The biosphere is an ecosystem that Global Ecosystem - Biosphere

Hammatov Salavat Talgatovich

Introduction

Composition and properties of the biosphere

Soil is a unique component of the biosphere

Living matter of the biosphere

Biosphere and space

Ecological interactions of living matter: who eats how

Biogenic migration of atoms - an ecosystem property of the biosphere

How the Biosphere Developed: Five Ecological Disasters

Biosphere sustainability

Biosphere and man: ecological danger

Conclusion

Introduction

Today, one of the most difficult problems that concerns each of us rises to its full height before people. This is the problem of preserving life on the planet, the survival of man, as one of the unique species of living beings.

The solution to this problem depends on how each of us and all of humanity together are aware of the "forbidden line" that humanity must not cross under any circumstances. Such a "forbidden feature" are the laws of life on the planet.

Man is an inhabitant of the biosphere. It is the biosphere - that shell of the Earth, within which the life of mankind as a whole and of each of us proceeds.

Biosphere - the area where living organisms live; the shell of the Earth, the composition, structure and energy of which is determined by the combined activity of living organisms. Upper bound extends to the height of the ozone screen (20-25 km), the lower one descends 1-2 km below the ocean floor and, on average, 2-3 km on land. The biosphere encompasses the lower part of the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the pedosphere (soil), and upper part lithosphere (rocks).

Composition and properties of the biosphere

The biosphere, being a global ecosystem (ecosphere), like any ecosystem, consists of abiotic and biotic parts.

The abiotic part is represented by:

Soil and underlying rocks to a depth where there are still living organisms that enter into exchange with the substance of these rocks and the physical environment of the pore space.
Atmospheric air to heights where manifestations of life are still possible.
Aquatic environment - oceans, rivers, lakes, etc.
favorable temperatures: not too high so that the protein does not coagulate, and not too low so that enzymes - accelerators of biochemical reactions work normally,
a living being needs a living wage of minerals.

The biotic part consists of living organisms of all taxa that perform the most important function of the biosphere, without which life itself cannot exist: the biogenic current of atoms. Living organisms carry out this current of atoms due to their respiration, nutrition and reproduction, ensuring the exchange of matter between all parts of the biosphere. biosphere soil migration atom ecosystem

The biogenic migration of atoms in the biosphere is based on two biochemical principles:

1 to strive for maximum manifestation, for the "omnipresence" of life;

2 to ensure the survival of organisms, which increases the biogenic migration itself.

These patterns are manifested primarily in the desire of living organisms to "capture" all the spaces more or less adapted to their life, created an ecosystem or part of it. But any ecosystem has boundaries, has its boundaries on a planetary scale and the biosphere.

In a general consideration of the biosphere as a planetary ecosystem, the concept of its living matter, as a certain general living mass of the planet, acquires special significance. -3-

The chemical composition of living matter confirms the unity of nature - it consists of the same elements as inanimate nature, only the ratio of these elements is different and the structure of molecules is different.

Properties of the biosphere

The biosphere, as well as other ecosystems of a lower rank that make it up, has a system of properties that ensure its functioning, self-regulation, stability, and other parameters. Let's consider the main ones.

The biosphere is a centralized system.

Living organisms (living matter) act as its central link.

2. The biosphere is an open system. Its existence is unthinkable without energy from outside.

She is affected space forces especially solar activity.

Biosphere - self-regulating system. Currently, this property is called homeostasis, meaning by it the ability to return to its original state, to dampen emerging disturbances by turning on a number of mechanisms.

The danger of modern environmental situation is connected primarily with the fact that the line of mechanical homeostasis and the principle of Le Giatelier-Brown are violated, if not on a planetary, then on a large regional scale. The result is the disintegration of ecosystems, or the appearance of unstable, practically devoid of properties of homeostasis, systems such as agrocenosis or urbanized complexes.

The biosphere is a system characterized by great diversity.

Diversity is the most important property of all ecosystems. The biosphere as a global ecosystem characterized by the maximum diversity among other systems. Diversity is considered as the main condition for the sustainability of any ecosystem and the biosphere as a whole. This condition is so universal that it has become a law.

