NATURAL VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE

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NATURAL VEGETATION

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WILDLIFE

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
 The Earth is the home of human being and other living organisms. This is possible due to the presence of favorable living condition which makes up their environment.

Environment: The term environment refers to the surrounding organisms within which a person, animal or plants exist. It is a combination of natural and human-made phenomena. Natural environment means both biotic and abiotic condition existing on Earth. Human environment refers to activities, creatures and interactions among different human beings.

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
The natural elements such as mountains, rivers, vegetation, animals, etc. are created by nature. This is called natural environment. It includes the biotic and abiotic components.

       The human-made elements, such as agriculture, industries, settlement, means of transport, etc. are created by human beings. Therefore, it is called human-made environment. Human beings developed these features to live comfortably in their environment.

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
The two types of environments interact with one other. They change in course of time from place to place due to natural processes and human activities.

Natural Environment:

Natural environment of an organism consists of those element that a provided by nature. The natural environment is made up of two kinds of components.

(i). Biotic components and

(ii). Abiotic (Non-living) components.

Let us briefly discuss them.

Biotic components: The biotic components comprise living beings like micro-organisms, plants and animals including man. This is also known as living or biological environment.

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE

Abiotic (Non-living) components: The Abiotic components comprise inorganic or non0livings things in the environment. Based on the physical state and characteristics, they are divided into:

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
 Lithosphere:

The solid crust of rocks forming the surface of the Earth is called lithosphere. The word ‘litho’ means rocks or stones and ‘sphere’ means domain, so the term lithosphere can be described as ‘rocksphere’.

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE

 Lithosphere has an average thickness of about 100km. It is irregular in shape and not like smooth like a table top. It includes the various land-forms such as mountain, plains, plateaus, valleys etc. The part of the ocean floor is also uneven and not smooth surface. Lithosphere provides us mineral wealth, forest, grassland, agriculture land and land for human settlements.

Hydrosphere:

The hydrosphere is the part of the Earth’s surface covered by water. The water on Earth found in ocean, seas, rivers, lakes and streams etc. and in the form of ice and snow together make the hydrosphere. It occupies a major part of the Earth’s surface and has an importance of its own.

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
More than 70% of Earth’s surface is covered with water. We cannot imagine life on Earth without water. Water is essential for all living organisms.

Atmosphere:

The Earth is a unique planet. Its capacity to support life makes it different from all other planets. The Earth is surrounded by an envelope of air which is called atmosphere.

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
The atmosphere extends to about 1,000 km from the surface of the Earth.

       The layer of air which surrounds the Earth is a mix of gases which change with altitude. The gravity of the Earth holds the atmosphere around it. The atmosphere also has dust and water vapor. Changes of the atmosphere affect weather and climate. The atmosphere also works as a shield of the Earth to protect it from the harmful rays and scorching heat of the sun.

Biosphere:

The three spheres-lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere meat to from a narrow zone of interaction, the biosphere, which supports life. Therefore, it includes the biotic and abiotic elements.

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
Biosphere is a unique component of the Earth. Outside the limits of biosphere, no life is possible. Biosphere is a beautiful part of the Earth which consists of a great variety of flora and fauna. Other planets do not have biosphere. Each organism in the biosphere has central limiting condition for its growth and survival.

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
The types of planets and animals found in a particular region are related to the prevailing physical environment, known as habitat. All organisms living in a particular habitat, depend on one-another. All organism in the biosphere interact which physical environment and which one-another.

Ecosystem:

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
It is a system formed by the interaction of all living organisms with each other and with the physical and chemical factor of the environment in which they live. All plants, animals and human being depend on each other and on the immediate surroundings of natural environment. There could be different ecosystems in different environments like deserts, mountains, dense forests, grass lands, rivers, and oceans and even in ponds.
NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
Energy is transferred from one living thing to other in the form of various food chains and many different food chains like up to form food webs. All the food webs are delicately branched. So, if one like in the web is destroyed, all the other organisms will be affected.

Human Environment:

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
Human beings are part of the environment in which they live. They are, to an extent, influenced by the environment. They are also able to depot and modify the environment according to their needs. With scientific and technological advancement, they have succeeded in controlling and dominating nature.
NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
The interaction of human being with the environment is complex in nature. It varies from place to place and from time to time.

Human-Environment Interaction:

In spite of all the development, the physical environment still provides human being with their material needs.The primary activities-farming, fishing, forestry and mining-still provide food and raw materials, without which advanced socialites cannot survive and progress.

NATURAL VEGETATION  AND  WILDLIFE
Human being and their activities also pose the greatest danger to the environment. Right From the dawn of human civilization, people have not only used nature for their existence and fulfillment of needs, but also exploited and misused it to a certain extent. 

Thus, they have disturbed the natural branches of the environment.