transportation to man.

Desert ecosystem

• Deserts are found throughout the world. These are regions with very little rainfall. The
days are hot and the nights are cold. The most defining feature of this ecosystem is the
amount of precipitation it receives, which is the least as compared to any ecosystem.

Case study - the Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India

• The Thar Desert is located in northwest India. It is one of the major hot deserts of the world
with the highest population density. Many people living in this desert are subsistence
farmers but with increasing development opportunities, the human population is also
growing. Due to population pressures this environment is increasingly under threat.

Aquatic ecosystem

Aquatic ecosystems include oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, estuaries, and wetlands.
Within these aquatic ecosystems are living things that depend on the water for survival,
such as fish, plants, and microorganisms. These ecosystems are very fragile and can be
easily disturbed by pollution.
 Unit 3: Natural Resources : Renewable and Non – renewable
Resources

Renewable Resources:
• The resources which cannot be exhausted even after continuous
utilization are termed as renewable resources. Examples of
renewable resources are the sun, wind, and tidal energy.
Non-Renewable Resources
• The resources which cannot be immediately replaced once they are
depleted are called Non-renewable resources. Examples of Non-
renewable resources include fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum and
natural gas and rare minerals typically found in meteorites.
• Following are major differences between renewable and non-
renewable resources.

Depletion
 • Renewable resources cannot be depleted over time
• Non-renewable resources deplete over time

Sources

• Renewable resources include sunlight, water, wind and also

geothermal sources such as hot springs and fumaroles
• Non-renewable energy includes fossil fuels such as coal and
petroleum.

Environmental Impact

• Most renewable resources have low carbon emissions and low

carbon footprint
• Non-renewable energy has a comparatively higher carbon footprint
and carbon emissions.

Cost

• The upfront cost of renewable energy is high. – For instance,

Generating electricity using technologies running on renewable
energy is costlier than generating it with fossil fuels
• Non-renewable energy has a comparatively lower upfront cost.

Infrastructure Requirements

• Infrastructure for harvesting renewable energy is prohibitively

expensive and not easily accessible in most countries.
• Cost-effective and accessible infrastructure is available for non-
renewable energy across most countries

Area Requirements

• Requires a large land/ offshore area, especially for wind farms and
solar farms
• Comparatively lower area requirements

2 . Land resources and land use change: Land degradation, soil erosion and
desertification

Land Resources:

some common land or natural resources are water, oil, copper, natural gas, coal, and forests.
Land resources are the raw materials in the production process. These resources can be
renewable, such as forests, or non-renewable such as oil or natural gas.
Land use change:

• Land use change is a process by which human activities transform the natural
landscape, referring to how land has been used, usually emphasizing the functional
role of land for economic activities.
• Land use change simply refers to the conversion of a piece of land's use by humans,
from one purpose to another. For example, land may be converted from cropland to
grassland, or from wild land (e.g. tropical forests) to human-specific land uses (e.g. palm
oil plantations).

Land degradation—

• the deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of the soils for present and future—
is a global challenge that affects everyone through food insecurity, higher food prices,
climate change, environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem
services.

Soil erosion:-

• Soil erosion is the washing or blowing away (by water or wind) of the top layer of the
soil.  Erosion whether it is by water , wind or tillage, involve three distinct action- soil
detachment, movement & deposition.

Desertification :

• Desertification is a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry land region

becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation
and wildlife. It is caused by a variety of factors.
• Desertification is a significant global ecological and environmental problem ARID:
Lacking moisture, especially having insufficient rainfall to support trees or woody
plants

Causes of Desertification

• • There are 4 main factors in desertification

• • Drought • Over grazing •Over cultivation • Trees used for fuel and shelter

Deforestation : Causes and impacts due to mining, dam building on

environment, forests, biodiversity and tribal populations.

• Deforestation is the full or large-scale removal of a forest, or area of

tress, in order to clear land for human development.
• Direct causes of deforestation are agricultural expansion, wood
extraction (e.g., logging or wood harvest for domestic fuel or
charcoal), and infrastructure expansion such as road building and
urbanization.