The most important property of the biosphere is the presence in it of mechanisms that ensure the circulation of matter and the inexhaustibility of individual chemical elements and their compounds associated with it.

At the end of the XIX century. the great Russian naturalist V.V. Dokuchaev, in his studies of chernozem and other soils of the Russian Valley and the Caucasus, established that soils are natural bodies and, in their external features and properties, are very different from the rocks on which they were formed. Their distribution on the Earth's surface is subject to strict geographical patterns.

The variety of soils is enormous. This is due to the variety of combinations of soil formation factors: rocks, surface age, plant and animal populations, and relief.

Soil is a special natural body and living environment resulting from the transformation of rocks on the land surface by the joint activity of living organisms, water and air.

Soil-forming processes on Earth are grandiose in their planetary scale and duration processes of creating soil organic matter, their biological accumulation and the emergence of fertility.

Living matter of the biosphere

"On the earth's surface there is no chemical force more powerful in its final effects than living organisms taken as a whole."

What fundamentally distinguishes our planet from any other planet in the solar system? The manifestation of life. "If there were no life on Earth, its face would be just as unchanged and chemically inert, like the immovable face of the Moon, like inert fragments of heavenly bodies."

The living substance of the biosphere is the totality of all its living organisms. Living matter in the understanding of Vernadsky is a form of active matter, and its energy is the greater, the more more weight living substance. The concept of "living matter" was introduced into science by V.I. Vernadsky and understood above him the totality of all living organisms of the planet.

What are the properties of living matter?

Properties of living matter

The living matter of the biosphere is characterized by a huge free energy, which could only be compared with a fiery lava flow, but the energy of lava is not long-term.
In living matter, due to the presence of enzymes, chemical reactions occur thousands, and sometimes millions of times faster than in non-living. For life processes, it is characteristic that the substances and energy received by the body are processed and given off in much larger quantities.
Individual chemical elements (proteins, enzymes, and sometimes individual mineral compounds are synthesized only in living organisms).
Living matter tends to fill all possible space. IN AND. Vernadsky names two specific forms of motion of living matter:

a) passive, which is carried out by reproduction, and is inherent in both animal and plant organisms;

b) active, which is carried out due to the directed movement of organisms (a smaller measure of character for plants).

Living matter exhibits much greater morphological and chemical diversity than non-living matter. In nature, more than 2 million organic compounds are known that are part of living matter, while the number of minerals in inanimate matter is about 2 thousand, that is, three orders of magnitude lower.
Living matter is represented by dispersed bodies - individual organisms, each of which has its own genesis, its own genetic composition. Dimensions individual organisms ranges from 2 nm in the smallest to 100 m (range over 109).
Redi's principle (Florentine academician, physician and naturalist, 1626-1697) "everything living from living things" is a distinctive feature of living matter that exists on Earth in the form of a continuous alternation of generations and is characterized

genetic connection with living matter of all past geological epochs. Inanimate abiogenic substances, as is known, enter the biosphere from outer space, and are carried out in portions from the shell of the globe. They may be similar in composition, but genetic connection in general, they don't. "Redy's principle ... does not point to

the impossibility of abiogenesis outside the biosphere or when establishing the presence in the biosphere (now or earlier) of physicochemical phenomena that were not accepted during scientific definition this form of organization of the earth's shell.

Living matter in the face of specific organisms, unlike inanimate, carries out during its historical life grandiose work.

Biosphere and space

The Earth is a unique planet, it is located at the only possible distance from the Sun, which determines the temperature of the Earth's surface at which water can be in a liquid state.

The earth receives a huge amount of energy from the sun and at the same time maintains a roughly constant temperature. This means that our planet radiates almost the same amount of energy into space as it receives from space: income and expenditure must be balanced, otherwise the system will one day lose stability. The earth will either heat up or freeze and turn into a lifeless body.

The biosphere is closely connected with space. The flows of energy coming to the Earth create the conditions that ensure life. magnetic field and ozone screen protect the planet from excessive cosmic radiation and intense solar radiation. Cosmic radiation reaching the biosphere provides photosynthesis and influences the activity of living beings.

