What do you mean by elements of environment
Answers
Explanation:
Elements of Environment
Our environment consists of both living and non- living things. Living things include soil, air, water whereas non- living things include plants and animals. Our environment is made up of the physical and biological world. The physical world includes air, soil and water and climatic factors like temperature, pressure, rainfall, sunlight, wind, etc. This all things make our environment. Talking about the biological world, it includes living organisms like plants and animals including human beings and micro- organisms. Our environment is made up of two components. They are described below,
Abiotic Components
Abiotic components include non- living things of the environment. Water, air, soil, temperature, rainfall, sunlight etc are the abiotic components of the environment. The biotic components of the ecosystem which includes the plants, animals and microbes interact and are dependent on the abiotic factors. Some of the important abiotic components of our environment are discussed below,
- Air
Air is very important component of our environment. No living organisms can live without air. All the organisms requires oxygen for respiration. Carbon dioxide is used by green plants to make food by the process of photosynthesis. Nitrogen is very important for plants. Air is the mixture of various gases like oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, helium, neon etc. Our earth is enveloped by a thick layer of air called atmosphere. The composition of various gases in air are given below,
Air Composition (%)
Nitrogen 78%
Oxygen 21%
Carbon dioxide 0.03%
Neon 0.0018%
Helium 0.0005%
- water
Water covers about 71.4% of part of the earth. About three by four part of the earth is covered by water. The molecular formula of water is H2O. Water is a molecule made up of two molecules of hydrogen and one molecules of oxygen. Rain water, surface water and underground water are the main three sources of water found in earth. Other common sources of water are stream, river, lake, sea etc.
Water is essential for all the living organisms. Water provides habitat for millions of aquatic animals and plants. Water is used for various purposes such as for drinking, cleaning, washing, irrigation of crops, generating hydroelectricity, etc.
- Land
Out of four parts of the earth, one part is occupied by the land. It is the solid surface of the earth that is made up of rocks and soil. All the plants and animals (except aquatic plants and animals) live on land. Plants get water and minerals from the land. Animals depend on land for their food as they eat plants. Human beings grow crops, fruits, vegetables etc on land. Land provides food and shelter for most of the living organisms. All the needs and necessity of humans are fulfilled by using various factors of land.
Biotic Components
Biotic components are the living things of the environment. Plants, animals, and microorganisms are the biotic components of the environment. Biotic components of an environment are classified into three groups. They are given below,
- Producers
Producers are the autotrophic organisms that can prepare their own food by photosynthesis. Green plants are known as autotrophs as they can prepare their own foods. They prepare their foods using water, minerals and carbon dioxide.
- consumer
Consumers are those animals which cannot prepare their own food. They are also known as heterotrophs. Consumers depend on producers directly or indirectly for their food. Consumers are divided into three types. They are the primary consumer, secondary consumer, and tertiary consumer.
- Decomposers
The micro-organisms which feed on dead and decaying bodies and transform the organic compounds back into inorganic compound are called decomposers.