Unit I: Studies on sustainable development,

ecology and environment

 Sustainability is development that satisfies the needs of the present without
compromising the capacity of future generations, guaranteeing the balance between
economic growth, care for the environment and social well-being.
 Sustainable development is the organizing principle for meeting human
development goals while at the same time sustaining the ability of natural systems
to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services upon which
the economy and society depend. The desired result is a state of society where
living conditions and resource use continue to meet human needs without
undermining the integrity and stability of the natural system.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

At the environmental level, sustainability prevents nature from being

used as an inexhaustible source of resources and ensures
its protection and rational use.
Aspects such as environmental conservation, investment
in renewable energies, saving water, supporting sustainable mobility,
and innovation in sustainable construction and architecture,
contribute to achieving this environmental sustainability on several
fronts.
SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
At the social level, sustainability can foster the development of
people, communities and cultures to help achieve reasonable and
fairly-distributed quality of life, healthcare and education across the
globe.
The fight for gender equality, especially in developing countries, is
another aspect which in coming years will form the basis of social
sustainability
ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability focusses on equal economic growth, that

generates wealth for all, without harming the
environment.
Sustainable development is often illustrated by a simple diagram showing three overlapping
circles representing social, economic and environmental progress, implying the need for
balancing and managing the trade-offs between them
Principles of Sustainability

 nonrenewable resources should not be depleted at rates higher than

the development rate of renewable substitutes

 renewable resources should not be exploited at a rate higher than

their regeneration levels

 the absorption and regeneration capacity of the natural environment

should not be exceeded

Nonrenewable energy resources include nuclear, hydrogen, coal,

natural gas, and oil
2.0 CARRYING CAPACITY

• The carrying capacity of a biological species in an environment is the maximum

population size of the species that the environment can sustain indefinitely, given the
food, habitat, water, and other necessities available in the environment
• the carrying capacity is the number of individuals an environment can support without
significant negative impacts to the given organism and its environment
• Below carrying capacity, populations typically increase, while above, they typically
decrease. A factor that keeps population size at equilibrium is known as a regulating
factor.
• Population size decreases above carrying capacity due to a range of factors depending
on the species concerned, but can include insufficient space, food supply, or sunlight.
• The carrying capacity of an environment may vary for different species and may change
over time due to a variety of factors including: food availability, water supply,
environmental conditions and living space.
Factors that govern carrying capacity
A system's carrying capacity may involve matters such as available supplies
of food, water, raw materials, and/or other similar resources. In addition, there are other
factors that govern carrying capacity which may be less instinctive or less intuitive in
nature, such as ever-increasing and/or ever-accumulating levels of wastes, damage, and/or
eradication of essential components of any complex functioning system.

I = PAT equation.

I = P ∙ A ∙ T
where:

