definition of the environment

Contents

• 1 Environment
  • 1.1 Environmental components
  • 1.2 Environmental levels
• 2 branches of ecology
• 3 Environmental problems
• Video 4 individual practices that conserve the environment
• 5 References

The environment

The environment as a language is the home and the case, and it is said: a natural environment, a social environment, and a political environment. ^[1] As for the environment in the language of science (English: Environment) it is the group of biological, chemical and physical elements that surround the organism or a group of living organisms and affect their existence and survival. ^[2] and Ecology is one of the branches of biology, specializing in studying The interrelationships between living organisms themselves, and between living organisms and the factors and non-living organisms that surround them and affect their existence and distribution. ^[3]

Components of the environment

The environment is affected by a group of factors or components, including biological and non-biological factors: ^[4]

• Abiotic factors : These include physical and chemical factors, including: temperature, salinity, pH, soil , sunlight, climate, and other factors.
• Biotic factors : It includes living organisms that interact with each other, and are divided into:
  • Producers: They are living organisms that make their own food in a process called photosynthesis or photosynthesis. Examples of products include plants and algae that contain pigments such as chlorophyll tincture. Dyes absorb sunlight and use it to combine the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the water that plants absorb from the soil, converting it into organic materials such as starch and cellulose, and converting the photosynthesis process .Sunlight energy into energy stored in chemical bonds with oxygen, forming that energy is a byproduct that is the direct and indirect source of energy that supplies all living things in the ecosystem. Other examples of products include some types of bacteria that live on the ocean floor where hot water flows, so these bacteria use heat to convert hydrogen sulfide gas into food, and this process is called chemical representation (English: chemosynthesis).
  • Consumers (English: consumers): They are living organisms that cannot make their own food, and get the energy they need by feeding on plants or animals, including living organisms that feed on dead organisms and the residues of living organisms.
  • Decomposers: They are living organisms that break down the complex organic compounds of dead creatures into simpler molecules, and benefit from the energy produced from decomposition (and do not devour dead creatures directly).

On the other hand, the components of the environment can be divided into: ^[5]

• Lithosphere ( in English: Lithosphere): It isouter shell that surroundsglobe, and provides living organismssoil, minerals, and other elements.
• Hydrosphere: It is the part of the globe that contains water, and includes: lakes, rivers, oceans and others.
• The atmosphere ( in English: Atmosphere): a layer of air and gas extends fromEarthsurface to several kilometers above it.
• Bioshphere: Means all living organisms that are present in the rock, water, and atmosphere.

Environmental levels

The scientists divided the environment into several levels, namely: ^[6]

• Individual: Any individual living creature of a certain type, such as a person, a cat, and others.
• Community (English: population): a group of individuals of the same type who live in a specific area.
• Community (community: English): a group of organisms that belong to different species and live together in a specific region, and are linked by various relationships with each other, including: ^[7]
  • Competition: A relationship that arises between organisms that seek to obtain the same limited resources.
  • Predation: A relationship between a living creature (predator) that feeds on another living being (prey).
  • Takaful (Mutualism): A relationship that connects two types of organisms that benefit both parties. An example of this is the growth of a fungus on the roots of plants. Fungi provide roots with water, and plants provide the fungus with food.
  • Coexistence (Commensalism): A relationship that connects two types of living organisms, one of which benefits from it, while the other does not benefit or is harmed, for example, some types of bacteria that live in the human body, so food is derived from it, while humans do not benefit or are harmed.
  • Parasitism: A relationship that connects two types of organisms, one of which benefits one and the other is harmed. An example is the tapeworm that grows in the intestine of a person with it.
• Ecosystem ( in English: Ecosystem): a specific area containing living organisms (of different types), and nonliving components affect each other and can ecosystem to be smallgarden house, orgreat continentAustraliaexample.

Ecology branches

Some of the main branches of ecology include: ^[3]

• Physiological Ecology: It examines the effect of living and non-living environmental factors on the physiology of an organism and its adaptation to its environment.
• Behavioral Ecology: It examines the evolutionary and environmental basis for animal behavior, and the role of behavior in adapting an animal to its environment .
• Population or group ecology: looks at the dynamics or movements of groups and their interaction with different environmental conditions.
• Sociology of Ecology: Researches the interactions and relationships between different types in a single society.
• Ecology: looks at the path of energy and matter transmission in ecosystems.
• Health Ecology: Researches human health issues related to environmental disorders.
• Landscape Ecology: It examines the spatial elements of natural landscapes, the influence of humans and disturbances on them.
• Global Ecology: It examines environmental issues worldwide.
• Evolutionary Ecology: explores the evolution of species and their interactions.
• Linguistic Ecology: It examines the relationship between language and the environment.

Environmental problems

Among the most important problems facing the environment are the following: ^[8]

• Pollution: One of its types is contamination of water, air and soil.
• Global warming : leads to an increase in the temperature of the oceans, and the melting of glaciers, which leads to a rise in the sea level.
• Explosion or overpopulation: An increase in the population leads to a lack of natural resources, and the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agricultural operations.
• The depletion of natural resources, including fossil fuel sources .
• Increase the volume of waste, including nuclear and electronic waste , in addition to plastics and other waste that must be disposed of in safe ways.
• Biodiversity loss: human activities destroy the natural habitats of many species of living organisms, leading to their extinction .
• Deforestation: The increased demand for food and shelter cuts trees, and consequently affects the level of oxygen in the atmosphere.
• Ocean acidification: The acidity of the oceans increases as a result of excessive production of carbon dioxide, and this affects plankton and shellfish, and their shells become fragile.
• Ozone depletion: The excessive use of CFCs causes ozone depletion, which acts as an insulating layer that prevents harmful ultraviolet rays from reaching the surface of the Earth.