Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
&
SUSTAINABILITY
Dr. R. K. Pandit
Professor
Department of Architecture
Madhav Institute of Technology & Science,
Gwalior
• The whole earth's surface can be described by a series of interconnected
ecosystems.
• Different areas in the world house different ecosystems. For example, you
won't find an elephant or a tropical rainforest in everywhere.
• Different world ecological units are called biomes and they each have
different flora, fauna, landscapes and weather patterns. An ecosystem is
not the same thing as a biome.
• Like all systems they are a combination of interacting, interrelated parts that
form a unitary whole.
• All ecosystems are "open" systems in the sense that energy and matter are
transferred in and out.
• Natural ecosystems, made up of abiotic factors (air, water, rocks, energy) and
biotic factors (plants, animals, and microorganisms).
• Earth’s biosphere, including the atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), and lithosphere
(land).
Between living things and their physical
and chemical environments ecosystem is
made up of many smaller ecosystems
interlocked through cycles of energy and
chemical elements. The flow of energy
and matter through ecosystems,
therefore, is regulated by the complex
interactions of the energy, water, carbon,
oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur,
and other cycles that are essential to the
functioning of the biosphere.
• Within all species, individuals interact with each other feeding
together, mating together, and living together. Some species have a
pecking order as well, and each individual has a role to play within it.
• Not only individuals within a species that interact but different species
of animals interact with each other all the time. For instance, animals
eat other animals through their interactions in a food web. But plants
are included in this web as well as they, too, are eaten by animals.
• Survival of different species who live in the Rocky Mountains and those
who inhabit the deserts depend upon the landscape , which
determines where plants and animals might live.
– If there isn't enough light or water or if the soil doesn't have the right
nutrients, the plants will die.
– If the plants die, animals that depend on them will die. If the animals that
depend on the plants die, any animals that depends on those animals will die.
Eco-systems in nature work the same way. All the parts work together to
make a balanced system.
• Within each ecosystem, there are habitats which may also vary in size.
• The habitat must supply the needs of organisms, such as food, water,
temperature, oxygen, and minerals.
• If the population's needs are not met, it will move to a better habitat.
• Two different populations can not occupy the same niche at the same
time, however. So the processes of competition, predation, cooperation,
and symbiosis occur.
Organization
of
Life
Species, Populations, Communities
and
Ecosystems
Species
Are the different kinds of organisms found on the Earth. A more exact
definition of species is a group of interbreeding organisms that do not
ordinarily breed with members of other groups. If a species
interbreeds freely with other species, it would no longer be a
distinctive kind of organism. This definition works well with animals.
However, in some plant species fertile crossings can take place among
morphologically and physiologically different kinds of vegetation. In
this situation, the definition of species given here is not appropriate.
Populations
Refers to all the populations in a specific area or region at a certain time. Its
structure involves many types of interactions among species. Some of these
involve the acquisition and use of food, space, or other environmental
resources. Others involve nutrient cycling through all members of the
community and mutual regulation of population sizes. In all of these cases, the
structured interactions of populations lead to situations in which individuals are
thrown into life or death struggles.
In general, ecologists believe that a community that has a high diversity is more
complex and stable than a community that has a low diversity.
Ecosystems
• We have disrupted the food chain, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle,
and the water cycle.
• Biodiversity is the variety and differences among living organisms from all
sources, including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the
ecological complexes of which they are a part. This includes genetic diversity
within and between species and of ecosystems.
• Over the last century, a great deal of damage has been done to the
biodiversity existing on the earth. Increasing human population, increasing
consumption levels, and decreasing efficiency of use of our resources are
some of the causes that have led to overexploitation and manipulation of
ecosystems. Trade in wildlife, such as rhino horn, has led to the extinction of
species. Consequences of biodiversity loss can be great as any disturbance to
one species gives rise to imbalance in others.
India is one of the mega biodiversity centres in the world and has two of the
world's 18 biodiversity hotspots located in the Western Ghats and in the Eastern
Himalayas . Myers (1999).
The forest cover in these areas is very dense and diverse and of pristine beauty,
and incredible biodiversity.
Thar desert and the Himalayas are two regions rich in biodiversity .
There are 89 national parks and 504 wildlife sanctuaries in the country,
the Chilika Lake being one of them. This lake is also an important wetland area.
MoEF Report (1999)
ECOLOGICAL FORCES.
Mostly these are opportunistic species that hold on to the site for
a variable length of time. Being short-lived and having poor
competitors, they are eventually replaced by more competitive,
longer-lived species such as shrubs, and then trees.
HYDROLOGICAL FORCES:
Economy Society
Sustainability
Environment
Physical deformities
Defacement of landscape and natural scenic beauty through
indiscriminate human activities viz. mining, deforestation, urban
sprawl, land use change etc. deforestation in hill areas on steeper
slopes are responsible for higher run-off amount and speed and
resultant evils viz. land slips, soil creeps, soil erosion, loss of soil
fertility, siltation of water bodies etc.