Environment
Environment is defined as the surroundings in which the organism lives. The environment may be the physical environment, the chemical environment or the biological environment.
[edit] Components of environment
The environment has two components - abiotic and biotic.
1) Abiotic Environment : All physical and nonliving chemical factors, such as soil, water, and atmosphere, which influence living organisms.
a) Soil : Soil is the loose top layer of our planet's crust. Soil covers a major portion of the earth's land surface. It is an important natural resource that either directly or indirectly supports most of the planet's life. Life here depends upon soil for food. Plants are rooted in soil and obtain needed nutrients there. Animals get their nutrients from plants or from other animals that eat plants. Many animals make their homes or are sheltered in the soil. Microbes in the soil cause the breakdown and decay of dead organisms, a process that in turn adds more nutrients to the soil.
b) Water : Water is very important for life. 70% of the earth's surface covered by water. Water is a molecule that consists of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. When these atoms are heated to a high temperature, they join to form water. The scientific way to write this molecule is "H2O". We need water to drink, to wash our hands, to cook, to water plants and many other things.
Water exists in three states- solid, liquid, and gaseous.
- Solid - A solid is a state of matter in which all particles are close together, usually in a geometric pattern. Solids have a definite shape and volume. Eg: Ice
- Liquid - A Liquid is a state of matter in which particles have enough energy to overcome some of the attractive forces that hold them together. Liquids also have a definite volume, but its shape will change to whatever container it is in. Eg: Water
- Gas : A gas is a state of matter in which all particles have enough energy to overcome all of the attracting forces. Gases do not have a definite shape or volume. eg: water vapour.
c) Atmosphere : The atmosphere is a mixture of thin layer of gases like nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and other gases (1%) that surrounds Earth. The atmosphere is an important part of what makes Earth livable. It blocks some of the Sun's dangerous rays from reaching Earth. It traps heat, making Earth a comfortable temperature.
How the abiotic environment effect of living thing?
- SUNLIGHT - Most plants and some animals (ex: some jelly fish) rely on sunlight for photosynthesis to make energy and survive.
- TEMPERATURE - The bodies of animals have enzymes needed for us to survive. if the temperature is too hot, these enzymes cannot work anymore, and we will die and if it is too cold, like in the -10 degrees Celsius, some organisms are not able to adjust and the water content may freeze up (causing organism to freeze)
- WATER - For organisms like humans, we are made of mostly water, which is important for keeping us alive. if there is not enough water in the environment, we will die of thirst
O2 AND CO2. Plants need CO2 for photosynthesis to keep alive. Most other organisms need O2 to make energy and stay alive.
- SALINITY - Salinity can control certain important processes in an organism's body
- sometimes, if it is too salty in the environment, the water in the cells of some organisms will diffuse out, leaving the cells dry.
- PH - Extremely acidic or basic environments will harm organisms. Body needs optimum pH to operate properly.
2) Biotic environment : A factor created by a living thing or any living component within an environment in which the action of the organism affects the life of another organism. It is also known as biological environment and organic environment.
This would include organisms, their presence, parts, interaction, and wastes. Factors such as parasitism, disease, and predation (one animal eating another) would also be classified as biotic factors.
Importance of biotic environment
- In this type of environment includes the plants, trees, animals, mammals, underwater living beings including human beings and microorganisms like bacteria and fungi.
- There is a concept which is necessary to understand. The living beings are highly dependent to each other. For example humans are highly depend upon plants and trees for food and oxygen, and plants and trees are also depend upon humans and animals because of co2
A natural environment is an environment that is as close as possible to its natural state - one that is relatively unaffected by human activity.
It's easy to forget how fortunate we are to be surrounded by so much natural beauty. It's so easy to take it all for granted.
Natural environment means all living and non-living things that are naturally on Earth.
In a narrow sense, it is an environment that is not influenced by human. The environment that is influenced by humans can be called "the built environment" or cultural landscape.
For some, there is a difficulty with the term "natural environment" in that nearly all environments have been directly or indirectly influenced by humans at some point in time. In order to address this concern, some level of human influence is thus allowable without the status of any particular landscape ceasing to be "natural." Many natural environments are the product of the interaction between nature and humans. For this reason, the term ecosystem has been used to describe an environment that contains nature, and includes people. It follows then that environmental problems are human or social problems. Some also consider it dangerously misleading to regard "environment" as separate from "people."