I is the impact on the environment resulting from consumption

P is the population number
A is the consumption per capita (affluence)
T is the technology factor
N = Population: t =Time
3.0 GREEN TECHNOLOGY:
also known as sustainable technology, is one that has a "green" purpose.
Green is a reference to nature, of course, but green technology, in general,
is one that takes into account the long and short-term impact an invention
has on the environment. Green products are environmentally friendly
inventions that often involve energy efficiency, recycling, safety and
health concerns, renewable resources, and more.
Examples of Green Technology
1. Solar cell. A solar cell directly converts the energy in light into
electrical energy through the process of photovoltaics. Generating
electricity from solar energy means less consumption of fossil fuels,
reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Reusable water bottle: Reducing plastic waste is great for the
environment. Hence, reusable water bottles that you can refill yourself
are health-promoting, eco-friendly, and green.
Green Energy: Solar power, wind power, Tidal
energy, Biogas/Biofuel,
Renewable energy sources include water, biomass,
wind, solar, and geothermal; but they are currently
not exploited at adequate levels to replace the
nonrenewable sources.
Principles of Green Engineering
12 Principles of Green Engineering
1. Nonhazardous inputs and outputs: Strive to ensure that all materials and energy inputs
and outputs used are as inherently nonhazardous as possible, while designing a process.
2. Prevention waste Instead of Treatment:It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean
up waste after it is formed.
3. Design for Separation:Separation and purification operations should be designed to
minimize energy consumption and materials use.
4. Maximize Efficiency:Products, processes, and systems should be designed to maximize
yield, consume low energy.
5. Output-Pulled Versus Input-Pushed:Products, processes, and systems should be
“output-pulled” rather than “input-pushed” through the use of energy and materials and
avoid needless accumulation.
6. Recycle and reuse.:Focus on recycle, reuse, when making product design.
7. Durability Rather Than Immortality
Targeted durability, not immortality, should be a design goal.(Example:
Non degrading plastics-not good environmentally)
8.Meet Need, Minimize Excess
Avoid unnecessary capacity or capability (e.g., “one size fits all”
concept) solutions should be considered a design flaw.(Avoid processes
that result in byproducts of not much use.)
9.Minimize Material Diversity
Material diversity in multicomponent products should be minimized to
promote disassembly and value retention.(Example: Electrical fittings-
international standard preferred over designs specific to each country)
10. Integrate Material and Energy Flows
Design of products, processes, and systems must include integration
and interconnectivity with available energy and materials flows .Eg:
Solar heaters Versus electric heaters
11.Design for Commercial “Afterlife”
Products, processes, and systems should be designed for performance
in a commercial “afterlife.” Eg: Old newspapers finding application in
carry bags in departmental stores
12. Renewable Rather Than Depleting
Material and energy inputs should be renewable rather than depleting.
(eg: Power from wind energy versus fossil fuel) for pumping water in
Recycling of common consumer products:
The most common consumer products recycled include aluminium such
as beverage cans, copper such as wire, steel food and aerosol cans, old
steel furnishings or
equipment, polyethylene and PET bottles, glass bottles and
jars, paperboard cartons, newspapers, magazines and light paper,
and corrugated fiberboard boxes.
PVC, LDPE, PP, and PS are also recyclable. These items are usually
composed of a single type of material, making them relatively easy to
recycle into new products.
Recycling of e wastes: The recycling of complex products (such as computers and
electronic equipment) is more difficult,
 Innovation in information technology leads to obsolesce of electronic component. Due
to high rate of obsolesce and damages in electronics components alarming waste
generation in developed and developing countries.
 E-waste contains hazardous element and cause serious problem on human health and
environment due to their improper disposal and handling.
 electronics and electrical component contains precious and heavy metals that should be
recover as they have its economic value. More than 1000 hazardous elements are use in
manufacturing of electronic components. Electronic components also contain some
heavy metals like Cu, Al, Zn, Fe, etc. For manufacturing of mobile phones, laptops and
other electronic devices, 267.3MT of gold and 7275MT of silver are being consumed
annually
 Sometimes recovery of precious metal is worthy than extracting from ore from mines.
 Developed countries minimize their E-waste using export strategies to
developing countries
 More than 90% recovery of heavy and precious metals can obtained from E -
waste like CRT, PCB and batteries.
 Three methods are widely used for recovery of metals from E-waste
components, namely: Hydrometallurgy, Pyrometallurgy, Bio recovery.
 Hydrometallurgy technique for recovery of metal from E-waste is more
advantageous for environmental point of view
SELF PURIFICATION CAPACITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT
(Self-Purification of Natural Streams)

• When sewage is discharged into a natural stream or river, the organic matter present in
the sewage gets oxidized by bacteria and converted to simple, inoffensive, stable
substances.
• In this process of oxidation the dissolved oxygen (DO) content of the river or stream
water is utilized. Due to this deficiency of dissolved oxygen is created in river or
stream water.
• The deficiency of dissolved oxygen thus created in river or stream water is filled up by
the absorption of atmospheric oxygen. Thus dissolved oxygen of river or stream water
is consumed by sewage discharged into it and at the same time it is replenished by the
atmosphere.
• This phenomena which occurs in all natural streams or rivers is known as self-
purification of natural streams or rivers.
The rate of self-purification depends on various factors such as rate of re-aeration,
type of organic matter present in sewage, temperature, velocity of flow, presence
of available oxygen in receiving waters, sedimentation, etc.

