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Class 12 Anthropology Chapter 5 Ecology
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Ecology
Chapter – 5
ANTHROPOLOGY
Very short type questions
1. Who first coined the term ‘Ecology’?
Answer: The term ‘Ecology’ was first coined by German scientist Ernst Hackel.
2. What is the etymological meaning of the term ‘Ecology’?
Answer: Ecology is the branch of biology which is concerned with the study of organisms and their behaviour in relation to their environment.
3. Name two components of environment.
Answer: Two components of environment are:- Atmosphere and Lithosphere.
4. What is the meaning of word ‘Oikos’ and ‘Logos’?
Answer: The meaning of word ‘Oikos’ means ‘home’ and ‘Logos’ means ‘study’.
5. What is environmental?
Answer: Environment is sum total of water, air and land, interrelationships among themselves and also with the human beings, other living organisms and property.
Short type questions
6. What do you mean by ecological balance?
Answer: Ecological balance may be defined as a state of dynamic equilibrium within a community of organisms in which genetic, species and ecosystem diversity remain relatively stable subject to gradual changes through natural succession. An environment is said to be balanced, when all the biotic and abiotic components of ecosystem exist in perfect harmony. In such an environment, the abiotic components never come in conflict with the biotic components. That indicates that a proper balance is maintained.
Ecological balance was properly maintained in the distant past. Today, environment is no longer friendly to man. It has been so mainly due to rapid rate of industrialization. As a result, balance of nature has been upset. Pollution of air, water and soil has made human life miserable.
7. What is the meaning of physical environment?
Answer: The meaning of physical environment means air, water, land, sunlight, rainfall, snowfall, temperature, pressure, humidity, wind etc. It is also called abiotic environment.
The two types of physical environment are:
a) Natural environment: The term “natural environment” refers to the non- human-made surroundings and conditions in which all living and non-living things exist on Earth.
b) Man- made environment: Man-made environment is the environment created by humans. It includes permanent human settlements like villages, towns, cities, and transport and communication facilities, besides various other communities.
8. What is the meaning of socio- cultural environment?
Answer: The meaning of socio- cultural environment are- man is a social animal possessing culture. Without society, it is impossible to have fullest expression of his personality. He requires society both of his life and for the sake of good life. As a member of the society man learns his culture.
Socio-cultural environment includes some aspects of religion, language, beliefs, customs, traditions etc. It also includes various social institutions like family, lineage, clan etc. The socio-cultural environment is of utmost importance for the existence of society.
9. Why ‘ecology’ is called ‘Environmental Biology’?
Answer: The term ‘ecology’ was first coined by a German scientist Ernst Hackel in 1869. It is derived from two Greek words ‘Oikos’ and ‘logos’. ‘Oikos’ means ‘home’ and’ logos’ means ‘study’. Therefore ecology deals with the study of the organisms in their natural habitat. Ecology may be defined as the study of the reciprocal environments. Ecology is a branch of biology which is concerned with the study of organisms and their behaviour in relation to their environment. Hence, ‘ecology’ is called ‘environment’.
10. What are the main elements of environment?
Answer: The main elements of environment are:
a) Air: The envelope of air that surrounds the earth is called atmosphere. It extends upto about 900 KM above the earth. It consists of various gases and water vapour.
b) Water: Water is regarded as the essential liquid substance for life on the earth. Water is vital to life. It is said that life was first originated in water and it is absolutely essential for all forms of life.
c) Soil: Soil is the outermost solid crust of the Earth. Hills, mountains, plateaus and the plains are the parts of the continental region. Soil is made up of dust, sand, clay and organic substances. Soil may be defined as “any part of earth’s crust in which plants root.”
11. What is water cycle?
Answer: The water of the oceans, lakes, ponds, rivers etc. gets evaporated by solar energy and ultimately clouds are formed and the water comes down again from the clouds as rain.
This reversible process is known as water cycle. It is a continuous process. This cycle is very essential for the environment because without it biogeochemical cycles could not exist, ecosystem never function and the life layer could not be maintained. Thus it plays the important role in maintaining life in the earth.
12. What are the major green house gases?
Answer: The main green house gases are:
a) Carbon Dioxide: Carbon Dioxide is a colourless and non- flammable gas at normal temperature and pressure. Al though much less abundant than nitrogen and oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, carbon dioxide is an important constituent of our planet’s air. A molecule of carbon dioxide is made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms.
b) Methane: Methane is the main component in natural gas, which fuels industrial plants, powers homes and runs air conditioners, among other applications. It is used primarily as fuel to make heat and light. It is also used to manufacture organic chemicals. Methane can be formed by the decay of natural materials and is common in landfills, marshes, septic systems and sewers.
c) Nitrous oxide: Nitrous oxide is a naturally occurring gas that is colourless and non flammable. It can be manufactured and used for a variety of things such as a pharmacologic agent to produce anaesthesia, a food additive as a propellant, and an additive to fuels to increase available oxygen in combustion.
13. What is ‘smog’?
Answer: Smog is air pollution that reduces visibility. The term ‘smog’ was the first used in the early 1900s to describe a mix of smoke and fog. The smoke usually came from burning coal. Smog was common in industrial areas, and remains a familiar sight in cities today. Today, most of the smog we see in photochemical smog. One of the primary components of photochemical smog is ozone. Emissions from the transportation sector resulting from fossil fuel combustion in cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes, and boats are the chief contributors of smog formation. Most of the smog formed in large cities is a result of traffic emissions.
