Class 10th

BIOLOGY
(SHORT NOTE)
OUR ENVIRONMENT
1. Ecosystem and its component:
Ecosystem is a self-reliant unit of living things and their non-living environment. Thus, an ecosystem consists of
biotic components comprising living organisms and abiotic components comprising physical factors like temperature,
rainfall, wind, soil and minerals etc.

COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM
Each and every ecosystem consists of several components to sustain it for long duration. It requires matter such as
water, oxygen, mineral, and carbon dioxide; different types of organisms (bacteria, plants, animals) and continuous
recycling of energy.
These requirements are met by two important components present in ecosystem; biotic components and abiotic
components.

1. Abiotic(non-living) components
These includes the non-living (physical and chemical) factors of the environment. Abiotic factors include.:
(a) Inorganic substances: Inorganic substances, for example, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, calcium, phosphorus, etc
and their compounds (calcium oxide, carbon dioxide, etc.)

(b) Physical environment: For example, Air, water and soil (land). It also includes edaphic factor, for example,
soil, substrate, topography, minerals, pH, etc.

(c) Climate factors: For example light, temperature, humidity, wind, rainfall, water, etc.

2. Biotic components
The biotic community of an ecosystem comprises three types of organisms:
(a) Producers: These organisms can prepare their own food from simple inorganic substances like carbon dioxide
and water by using sunlight in the presence of chlorophyll (photosynthetic pigment) by the process called
photosynthesis.
E.g. Green plants and certain bacteria.

(b) Consumers: These organisms are dependent on producers for their food, directly or indirectly. All the animals
are consumers.
Consumers can be further categorized into three groups:

(i) Herbivores: Those animals which eat only plants are called herbivores. E.g. Buffalo, Goat, Sheep, Horse, Deer,
Camel, Grasshopper.
Since herbivores obtain their food directly from producers (plants) therefore herbivores are primary consumers.

(ii) Carnivores: Those animals which eat the meat or flesh of other animals are called carnivores. E.g., Lion, Tiger,
Frog, Vulture.
Those carnivores which feed upon herbivores (primary consumers) are called secondary consumers.
Those carnivores (top carnivores) which feed upon the primary consumers (small carnivores) or secondary
consumers are called tertiary consumers. E.g., lion, tiger, hawk
(iii) Omnivores: Those animals which eat plants as well as animals, i.e., eat plant food the meat or flesh of other
animals are called omnivores.
E.g. Man, Dog, Crow, Sparrow, Bear and Ant.
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 (c) Decomposers: The microorganisms which break down the complex organic compounds found in dead and
decaying organisms like dry plants and dead animals and their waste products like faeces, urine, etc., into simpler
substances are called decomposers.
E.g. Bacteria and Fungi.
Importance of decomposers
1. They acts as cleaning agents of the environment by decomposing the dead bodies of animals and plants.
2. They play an important role in bio-geochemical or nutrient cycles by helping in recycling the material in
biosphere.
3. They maintain soil fertility.
4. In the absence of decomposers, the earth would have been a heap of dead organisms.

2. Food chain and food web:

(i) A series of organisms feeding on one another constitute a food chain.
(ii) The autotrophs or the producers are at the first trophic level. The herbivores or the primary consumers come at
the second, small carnivores or the secondary consumers at the third and larger carnivores or the tertiary
consumers form the fourth trophic level.
(iii) The biotic components of the ecosystem are linked to each other through food chain.
In a typical food chain, producers are present at the bottom and their role is to provide food for the rest of the
community by utilizing sunlight as energy. Other organisms belong to the consumers and finally decomposers
are placed at the bottom to recycle the organic compound. In this way, an interactive relationship is formed
between the living organisms of an ecosystem.
 Some examples of food chain are given below:
(i) Grass → Grasshopper → Rat → Snake
(Producer) (Herbivore) (Omnivore) (Camivore)

(ii) Grass → Insects → Frog → Birds

(Producer) (Herbivore) (Carnivore) (Top Carnivores)

Food chain in nature (a) in forest, (b) in grassland and (c) in a pond

(iv) Each step of the food chain forms a trophic level.

There is a gradual decrease in the amount of energy transfer from one trophic level to the next trophic level in a
food chain.
(v) So only 10% of energy is transferred to next trophic level while 90% of energy is used by present trophic level
in its life processes.
(vi) The various trophic levels are given below :
• The plant or the producers constitute the first trophic level.
• The herbivores or primary consumers form the second trophic level.
• Carnivores or secondary consumers make up the third trophic level.
• Large carnivores or the tertiary consumers which feed upon the small carnivores constitute the fourth trophic
level.
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 Trophic levels
Typical examples of food chains in different ecosystems
Type of Ecosystem Primary Primary Secondary Secondary Tertiary
Producers Consumers consumers Carnivores Carnivores
(Primary
Carnivores)
Forest Ecosystem Trees Phytophagous Lizards, birds Predatory birds
insects
Herbivorous Foxes Wolves Lions, Tiger
mammals
Aquatic Phytoplanktons Zooplanktons Small fishes Large fishes
Ecosystem
Grassland Insects Frogs Snakes Predatory birds
Ecosystem Grasses Rat and mice Snake Predatory birds
Grazing cattle Carnivore Mammals
Desert Ecosystem Shrubs, bushes Rats and mice Snakes Predatory birds
Grass and some
trees
(iii) When a number of food chains are interlinked together, it is called a food web. It provides stability to the food
chain.
(iv) In a food web, one organism may occupy a position in more than one food chain. An organism can obtain its
food from different sources and in turn, may be eaten up by different types of organisms.

(v) The flow of energy is unidirectional.

(vi) Several pesticides and other harmful chemicals which enters the food chain. The toxin concentration increases
successively in the organism's tissues across the food chain. This phenomenon is known as biological
magnification.
Grass Deer Lion
(10ppm) → (200ppm) → (5000ppm)
DDT DDT DDT
(vii) Due to biological magnification, wheat, rices, vegetables, fruits, and even meats contain varying amounts of
pesticide residue.

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3. HOW DO OUR ACTIVITIES AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT?
(A) Ozone layer and its depletion:
(i) Ozone shields the Earth's surface from UV radiation from the sun. This radiation is highly damaging to
organisms by causing skin cancer, cataract in eyes, weaken immune system, in human beings, destruction of
plants.
(ii) The amount of ozone in the atmosphere began to drop sharply in the 1980s. This decrease has been linked to
synthetic chemicals like CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) used as refrigerants and in fire extinguishers.
(iii) In, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) succeeded in forging an agreement to freeze CFC
production.

(B) Managing the garbage we produce.

Solid waste refers to everything that goes out in trash. It includes wastes from homes, schools, offices, cattle sheds,
industries, agricultural fields, etc. It also includes peelings of fruits and vegetables, kitchen waste, ash, paper, cow
dung, human excreta, glass, plastics, leather and rubber articles, brick, sand, worn out clothes and metal objects, etc.

Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable

(i) The solid waste we generate may be biodegradable or non-biodegradable.
(ii) Substances that can be broken down by biological process are called biodegradable; the substances that are not
broken down in this manner are called non-biodegradable substances.
(iii) Many human-made materials like plastics will not be broken down by the enzymatic action of microbes. So,
these non-biodegradable substances persist for a long time.
(iv) Domestic waste products, sewage, agricultural residue, paper, and cloth are biodegradable, but plastics,
polythene bags, and aluminum foil are non-biodegradable substances.

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