Notes of Ch 15 Life on the Earth| Class 11th

Geography
 01 Jun, 2020

Notes of Ch 15 Life on the Earth| Class 11th Geography

Introduction

• The biosphere includes all the living components of the earth. It consists of all plants
and animals, including all the micro-organisms that live on the planet earth and their
interactions with the surrounding environment.

• Most of the organisms exist on the lithosphere and/or the hydrosphere as well as in
the atmosphere. There are also many organisms that move freely from one realm to
the other.

• Life on the earth is found almost everywhere. Living organisms are found from the
poles to the equator, from the bottom of the sea to several km in the air, from
freezing waters to dry valleys, from under the sea to underground water lying below
the earth’s surface.

Ecology

• Ecology is the study of the earth as a ‘household’, of plants, human beings, animals
and micro-organisms. They all live together as interdependent components.

• Ecological Systems: The interactions of a particular group of organisms with abiotic

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF
 factors within a particular habitat resulting in clearly defined energy flows and
material cycles on land, water and air.

Ecological adaptation

• Different types of ecosystems exist with varying ranges of environmental conditions

where various plants and animal species have got adapted through evolution.

Types of Ecosystems

• Terrestrial ecosystem- can be further be classified into ‘biomes’.

• A biome can be defined as the total assemblage of plant and animal species
interacting within specific conditions. These include rainfall, temperature, humidity
and soil conditions. Some of the major biomes of the world are: forest, grassland,
desert and tundra biomes.

• Aquatic ecosystems- can be classed as marine and freshwater ecosystems. Marine

ecosystem includes the oceans, estuaries and coral reefs. Freshwater ecosystem
includes lakes, ponds, streams, marshes and bogs

Structure and Functions of Ecosystems

• The structure of an ecosystem involves a description of the available plant and

animal species.

• From a structural point of view, all ecosystems consist of:

→ Abiotic
→ Biotic factors.

• Abiotic factors include rainfall, temperature, sunlight, atmospheric humidity, soil

conditions, inorganic substances (carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, calcium,
phosphorus, potassium, etc.).

• Biotic factors include the producers, the consumers (primary, secondary, tertiary)
and the decomposers.

• Producers include all the green plants, which manufacture their own food through

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF
 photosynthesis.

• The primary consumers include herbivorous animals like deer, goats, mice and all
plant-eating animals. The carnivores include all the flesh-eating animals like snakes,
tigers and lions.

• Certain carnivores that feed also on carnivores are known as top carnivores like
hawks and mongooses.

• Decomposers are those that feed on dead organisms (for example, scavengers like
vultures and crows), and further breaking down of the dead matter by other
decomposing agents like bacteria and various micro- organisms.

Two types of food-chains

• Grazing food-chain, the first level starts with plants as producers and ends with
carnivores as consumers at the last level, with the herbivores being at the
intermediate level. There is a loss of energy at each level which may be through
respiration, excretion or decomposition. The levels involved in a food- chain range
between three to five and energy is lost at each level.

• A detritus food-chain is based on autotrophs energy capture initiated by grazing

animals and involves the decomposition or breaking down of organic wastes and dead
matter derived from the grazing food-chain.

Types of Biomes

• There are five major biomes

(i) Forest
(ii) Desert
(iii) Grassland
(iv) Aquatic
(v) Altitudinal biomes

Forests

Subtypes:
A. Tropical

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF
 1. Equatorial
2. Deciduous
B. Temperate
C. Boreal

Regions:
A. 1. 10° N-S A
2. 10° - 25° N-S
B. Eastern North America, N.E. Asia, Western and Central Europe
C. Broad belt of Eurasia and North America (parts of Siberia, Alaska, Canada and
Scandinavia)

Climatic Characteristics:
A. 1. Temp. 20- 25C, evenly distributed
2. Temp. 25- 30°C, Rainfall, ave. ann. 1,000mm, seasonal
B. Temp. 20-30°
C. Rainfall evenly distributed 7501,500mm, Welldefined seasons and distinct winter.
D. Short moist moderately warm summers and long cold dry winter; very low
temperatures. Precipitation mostly snowfall 400 -1,000 mm

Soil:
A. 1. Acidic, poor in nutrients
2. Rich in Nutrients
B. Fertile, enriched with decaying litter
C. Acidic and poor in nutrients, thin soil cover

Flora and Fauna:

A. Multi-layered canopy tall and large trees.
A2. Less dense, trees of medium height;many varieties coexist. Insects,bats, birds and
mammals are common species in both.
B. Moderately dense broad leaved trees. With less diversity of plant species. Oak,
Beach, Maple etc. are some common species. Squirrels, rabbits, skunks, birds, black
bears, mountain lions etc.
C. Evergreen conifers like pine, fur and spruce etc. Wood peckers, hawks, bears,
wolves, deer, hares and bats are common animals.