14. What is Global warming?
Answer: Global warming is the unnatural rise in the temperature of the earth’s surface due to increased amounts of green house gases in the earth’s atmosphere.
Increased heat, drought and insect outbreaks, all linked to climate change, have increased wildfires. Declining water supplies, reduced agricultural yields, health impacts in cities due to heat, and flooding and erosion in coastal areas are additional concerns.
Essay type questions
15. Discuss man as a main agent of disturbing the ecological balance.
Answer: Man has jeopardised the existence of the living organisms on the earth. Man pollutes air, water, soil and destroys the forest. Increase in population disturbs the ecological balance. As the population increases people are compelled to encroach upon forest, hills, mountains, rivers etc. for more space and more food. Pollution is mostly made by human activities which have far-reaching effect on our environment.
Ecological resources may be regarded as the real wealth of a nation. These resources are very important because of their aesthetic values, recreational and educational significance. Unwise use and reckless exploitation of ecological resources may lead to environmental degradation. As a result, the ecosystem is disturbed. For example, the indiscriminate fishing of man is solely responsible for decease in some local varieties of fish in Assam.
Agricultural development has solved the food problem. But at the same time, it has created hazardous environmental problems. Degradation of environment due to agricultural activities takes place through the application of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Though fertilisers and pesticides are called the precursors of green revolution, yet their excessive use is not at all beneficial to the environment.
Soil faces several problems other than pollution. Large scale deforestation in favour of other developmental activities leads to the loss of large areas of croplands and forests: shifting or, Jhum cultivation practised in the hillslopes by some tribes of Northeast India may also cause degradation of the environment. Man’s certain activities like felling of trees, overgrazing and over-cropping are the main causes of soil erosion in India. In fact, human activities have become a prime cause for the gradual removable of forest cover in many parts of the world.
16. Show the relation between ecology and environment.
Answer: The relation between ecology and environment are: The term ‘environment’ has become one of the most overused and obscurantist concepts in today’s lexicon of development. Literally, environment means all that which surrounds us.
‘Ecology’ is basically concerned with the relationship between pants and man. As a matter of fact environment is a comprehensive term which relates to man-nature relationship.
The context of environment, that is, degradation of land, forest and water resources in India’s villages occupies a crucial importance. The village people have been living in the villages and they are much closer to natural environment compared to their counterparts in urban communities.
A little degradation of environment, natural resource base directly influences the village people. The village life is witnessing a fast transformation. Increasingly Indian villages are becoming towns; towns in their turn and transforming into cities and cities are becoming metropolitans. An appropriate study of village community, therefore, involves an elaborate study of village environment, ecology, land use, water and fuel.
17. Discuss man as a main factor of disturbing the ecological balance.
Answer: Man as a factor of disturbing the ecological balance because humans have become the main cause for making ecological balance off. Cutting down of the forest deforestation, the forest fires has swept away all the habitats of the animals and birds. And the other way of human causing imbalance in ecology is through pollution. Human activities like industrial activities generate a wide variety of waste products which are generally discharged into water bodies. As a result, most of the major rivers of India have been polluted by industrial effluents. The holy river Ganga has now become a highly polluted river due to the domestic and industrial wastes. Once Ganga Jala was regarded to be purest water by the Veda. Now the same water has been polluted to such an extent that the Ganga Action plain has failed to control it.
18. What is ecology? Discuss its subject matter.
Answer: Ecology is a branch of biology which is concerned with the study of organisms and their behaviour in relation to their environment. It is the science which treats the organisms in relation to their environment. Also ecology is the science dealing with the relationship of organisms to one another and to other factors that comprise their environment.
The living organisms survive on the biotic or abiotic components of the environment. They are also related to each other. In the words of E.P. Odum, “Living organisms and their nonliving environment are inseparably interrelated and interact upon each other.”
Ecology is concerned with the three higher biosystems
Which are as follows:
i) the individual systems.
ii) the population systems. and
iii) the community systems.
The subject matter of ecology is the relationships of organisms with their biological and nonliving environment.These are complex, reciprocal interactions; organisms are influenced by their environment, but they also cause environmental change, and are components of the environment of other organisms.
19. Discuss “Ecological balance versus Man”?
Answer: Ecological balance is a term used to describe the equilibrium between living organisms such as human being, plants, and animals as well as their environment. Human being plays a key role to maintain ecological balance because they have the highest thinking capacity as compared to other living organisms. Photosynthesis that takes place in ecosystem contributes to building a good environment that stabilises the coexistence of all organisms. Harmonious relationships balance. Human being plays a key role to maintain ecological balance because they have the highest thinking capacity as compared to other living organisms. Sufficient food availability to all living organisms and their stability reflect the existence of ecological balance.Therefore, this balance is very important because it ensures survival, existence and stability of the environment.
Survival of all organisms is actualized due to ecological balance. Various species survive because favourable ecosystems were created. Favourable ecosystem ensures that each organism thrive and multiply as expected. They get enough food to keep them alive. Ecological balance is also important because it leads to the continuous existence of the organisms. It ensures that no particular species is exploited or overused.
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