EN VI RON MENT AL

EN GI NEE RI NG

Principles of Ecology
What is En vironment al
Engineer ing?

 The application of scientific and

engineering principles to assess,
manage, and design sustainable
environmental systems for the
protection of human and
ecological health.
 Environment
 Physical and biotic habitat
which surrounds us; that which
we can see, touch, smell or
taste
 Ecology and Life
 Ecology is the study of how
organisms interact with one
another and with their non-
living environment.
 Ecology takes the entire
living world as its domain.
 Ecology and Life
 A species consists of all organisms which
can reproduce living offspring.
 Populations consist of organisms of same
species living in same place at the same
time.
 Several interacting populations occupying
the same habitat form a community.
 An ecosystem is the communities and
their non-living environment.
 All earth’s ecosystems form the
ecosphere.
The Earth Support System
Atmosphere consists of
inner trophosphere and
outer stratosphere.

Hydrosphere is liquid,
solid, and gaseous water.

Litosphereis crust and

upper mantle.

Ecosphere is portion of the

earth where organisms
interact (atmosphere,
hydrosphere, and upper
litosphere).
 The Biosphere

• Closed s
ystem
• All material
s are recycled o
• Only one co ver and over
ntribution from
the Sun the outside
Intersection between air, land, and water
 Biomes
 Broad terrestrial regions of the biosphere
 Characterized by a particular climate and
specific assemblage of plants and animals.
 Biomes contain many ecosystems
 They differ in climate
 Climate is weather – over the long term, it
determines the type of life forms in the
biomes
 Most important climatic factors are
precipitation and temperature.
 Aquatic Life Zones
 Freshwater zones
– Lakes
– Rivers

 Oceans
– Estuaries
– Coastlines
– Coral reefs
– Continental shelves
– Deep ocean
 Ecosystems

 Consist of organisms, their

environment, and all of the
interactions that exist within.
 Ecosystems
 Biotic Factors - organisms
– Plants
– Animals
– Microorganisms
– Fungi
 Abiotic Factors
– Water
– Air
– Nutrients
– Solar energy
 Biotic Factors
 Producers (autotrophs)
– Support the entire living world through
photosynthesis
– Nourish themselves by using sunlight
and atmospheric CO2 to make food
materials they need to survive.
 Consumers (heterotrophs)
– Feed on plants and other organisms
 Herbivores

 Carnivores

 omnivores
Tol erance for Abiot ic Fact ors
Inter action among
Or ganisms
 Predation
 Comensalism
 Mutualism
 Parasitism
 Competition
Interacti on between Biotic & Abi otic
Factors
Interacti on between Biotic & Abi otic
Factors
How do Ecosystems
Work?
Interconnected factors include:

–One-way flow of high quality

energy from the sun

–Cycling of matter and nutrients

through the ecosphere

–Gravity permits each to hold onto

all parts of the ecosphere.
How do Ecosystems
Work?

Food Chains and Food Webs –

conduits by which nutrients and
energy flow through an
ecosystem
Types of Food Chains

 Grazer food chain – start

with plants

 Decomposer food chain –

organic waste material
(detritus) is the major food
source
Clas sifying Cons umers
 Primary consumers – herbivores

 Secondary consumers – feed on

primary consumers

 Tertiary consumers – feed on

secondary consumers
Trophic Levels
Third Tropic Level:
Secondary & Tertiary Consumers

Second Tropic Level:

Primary Consumers

First Tropic Level:

Producers
 Recycling of Minerals
 Plants, which are eaten by herbivores,
would be excreted later by these
consumers.
 Scavengers consume the carcasses,
transferring some minerals to them.
 The minerals in the plants are returned
to the soil by the bacteria and fungi that
consume fecal matter.
Recycling of Nutrients
 Carnivores also help recycle the
minerals found in the bodies of
herbivores.
 Some minerals, however, escape the
ecosystem and end up in the ocean.
 Food Web

                                                                                     
 Energy Flow
 Energy is also cycled.
 All energy in an ecosystem comes
from the sun.
 However, only 1-2% is captured by
plants and stored as chemical bonds.
 Only 1-20% is consumed by herbivores
and the loss of energy continues at
each tropic level.
 Energy Flow
 It is constantly transferred from one
tropic level to another
 Energy passes from the producers to
the consumers and back to the
producers.
 Energy is lost, however, at each tropic
level.
Energy Flow Through Food Chains
 Energy Flow
The loss of energy at each tropic level has
several reasons:
2. The energy is transformed into mechanical
energy or other forms.
3. Energy is lost during metabolic processes.
4. The organisms at one tropic level are not
completely utilized by those at the next
level.
5. Food passing through animals are not
completely digested.
Energy F low and Biomass
St orage
 Pyr amid of B iomass

• Actual number of organisms at the first tropic

level is often greatest and the fourth level often
has least
Environmental phase Organismic phase

Nutrients
Nutrients in their
physical
environment
(air, water, and Producers
land

NUTRIENT
Primary consumers
CYCLE
Decay

Secondary consumers
Waste & remains
Mat ter Cycles in E cos ys tems
Hydr ologic Cy cle
 Carbon Cycle

6CO2 + 6H2O + sunlight C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Nitrogen Cycle
Phosphorus cycle
 H2S
Sulfu r
Atmosphere + O2 Cycle
SO2
+ H2O
 Much sulfur are
Industries stored
Volcanoes &
Hot springs H2SO4 underground in
+ NH3
rocks and minerals

NH4SO4 Fog & pptn  Sulfur enters

atmosphere as
Animals
H2S, SO2 and SO4.

Plants

Sulfate salts

Decaying
organisms Sulfur

H2S
 Ecosyst em Services a nd
Su stainabil ity

Ecosystem services constitute earth’s natural

capital

 Biological diversity
– Genetic diversity – individuals in species
vary in genetic make up.
– Species diversity – habitats contain a wide
variety of different species.
– Ecological diversity – ecosystems contain
wide variety of communities.
 Ecosyst em Services a nd
Su stainabil ity

 Ecosystem services provide recycling,

purification and natural pest control.
 Each species results from many adaptations.
 Each species provide raw materials for future
adaptation.
 Two basic principles of natural ecosystem
sustainability:
– use renewable solar energy
– Recycle nutrients efficiently
Sustainable Ecosystem
 Lives within the carrying
capacity of the environment.
 It meets its needs without
impairing future generations
from meeting theirs.