Planet Earth differs from other planets in that its biosphere contains a substance that is sensitive to the flow. solar radiation- chlorophyll. It is chlorophyll that provides the transformation electromagnetic energy solar radiation into chemical energy, with the help of which the process of reduction of carbon and nitrogen oxides in biosynthesis reactions takes place.

In a green plant, photosynthesis occurs - the process of forming carbohydrates from water and oxygen dioxide (which is in the air or water). In this case, oxygen is released as a by-product. Green plants are autotrophs- organisms that take all the chemical elements they need for life from the inert matter surrounding them and do not require ready-made organic compounds of another organism to build their body. The main source of energy used by autotrophs is the sun. Heterotrophs These are organisms that need organic matter formed by other organisms for their nutrition.

Heterotrophs gradually transform the organic matter formed by autotrophs, bringing it to its original - mineral - state.

A destructive (destructive) function is performed by representatives of each of the kingdoms of living matter - decay, decomposition is an integral property of the metabolism of every living organism. Plants form organic matter and are the largest producers of carbohydrates on Earth; but they also release the oxygen necessary for life as a by-product of photosynthesis.

In the process of respiration in the bodies of all living species, carbon dioxide is formed, which plants again use for photosynthesis. There are also such types of living things for which the destruction of dead organic matter is a way of feeding. There are organisms with a mixed type of nutrition, they are called mixotrophs.

In the biosphere, the processes of transformation of inorganic, inert matter into organic matter and the reverse transformation of organic matter into mineral matter take place. The movement and transformation of substances in the biosphere is carried out with direct participation living matter, all types of which specialized in different ways of eating.

The finite amount of matter that exists in the biosphere has acquired the property of infinity through the circulation of substances.

The image of the circulation of matter in the biosphere is created by the wheel of a water mill. However, in order for the wheel to turn, a constant flow of water is needed. Similarly, the flow of solar energy coming from space turns the "wheel of life" on our planet. How fast is the wheel spinning? In the course of biogeochemical cycles, the atoms of most chemical elements have passed countless times through creature. For example, all atmospheric oxygen "circulates" through living matter in 2000 years, carbon dioxide - in 200-300 years, and all water in the biosphere - in 2 million years.

Living matter is a perfect receiver of solar energy.

The energy absorbed and used in the reaction of photosynthesis, and then stored in the form of chemical energy of carbohydrates, is very large, there is evidence that it is comparable to the energy consumed by 100,000 large cities for 100 years. Heterotrophs use the organic matter of plants as food: organic matter is oxidized by oxygen, which is delivered to the body by the respiratory organs, with the formation carbon dioxide- the reaction goes to reverse direction. Thus, "eternal" makes life the simultaneous existence of autotrophs and heterotrophs.

Facts and arguments about the "wheel of life" in the biosphere give the right to talk about the law of biogenic migration of atoms, which was formulated by V.I. Vernadsky: the migration of chemical elements on the earth's surface and in the biosphere as a whole is carried out either with the direct participation of living matter, or it occurs in the environment,

the geochemical features of which are determined by living matter, both the one that now inhabits the biosphere and the one that has acted on Earth throughout geological history.

The living matter of different kingdoms and different kinds ensures the continuous circulation of substances and the transformation of energy. Thus, the law of biogenic migration of atoms by V.I. Vernadsky: in the biosphere, the migration of chemical elements occurs with the obligatory direct participation of living organisms. Biogenic migration of atoms ensures the continuity of life in the biosphere with a finite amount of matter and a constant influx of energy.

Since the founders of modern paleontology discovered that fossilized sediments can read the path of life, we have learned that the organic world on Earth has repeatedly experienced tragic events which led to the almost complete destruction of life on the planet. Over the past 500 million years, the Earth suddenly turned out to be seriously ill several times, and once - it was 250 million years ago - life on Earth almost stopped.

Experts identify five major disasters that the biosphere has experienced: the Carboniferous period, the Permian period, the Triassic, Jurassic period, Cretaceous period. Each of the catastrophes led to the development of living matter: a more complete adaptation to the environment; appearance more species; their penetration into new habitats.