Various actions involved in self-purification process are physical, chemical

and biological in nature, and are as listed below:

1. Dilution
2. Oxidation
3. Reduction
4. Sedimentation
5. Action of sunlight
ECOSYSTEM AND ITS COMPONENTS
Ecosystem :
An ecosystem is defined as a structural and functional unit of biosphere
consisting of community of living beings and physical environment, both
interacting and exchanging materials between them. Ecosystem is a self-
contained, dynamic system composed of a natural community along with
its physical environment.
1. Abiotic Components
2. Biotic components
Components of an ecosystem: The components of the ecosystem are divided as:
• Abiotic Components
Abiotic components are non-living chemical and physical factors on an ecosystem.
Important abiotic components can be listed as follows:
1. Physical factors: They sustain and limit the growth of organisms in an
ecosystem.
a. Light: Light energy (sunlight) is the primary source of energy in nearly all
ecosystems. It is the energy that is used by green plants (which contain chlorophyll)
during the process of photosynthesis; a process during which plants manufacture
organic substances by combining inorganic substances.
b. Temperature: The distribution of plants and animals is greatly influenced by
extremes in temperature.
c. Water: The life on earth originated in water and is unsustainable without water.
d) Atmospheric gases: The most important gases used by plants and animals are
oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Oxygen is used by all living organisms
during respiration. Carbon dioxide is used by green plants during photosynthesis.
Nitrogen is made available to plants by certain bacteria and through the action of
lightning.
e) Soil: Various characteristics of the soil such as soil composition, grain size and
aggregation determine the percolation and water holding capacity of the soils. pH,
mineral composition and topography determine to a large extent the vegetation in
any area.
2. Organic compounds: They are the building blocks of living systems and
therefore, make a link between the biotic and abiotic components. Examples are:
Carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and humic substances.
• Biotic
components
The biotic components in an ecosystem include the living organisms. They are
grouped in to 3 classes based on the organism’s role in the flow of material and
energy within the ecosystem:
1. Producers (autotrophs): Autotrophs produce organic compounds from
carbon dioxide as a carbon source. They take energy from the sun (or from
inorganic sources in some cases) to convert it into organic molecules or food,
e.g., plants, algae, bacteria, etc. A portion of food synthesized, is used by
autotrophs for their growth and other biological functions and remaining is
stored for future use. This stored food in autotrophs is utilized as food by other
organisms (called heterotrophs).
2. Consumers (heterotrophs): They are called heterotrophs and they
consume food synthesized by the autotrophs. Based on food preferences
they can be grouped into three broad categories.
• Herbivores (e.g. cow, deer and rabbit etc.) feed directly on plants,
• carnivores are animals which eat other animals (eg. lion, cat, dog etc.)
• and omnivores organisms feeding upon both plants and animals e.g.
human, pigs and sparrow.
3. Decomposers: Decomposers are organisms (often fungi or bacteria)
that break down organic materials to gain nutrients and energy.
Decomposition is a natural process but decomposers accelerate it. The role
that decomposers perform in an ecosystem is extremely important. When
an organism dies, it leaves behind nutrients that are locked together.
Decomposers unlock these nutrient and release as raw nutrients (such as
nitrogen, phosphorus, and magnesium) in a form which are usable for
plants. Decomposers also convert organic carbon into Carbon dioxide,
which can be trapped by photosynthesizers.
FOOD CHAIN
The unidirectional transfer of food energy from the producers, through
a series of organisms (herbivores to carnivores to decomposers) with
repeated eating and being eaten, is known as food chain. It is the
movement of organic matter and energy from the producer level
through various consumer levels.
The various steps in a food chain are called trophic levels and transfer
of energy in term of food from one trophic level to another is called
energy flow. Energy flow is always unidirectional.
TYPES OF FOOD CHAINS
• GRAZING FOOD CHAIN

Grazing food chain (GFC) is the most common food chain. It is also
called predator food chain as predation occurs at every step. This food
chain is consists of producers, consumers and decomposers.
Consumers are often of 3 to 5 types: first order (primary), second
order (secondary), third order (tertiary), fourth order (quaternary)
consumers.
• Detritus Food Chain

Detritus food chain (DFC) begins with detritus or dead organic matter. The food
energy present in detritus passes into detrivores and decomposers who feed over
it. Detrivores and decomposers are consumed by smaller carnivores which in
turn become food for larger carnivores and so on. A common detritus food chain
with earthworm as detrivores is:
Detritus _____ Earthworm _____ Sparrow _____
Falcon
• Parasitic Food Chain

Parasitic food chain also called auxiliary food chain;

it begins with host and usually ends in parasite.
FOOD WEB

Simple food chains are very rare in nature because each organism may obtain food
from more than one trophic level. Thus in an ecosystem, the various food chains
are interconnected to each other to form a network called food web. A food web
illustrates all possible transfers of energy and nutrients among the organisms in an
ecosystem, whereas a food chain traces only one pathway of the food. Food webs
are very important in maintaining the stability of an ecosystem.
It is a network of food chains which interconnect various trophic levels and form a
number of feeding connections amongst the different organisms of a biotic
community. Food web increases the stability of an ecosystem by providing
alternate sources of food and allowing the endangered population to grow in size.
Composition of Food Web