Effects of deforestation:
 • The loss of trees and other vegetation can cause climate change,
desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for
indigenous people.

Mining:

• Mining is generally very destructive to the environment. It is one of

the main causes of deforestation. In order to mine, trees and
vegetation are cleared and burned. With the ground completely bare,
large scale mining operations use huge bulldozers and excavators to
extract the metals and minerals from the soil.
• Impacts can result in erosion, sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, or the
contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water by the
chemicals emitted from mining processes.

Causes for Mining

• Population growth
• Income growth
• Increasing demand for resources
• Single source of income
• Advancements in technology
• Importance for industrial processes
• Lack in substitutability
• Economic factor for countries
• Increase in resource prices

Dams:

• Dams constitute a major direct and indirect cause of forest loss and
most of them have resulted in widespread human rights abuses.
They have also resulted in deforestation elsewhere, as farmers
displaced by the dams have had to clear forests in other areas in
order to grow their crops and build their homes.

Biodiversity and Tribal communities:

• The very existence of cultural diversity is directly dependent

on biological diversity. This traditional ecological knowledge of
ethnic groups is not confined to mere sustenance only since
 the tribal communities depend upon biological resources for their
spiritual, religious and cultural needs too.

Water : Use and over –exploitation of surface and ground water, floods,
droughts, conflicts over water ( international and inter-state).

Surface water :

• Alongside being used for drinking water, surface water is

also used for irrigation, wastewater treatment, livestock,
industrial uses, hydropower, and recreation. Over Exploitation of
Surface Water:
• Surface water is mainly misuse, due to which its quality and quantity
both degrades. Since lakes, ponds, rivers, sea are used for dumping
industrial and sewage wastes, dead bodies, solid wastes etc.

Ground water:

• The over-exploitation of the groundwater not only cause

the water level declined greatly, but also lead to
land surface subsidence in some areas mainly with the
deep groundwater exploitation.

Energy resources : Renewable and non renewable energy sources, use of

alternate energy sources, growing energy needs, case studies.

• Unit 4: Biodiversity and Conservation

• Levels of biological diversity: genetics, species and ecosystem diversity,

Biogeographic zones of India: Biodiversity patterns and global biodiversity
hot spots

• India as a mega- biodiversity nation, Endangered and endemic species of

India.

• Threats to biodiversity : Habitat loss, poaching of wildlife, man- wildlife

conflicts, biological invasions; Conservations of biodiversity : In-situ and Ex-
situ Conservation of biodiversity.

• Ecosystem and biodiversity services: Ecological, economic, social, ethical,

aesthetic and Informational value.( ppt in Description box).
 Unit 5: Environmental Pollution

• Environmental pollution: types, causes, effects and controls: Air, Water,

soil and noise Pollution.

• Nuclear hazards and human health risks

• Solid waste management: Control measures of urban and industrial waste

• Pollution case studies

Unit 6: Environmental Policies & Practices

• Climate change, global warming, ozone layer depletion, acid rain and
impacts on human communities and agriculture
• Environment Laws: Environment Protection Act, Air (Prevention &
Control of Pollution) Act; Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution )
Act; Wildlife Protection Act; Forest Conservation Act. International
agreements: Montreal and Kyoto protocols and Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD).
• Nature reserves, tribal populations and rights, and human Wildlife
conflicts in Indian context.

Unit 7: Human Communities and the Environment

• Human population growth, impacts on environment, human health and

welfare. Resettlement and rehabilitation of projects affected persons; case
studies.

• Disaster management: floods, earthquake, cyclone and landslides.

• Environmental movements : Chipko, Silent Valley, Bishnois of Rajasthan.

• Environmental ethics : Role of Indian and other religions and cultures in

environmental conservation.

• Environmental communication and public awareness, case studies(e.g.

CNG Vehicles in Delhi)

Unit 8 : Field Work

• Visit to an area to document environmental assets: river / forest/ flora/

fauna etc.
• Visit to a local polluted site – Urban / Rural/ Industrial/ Agricultural.

• Study of common plants, insects, birds and basic principles of

identification.

• Study of simple ecosystem- pond, river, Delhi Ridge etc.