With every catastrophe that has taken place in the biosphere, along with the mass of defeated species, we also see winners. At first there were very few of them, but they were able to "reap" the fruits of their victory, filling the vacated space with their own kind. However, none the new kind he cannot be reproached with the fact that he was involved in the catastrophe itself for the sake of the prosperity of his species or family. Cataclysms occurred by cosmic or purely earthly reasons due to the peculiarities of the development of living matter, when some of its parts oppressed or completely erased from the face of the planet others that failed to adapt to the changed natural conditions.

The development of the living matter of the biosphere - an increase in the level of its organization and degree of adaptability to the environment occurred through catastrophes - drastic changes abiotic environment. The contradictions between the established abiotic and biotic components of the biosphere, with abrupt changes in the environment for geological time, were resolved every time due to the diversity and variability of the living matter of the biosphere. Living matter each time kept alive in the biosphere due to the survival of more adapted species.

Biosphere sustainability

Since ancient times, the richness of the living world has fascinated and delighted man. The diversity of species does not exhaust all biological diversity. Within each species, its populations and individuals, including humans, differ genetically in much more than previously thought. Two randomly selected individuals will differ in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of chromosome differences. Such differences are very important, many of them are associated with sensitivity to changes in environmental parameters, determine adaptability or even the possibility of survival. individual organisms, a reminder that natural selection continues.

How does biodiversity ensure the sustainability of the biosphere? The answer is simple: through many interconnections and interactions, both among themselves and with indirect matter. The biosphere has a large set of feedback control processes and, as a result, a set of cyclic processes that allow it to compensate for changing conditions. Therefore, the biosphere copes relatively easily with the tasks of automatic regulation of the living conditions it needs.

The stability of the global ecosystem is ensured by the redundancy of its functional components. If there are several types of autotrophs in an ecosystem, each of which has its own optimal temperature conditions for photosynthesis, then the total rate of photosynthesis can remain unchanged with temperature fluctuations.

Adaptability of the biosphere to change external conditions- an ordered process in which one species can be replaced by another, and at the same time it is a stream of shifting dynamic equilibria. The biological diversity of the biosphere provides a continuous biochemical cycle of matter and energy flows, maintaining the connections of all geospheres: the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, creating the integrity of the natural environment.

The world is already aware of the danger that threatens it. And this time a living being is known, guilty of the approaching catastrophe - Human. Its appearance was preceded a long period, in which the ancestors of Homosapiens-hominids arose, evolved, gave way to one another. They developed and lived in the general stream of life, were its participants and possessed a whole range of needs and instincts absolutely necessary for life and evolution. All this made the flow of life, on the one hand, integral, easily vulnerable in separate links, and on the other hand, well self-protected and protected by the system.

Millennia passed, great civilizations created by man arose and perished. All splendor modern civilization- abundance and variety of goods, transport, space flights, the opportunity for a huge number of people to engage in

science, art, finally, secure old age - all this is a consequence of the huge amount of artificial energy that mankind has now begun to produce. We do not live by the energy of the Sun, like plants and animals, but we consume carbon reserves - oil, coal, gas, shale, which have been accumulated by past biospheres over hundreds of millions of years.

But what happens to the heat balance of the planet? Artificial energy is dissipated and goes to heat the Earth, its firmament, ocean, atmosphere. There will come a time when artificial energy will begin to affect the structure heat balance planets.

Thus, the widespread idea that an increase in the amount of energy produced by people is always a good thing also needs to be revised: an increase in the average temperatures of the planet by 4-5 degrees threatens humanity with an ecological catastrophe. And there is a line that cannot be crossed.

Predicting in advance, even in the most general terms, the results of such a warming is not at all easy. With an increase in the average temperature, the temperature difference between the equator and the pole decreases. And this is the main engine, thanks to which the atmosphere moves, transferring heat from the equatorial zones to the polar ones. If the temperature difference increases, then the intensity of atmospheric circulation increases. If it decreases, the circulation of the atmosphere becomes more sluggish, moisture transfer decreases. This means that the arid zones become even more arid, and the productivity of the biota decreases.

Back in the last century, the famous geographer, climatologist, geophysicist Professor A. I. Voikov, founder of the first geophysical observatory in Russia, formulated a well-known law: warm in the North - dry in the South. This law, which is now called Voikov's law, sums up many years of observations. Whenever, during the cyclic change in average temperatures in the North, it begins to warm up, the number of dry years increases in the Trans-Volga region, Kazakhstan and other regions of southeastern Eurasia. The vegetation of deserts and semi-deserts is especially sensitive to changes in the amount of precipitation.