A food web operates according to food preferences of the organisms at each

trophic level. However, availability of food source and other compulsions are
equally important. In Sunderbans,(Near Kolkata, India) the tigers eat fish and crab
in the absence of their natural preys. Some organism normally operates at more
than one trophic level. Thus human beings are not only herbivores but also
carnivores of various levels. Jackals are both carnivores and scavengers. Snakes
feed on mice (herbivores) as well as frogs (carnivores). Wild cats prey upon mice
as well as birds and squirrels. A wolf eats fox as well as rabbit and deer.
A herbivore like rabbit does not get starved if its preferred plant
species is reduced in quantity due to some calamity. It begins
feeding on alternate plant species. The preferred one gets chance to
recover from the loss. Similarly, rabbits are preyed upon by foxes,
wild dogs, wild cats, jackals, etc. In case the population of rabbit
decreases, the predators begin to eat mice, shrews, squirrels, etc.
Meanwhile rabbits increase their population and restore the balance.
8.0 CHEMICALS & FOOD CHAINS; BIOACCUMULATION AND
BIOMAGNIFICATION

Chemicals & Food Chain

A food chain is a linking showing which animals eat which other animals.
When an animal eats its prey, it also ingests the chemicals that the prey had
built up in its body.(Mercury pollution: Mercury cell technology for caustic
soda production caused mercury pollution in sea, affected fish in turn
human beings)
Some chemicals are harmless, while others are harmful or toxic. Toxic
chemicals exist in the air, water, and soil and can enter food chains by being
absorbed or eaten by animals.
Bioaccumulation
Bioaccumulation is the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other
chemicals in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a
substance at a rate faster than that at which the substance is lost
by catabolism and excretion. Thus, the longer the biological half-life of a toxic
substance, the greater the risk of chronic poisoning, even if environmental levels of
the toxin are not very high
Thus Bioaccumulation refers to the build-up of a toxic chemical in the body of a
living organism. What essentially happens is that an organism absorbs the chemicals
across their skin or otherwise takes them in. The concentration of the toxic chemical
will become higher in the organism than it is in the air, water, or soil that the organism
got it from. Over time, the amount of the toxic chemical will grow until it reaches the
point where it becomes deadly to the living organism.
Biomagnification
The term that bioaccumulation is often confused with is biomagnification, which
is when a toxic chemical increases in amount each time it moves up a food chain.
The toxic chemical may start at a low amount in the original organism that
originally took it in, but then that organism is eaten. The second animal that eats
the original organism is larger and therefore needs to consume more than just one
or two of the organism. This causes the toxic chemical in the second animal to
increase from eating multiple organisms. Thus the process by which a compound
(such as a pollutant or pesticide) increases its concentration in the tissues of
organisms as it travels up the food chain is called Biomagnification.
Now, the second animal is eaten by an even larger animal. Because this third
animal is even bigger than the second animal, it has to eat several of the second
animal. Finally, the larger third animal gets eaten by a yet much larger animal.
Now this fourth animal really eats a lot of the third animal and ends up with a
very high amount of the toxic chemical in its body. The amount of the toxic
chemical can be so high at this point that eating even a modest amount can
become life-threatening for the next animal in the food chain.
Thus the process by which a compound (such as a pollutant or pesticide)
increases its concentration in the tissues of organisms as it travels up the food
chain is called Biomagnification.
9.0 BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity
typically measures variation at the genetic, species,
and ecosystem level. Terrestrial biodiversity is usually greater near
the equator, which is the result of the warm climate and high primary
productivity. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth, and is richest in the
tropics. These tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10 percent of earth's
surface, and contain about 90 percent of the world's species. Marine
biodiversity is usually highest along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea
surface temperature is highest, and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. There
are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster
in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, but will be likely to slow in the
future.
Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no
matter how small, all have an important role to play. For example, A
larger number of plant species means a greater variety of crops.
Greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life
forms.
Types of Biodiversity.
Biodiversity includes three main types: diversity within species
(genetic diversity), between species (species diversity) and between
ecosystems (ecosystem diversity).
In biodiversity, each species, no matter how big or small has an important role
to play in ecosystem. Various plant and animal species depend on each other
for what each offers and these diverse species ensures natural sustainability
