1.
**Causes of Desertification:**
Desertification happens due to factors like drought, deforestation,
overgrazing, and poor farming. Human activities, like cities and bad
irrigation, make soil degradation worse.
2. **Significance of Food Webs:**
Food webs show how species interact and energy flows in
ecosystems. They’re crucial for biodiversity and balancing
ecosystems by revealing how one species affects others.
3. **Fossil Fuels with Examples:**
Fossil fuels, such as coal (from plants), crude oil (from marine life),
and natural gas (from organic decay), are ancient organic matter
used for energy globally.
4. **Endemism Definition with Examples:**
Endemism means species found only in specific regions. For
example, the Madagascar chameleon exists solely in Madagascar,
showcasing unique adaptations and biodiversity conservation.
5. **Man-Wildlife Conflict:**
Conflict arises when humans and wildlife compete for resources due
to habitat encroachment. It includes issues like crop raiding,
demanding strategies for peaceful coexistence.
6. **Chipko Movement:**
The Chipko Movement, starting in 1970s India, involved hugging
trees to protest deforestation. It aimed to conserve forests, promote
sustainable development, and raise awareness about environmental
issues.
7. **Silent Valley:**
Silent Valley, a Kerala national park, is known for rich biodiversity.
It’s named for the absence of noisy cicadas, emphasizing
conservation to protect unique ecosystems from human impact.
8. **Acid Rain and Formation:**
Acid rain results from pollutants like sulfur dioxide reacting with
atmospheric water. It harms ecosystems, damages structures, and
affects aquatic life.
9. **Greenhouse Effect and Gases:**
The greenhouse effect traps heat in Earth’s atmosphere. Gases like
carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor contribute
to global warming and climate change.
10. **Environment and Environmental Science:**
The environment includes all living and non-living things.
Environmental science studies these components, aiming to
understand and manage human impacts for sustainable coexistence.
11. **Components of Ecosystem:**
Ecosystems have living (plants, animals) and non-living (soil, water)
parts. Biotic and abiotic elements work together, defining how
ecosystems function.
12. **Food Chain:**
A food chain shows how energy moves through trophic levels.
Producers (plants) are eaten by herbivores, which are then preyed
upon by carnivores, creating a simple feeding sequence.
13. **Watershed Management:**
Watershed management is about wisely using and conserving water
and land in an area. It aims to keep water clean, prevent erosion, and
promote sustainable development.
14. **Habitat Loss – Definition, Causes, Effects:**
Habitat loss is when natural homes disappear due to things like
cutting down forests and urban growth. Human actions and climate
change cause it, leading to lost species and disrupted ecosystems.
15. **Natural Resources:**
Natural resources are things from the environment that people use,
like air, water, soil, minerals, and plants. It’s important to use them
wisely for a sustainable future.
16. **Importance of Environmental Science:**
Environmental science helps us understand and solve environmental
problems. It guides us in managing resources, protecting nature, and
finding solutions for a healthy planet.
17. **Biodiversity:**
Biodiversity means the variety of life on Earth, including different
species and ecosystems. It’s crucial for stable environments,
providing benefits like food, medicine, and cultural richness.
18. **Hotspots:**
Hotspots are important areas with lots of different species that are
at risk. These places need special attention for conservation because
they’re vulnerable to habitat loss.
19. **Ozone Layer Depletion:**
Ozone layer depletion is when human-made chemicals, like CFCs,
harm the protective ozone layer. This allows more harmful UV
radiation to reach Earth, affecting our health and the environment.
20. **Air and Water Pollution:**
Air pollution is when harmful things go into the air, affecting its
quality. Water pollution is when pollutants make water dirty. Both
can harm people, animals, and the environment.
21. **Environmental Protection Act:**
The Environmental Protection Act is a law that helps governments
control and solve environmental issues. It sets rules for things like
pollution control and conserving nature, promoting a sustainable way
of living.
1. **Decomposers:**
Decomposers recycle nutrients by
breaking down dead organic matter,
including bacteria, fungi, and
detritivores.
2. **Poaching:**
Poaching is illegal hunting or capturing
of wildlife, threatening biodiversity and
endangering species.
3. **Biological Invasion:**
Biological invasion is the spread of
non-native species, disrupting
ecosystems and endangering native
species.
4. **Land Use Patterns:**
Land use patterns are how we organize
activities on Earth, like homes, farms,
industries, impacting ecosystems and
the environment.
