relation between natural relams of earth
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Important term to remember:
1. Environment: The immediate natural surroundings of man is called environment. E.g.: Plants, Air, Water, Landforms, Wildlife, etc.......
The word Environment has been derived from a French word "Environner" which means "Neighborhood".
2. Components of Environment:
(a) Natural Environment (b) Human Environment (c) Human Made Environment
3. Biotic Components: All living things are known as Biotic Components. E.g.: Plants, Animal Kingdoms including man, etc....
4. Abiotic Components: All non-living things are known as Abiotic Components. E.g.: Air, Water, Land, etc.....
5. Ecosystem: Interrelation between plants and animals in the natural environment is called Ecosystem.
6. Ecology: The Science with studies the relationship between living and non-living environment is termed as Ecology.
7. Domains of Earth: The Four domains or realms of the Earth which jointly support life are: -
(a) Atmosphere (b) Hydrosphere (c) Lithosphere (d) Biosphere
8. Biosphere: Plant and animal kingdom together make Biosphere or the living worlds. It is a narrow zone of the Earth where Air, Water and Land interact with each other to support life.
Geography studies the interrelationship between human beings and the environment.
Natural Environment:
1. Lithosphere
It is the solid crust or the hard top layer of the earth.
It is made up of rocks and minerals and covered by a thin layer of soil.
It is an irregular surface with various landforms such as mountains, plateaus, plains, valleys, etc. Landforms are found over the continents and also on the ocean floors.
Lithosphere is the domain that provides us forests, grasslands for grazing, land for agriculture and human settlements. It is also a source of mineral wealth.
2.Hydrosphere
The water bodies on the earth's surface together form the Hydrosphere. E.g. Seas & Oceans, Rivers, Lakes, etc.
Earth is also known as "Watery Planet", because 71% of it's surface is covered with water.
Water is used for various purposes, i.e. domestic, agriculture, industries, transportation, generating electricity, etc.
3.Atmosphere
The gaseous envelope around the earth's surface consisting of mixture of gases, water vapour and tiny dust particles is called atmosphere.
Atmosphere is endless with no visible boundary.
Atmosphere is composed of various gases. Major gases present are: Nitrogen – 78%, Oxygen – 21%, Argon - .93%, Carbon Dioxide – 0.03%, Other Gases – 0.04% (like – helium, hydrogen, methane, ozone, etc. and water vapours & dust particles.
Ozone layer protects us from harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun.
It acts as a blanket which prevents the earth from becoming too hot during day and too cold during night.
4.Biosphere
Plant and animal kingdom together make biosphere or the living world.
It is a narrow zone of the earth where Land (Lithosphere), Water (Hydrosphere) and Air (Atmosphere) interact with each other to support life.
Biosphere makes the earth a unique planet in the solar system.
ECOSYSTEM
All plants, animals and human beings depend on their immediate surroundings. Often they are also interdependent on each other.
This relation between the living organisms, as well as the relation between the organisms and their surroundings form an ecosystem.
There could be an ecosystem of large rain forest, grassland, desert, mountains, lake, river, ocean and even a small pond.
In every ecosystem, there is a perfect balance in the transfer of energy and matter among the different components. This is known as Ecological Balance.
ELEMENTS OF BIOSPHERE
1. Elements of Biosphere:Basically there are three elements of Biosphere: -
(a) Producers (b) Consumers (c) Decomposers
(a) Producers: Plant Kingdom.
(b) Consumers:
(i) Herbivores: First consumers, plant eating animals. E.g. goat, dear, etc. They are large in number and reproduce faster.
(ii) Carnivores: Second level consumers. Flesh eating animals. E.g. lion, tiger, etc. They have sharp teeth and claws and reproduce at a slower rate.
(iii) Omnivores: Consumers. They eat both plants and animals. E.g. man, ant, etc
(c) Decomposers: Microorganisms like bacteria get their food from dead plants and animals by decomposing them and are known as Decomposers. They keep the natural environment clean because they convert the dead matter of plants and animals into simple compound which then enter the soil and air.
2. Food Chain: In the process of consuming plants by herbivores and herbivores by carnivores, there is a transfer of energy from one level to another, which is called Food Chain.