for all life forms. A healthy and solid biodiversity can recover itself from
variety of disasters. Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each
species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play. A larger
number of plant species means a greater variety of crops. Greater species
diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms.. Biological diversity
encompasses microorganism, plants, animals and ecosystems such as coral
reefs, forests, rainforests, deserts etc.
Biodiversity is unevenly distributed. It varies globally and within regions.
The various factors that influence biodiversity include -temperature,
altitude, precipitation, soils and their relation with other species. For
instance, ocean biodiversity is 25 times lesser than terrestrial diversity.
Biodiversity also increases its form as it moves from the poles towards the
tropics. Amazonia represents the quintessence of biodiversity – the richest
ecosystem on earth
The advantages of having a high biodiversity over
having low biodiversity include better ecosystem function such
as productivity and nutrient cycling, reduced vulnerability of the
ecosystem to disasters, as well as more stable community of
species.
Why is Biodiversity Important?
Biodiversity has a number of functions on the Earth. These are as follows:
 Maintaining balance of the ecosystem: Recycling and storage of
nutrients, combating pollution, and stabilizing climate, protecting water
resources, forming and protecting soil and maintaining ecobalance.
 Provision of biological resources: Provision of medicines and
pharmaceuticals, food for the human population and animals, ornamental
plants, wood products, breeding stock and diversity of species, ecosystems
and genes.
 Social benefits: Recreation and tourism, cultural value and education and
research.
Reason for Loss of Biodiversity
Habitat destruction is a major cause for biodiversity loss. Habitat
loss is caused by deforestation,
overpopulation, pollution and global warming. Species which
are physically large and those living in forests or oceans are
more affected by habitat reduction. Other factors are climate
change, invasive species, pollution, human overpopulation and
over-harvesting.
Diversity index
A diversity index is a quantitative measure that reflects how many different
types (such as species) there are in a dataset (a community), and
simultaneously takes into account how evenly the basic entities (such as
individuals) are distributed among those types.
The Shannon index is an information statistic index, which means it
assumes all species are represented in a sample and that they are randomly
sampled.
The Simpson index is a dominance index because it gives more weight to
common or dominant species. In this case, a few rare species with only a few
representatives will not affect the diversity.
Simpson's index is a similarity index (the higher the value the lower
in diversity). If you want to use it as a diversity index you can
subtract it to 1 (i.e. 1-S). Conversely, the value of the Shannon
function (it is not an index) increases as diversity increases. The
most used in phytoplankton ecology is probably the Shannon index
because phytoplankton assemblages well fit the prerequisite of the
function calculation (infinite population, sampled randomly)..
Calculating the Biodiversity Index (Shannon index)
Diversity is defined as the measure of the number of different species in a biotic
community. Generally speaking, diversity is high when there are many different
species in a community and low when there are few.
Comparing the diversity of two or more different biotic communities can give
an idea of the comparative stability and health of those communities.
Comparing and analyzing the results can be difficult if all you have to work with
are lists of life forms from different sites.
A biodiversity index is a scale of the diversity of plant and
animal species at the study site. Biodiversty is a widely used
tool for estimating the complexity, stability, and thus general
health of an ecosystem.
The ideal way to measure diversity is to count every species
in sight. However, this approach requires much time and
considerable expertise in taxonomic classification.
The Biodiversity Formula

The diversity formula is a mathematical formula that allows one to estimate

the diversity in an entire sample—in this case, the quadrat. We make the
assumption that the diversity found within the quadrat is representative of
the study site as a whole.

Biodiversity Index = –2.303 x sum of pi log(

Procedure
1 In the formula, pi is the number of a particular kind of plant divided by the total
number of plants observed. For instance, if you look at species B in the chart above,
you will see that 4 were observed, and since there were a total of 40 different
individual plants in the sample, then 4/40 represents B’s fraction of the total
observed. You will see in the third column, under
pi, the result of 4/40 which is 0.1.
2 Complete the formula by multiplying the values in the third and fourth columns.
In the case of species B, 0.1 x -1 = -0.100.
3 Using the calculator, find the log of pi. For example, the log of .1 is –1, which is
recorded in the fourth column.
4 Finally, to get a diversity value for the whole set of data, sum all the values in the
fifth column and multiply this times the “magic number” –2.303. For our sample
set, the sum of values in the fifth column is –0.829, multiplied by the magic number
–2.303 equals 1.908. This is the biodiversity index value for this sample set. The