Desert

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF
 Subtypes:
A. Hot and Dry desert
B. Semi arid desert
C. Coastal desert
D. Cold desert

Regions:
A. Sahara, Kalahari, Marusthali, Rub-el-Khali
B. Marginal areas of hot deserts
C. Atacama
D. Tundra climatic regions

Climatic Characteristics:
A. Temp. 20 - 45°C.
B. 21 - 38°C.
C. 15 - 35°C.
D. 2 - 25°C A-D Rainfall is less than 50 mm

Soil:
Rich in nutrients with little or no organic matter

Flora and Fauna:

A-C. Scanty vegetation; few large mammals, insects, reptiles and birds
D. Rabbits, rats, Antelopes and ground squirrels

Grassland

Subtypes:
A. Tropical Savannah
B. Temperate Steppe

Regions:
A. Large areas of Africa, Australia, South America and India
B. Parts of Eurasia and North America

Climatic Characteristics:
A. Warm hot climates, Rainfall 500-1,250 mm
B. Hot summers and cold winter. Rainfall 500 900 mm

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF
 Soil:
A. Porous with thin layer of humus.
B. Thin flocculated soil, rich in bases

Flora and Fauna:

A. Grasses; trees and large shrubs absent; giraffes zebras, buffalos, leopards, hyenas,
elephants, mice, moles, snakes and worms etc., are common animals
B. Grasses; occasional trees such as cotton​woods, oaks and willows; gazelles, zebras,
rhin-oceros, wild horses, lions, varieties of birds, worms, snakes etc., are common
animal

Aquatic

Subtypes:
A. Freshwater
B. Marine

Regions:
A. Lakes, streams, rivers and wetlands
B. Oceans, coral reefs, lagoons and estuaries

Climatic Characteristics:
A-B Temperatures vary widely with cooler air temperatures and high humidity

Soil:
A. Water, swamps and marshes
B. Water, tidal swamps and marshes
Flora and Fauna: Algal and other aquatic and marine plant communities with varieties
of water dwelling animals.

Altitudinal

Regions:
Slopes of high mountain ranges like the Himalayas, the Andes and the Rockies

Climatic Characteristics:
Temperature and precipitation vary depending upon latitudinal zone

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF
 Soil:
Regolith over slopes

Flora and Fauna:

Deciduous to tundra vegetation varying according to altitude

Biogeochemical Cycles

• The sun is the basic source of energy on which all life depends. This energy initiates
life processes in the biosphere through photosynthesis, the main source of food and
energy for green plants.

• Out of the total solar insolation that reaches the earth’s surface, only a very small
fraction (0.1 per cent) is fixed in photosynthesis.

• Life on earth consists of a great variety of living organisms. These living organisms
exist and survive in a diversity of associations. Such survival involves the presence of
systemic flows such as flows of energy, water and nutrients.

• Balance of the chemical elements is maintained by a cyclic passage through the

tissues of plants and animals. The cycle starts by absorbing the chemical elements by
the organism and is returned to the air, water and soil through decomposition.

• These cycles are largely energised by solar insolation. These cyclic movements of
chemical elements of the biosphere between the organism and the environment are
referred to as biogeochemical cycles.

• There are two types of biogeochemical cycles : the gaseous and the sedimentary
cycle. In the gaseous cycle, the main reservoir of nutrients is the atmosphere and the
ocean.

• In the sedimentary cycle, the main reservoir is the soil and the sedimentary and
other rocks of the earth’s crust.

The Water Cycle

• All living organisms, the atmosphere and the lithosphere maintain between them a

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF
 circulation of water in solid, liquid or gaseous form referred to as the water or
hydrologic cycle.

The Carbon Cycle

• Carbon basic elements of all living organisms.

• The carbon cycle is mainly the conversion of carbon dioxide. This conversion is
initiated by the fixation of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through
photosynthesis.

• Such conversion results in the production of carbohydrate, glucose that may be

converted to other organic compounds such as sucrose, starch, cellulose, etc. Here,
some of the carbohydrates are utilised directly by the plant itself.

• During this process, more carbon dioxide is generated and is released through its
leaves or roots during the day. The remaining carbohydrates not being utilised by the
plant become part of the plant tissue. Plant tissues are either being eaten by the
herbivorous animals or get decomposed by the micro- organisms.

• The herbivores convert some of the consumed carbohydrates into carbon dioxide for
release into the air through respiration.

• The micro-organisms decompose the remaining carbohydrates after the animal dies.
The carbohydrates that are decomposed by the micro-organisms then get oxidised
into carbon.

The Oxygen Cycle

• Oxygen is the main by-product of photosynthesis. It is involved in the oxidation of

carbohydrates with the release of energy, carbon dioxide and water.

• The cycling of oxygen is a highly complex process. Oxygen occurs in a number of

chemical forms and combinations. It combines with nitrogen to form nitrates and with
many other minerals and elements to form various oxides such as the iron oxide,
aluminium oxide and others.

• Much of oxygen is produced from the decomposition of water molecules by sunlight

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF
 during photosynthesis and is released in the atmosphere through transpiration and
respiration processes of plants.

The Nitrogen Cycle

• Nitrogen is a major constituent of the atmosphere comprising about seventy-nine

per cent of the atmospheric gases.

• It is also an essential constituent of different organic compounds such as the amino

acids, nucleic acids, proteins, vitamins and pigments.

• Only a few types of organisms like certain species of soil bacteria and blue green
algae are capable of utilising it directly in its gaseous form.

• Generally, nitrogen is usable only after it is fixed. Ninety per cent of fixed nitrogen is
biological.

• The principal source of free nitrogen is the action of soil micro-organisms and
associated plant roots on atmospheric nitrogen found in pore spaces of the soil.

• Nitrogen can also be fixed in the atmosphere by lightning and cosmic radiation. In
the oceans, some marine animals can fix it.

• After atmospheric nitrogen has been fixed into an available form, green plants can
assimilate it.

• Herbivorous animals feeding on plants, in turn, consume some of it.

• Dead plants and animals, excretion of nitrogenous wastes are converted into nitrites
by the action of bacteria present in the soil.

• Some bacteria can even convert nitrites into nitrates that can be used again by
green plants. There are still other types of bacteria capable of converting nitrates into
free nitrogen, a process known as denitrification.

Other Mineral Cycles

Phosphorus, sulphur, calcium and potassium

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF
 • They usually occur as salts dissolved in soil water or lakes, streams and seas.

• Mineral salts come directly from the earth’s crust by weathering where the soluble
salts enter the water cycle, eventually reaching the sea.

• Other salts are returned to the earth’s surface through sedimentation, and after
weathering, they again enter the cycle.

• All living organisms fulfill their mineral requirements from mineral solutions in their
environments. Other animals receive their mineral needs from the plants and animals
they consume.

• After the death of living organisms, the minerals are returned to the soil and water
through decomposition and flow.

Ecological Balance

• Ecological balance is a state of dynamic equilibrium within a community of

organisms in a habitat or ecosystem. It can happen when the diversity of the living
organisms remains relatively stable.

• Gradual changes do take place but that happens only through natural succession. It
can also be explained as a stable balance in the numbers of each species in an
ecosystem. This occurs through competition and cooperation between different
organisms where population remains stable.

• This balance is brought about by the fact that certain species compete with one
another determined by the environment in which they grow. This balance is also
attained by the fact that some species depend on others for their food and
sustenance.

• Such accounts are encountered in vast grasslands where the herbivorous animals
(deer, zebras, buffaloes, etc.) are found in plenty. On the other hand, the carnivorous
animals (tigers, lions, etc.) that are not usually in large numbers, hunt and feed on the
herbivores, thereby controlling their population.

• In the plants, any disturbance in the native forests such as clearing the forest for

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF
 shifting cultivation usually brings about a change in the species distribution.

• This change is due to competition where the secondary forest species such as
grasses, bamboos or pines overtakes the native species changing the original forest
structure. This is called succession.

Explore our developer-friendly HTML to PDF API Printed using PDFCrowd HTML to PDF