Man is looking for ways to limit his detrimental impact on nature, because he has realized his dependence on the state of the biosphere. People realized that their activities should change radically and correspond to natural laws biosphere, within the boundaries of which only all life activity can proceed.

We have traced only one phenomenon, which confirms that a person is now able to very easily cross that "fatal line", the line beyond which irreversible processes of changing the conditions of his existence will begin. The biosphere will begin to move into a new state, and there may not be a place for a person in its new state. That is why humanity must be able to foresee the results of its actions and know where the "forbidden line" lies, separating the possibility of further development of civilization from its more or less rapid extinction.

Each biological species (and man is no exception) can live within a rather narrow framework of the environment to which it is genetically adapted. If the environment of life changes faster than adaptation or transformation of the species into a new formation can occur, the organism inevitably dies out.

The cover of living matter on the planet is changing dramatically. It shrinks, it shrinks. Even in a purely mechanical sense, forests are disappearing, chernozems are degrading, etc. The foundation of both the immediate environment of its life and economic development is slipping from under the feet of mankind.

At present, the process of depletion of living matter, the disappearance of living species is ten, and in some cases even a hundred times more intense than the extinction of dinosaurs was 65 million years ago. Species do not just disappear, the whole structure of living matter changes. Large animals and plants are replaced by smaller ones: ungulates - rodents, rodents - herbivorous insects.

Losses in the composition of living matter can lead to an emergency destruction of the biogeochemical system of the planet. The global distortion of biogeochemical cycles threatens that nature will become different, not the one to which the modern economy is adapted. It will take a huge overhaul. As a result of current human impacts, the descendants are threatened with natural resource poverty, depletion of natural resources. Humanity must preserve the biological diversity of the biosphere, since its reduction leads to disruption of biospheric processes, to catastrophic changes in living conditions on the planet.

Conclusion

Our planet is unique because it has life. Life permeates not only the water and air elements, but also the earthly firmament. Life on Earth is represented by living matter, which is formed by millions of species and billions of individuals. Living matter, the entire biological diversity of the Earth is protected from cosmic rays geomagnetic field and ozone screen. All forms and manifestations of life do not exist on their own, they are connected by complex relationships into a single complex of life- . These relationships and connections in wildlife are amazing! Each group of related species that form the kingdom plays a specific role in the cycle of substances: the creation, transformation, destruction of organic substances.

The main source of energy in the biosphere is the Sun. Biogenic cycle substances does not interrupt life on planet Earth. The living creatures of the biosphere have transformed chemical composition air, water, soil, identified and their modern composition, influenced the formation of minerals and rocks, the relief of the Earth. The biosphere is the environment of life and the result of life activity.

One of the main tasks of the 21st century, to which ecology should make a significant contribution, is the achievement of harmony between man and nature.

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Srednetiganskaya secondary school

Abstract on the topic: Biosphere as an ecological system

Completed by a student of grade 11 Khammatov Salavat Talgatovich.

Lecturer: Bayazitov R.Z

2013

Introduction

Composition and properties of the biosphere

Soil is a unique component of the biosphere

Living matter of the biosphere

Biosphere and space

Ecological interactions of living matter: who eats how

Biogenic migration of atoms - an ecosystem property of the biosphere

How the Biosphere Developed: Five Ecological Disasters

Biosphere sustainability

Biosphere and man: ecological danger

Conclusion

Introduction

Man is an inhabitant of the biosphere. It is the biosphere - that shell of the Earth, within which the life of mankind as a whole and of each of us proceeds.

Biosphere - the area where living organisms live; the shell of the Earth, the composition, structure and energy of which is determined by the combined activity of living organisms. The upper limit extends to the height of the ozone screen (20-25 km), the lower one descends 1-2 km below the ocean floor and, on average, 2-3 km on land. The biosphere covers the lower part of the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the pedosphere (soil), and the upper part of the lithosphere (rocks).

Composition and properties of the biosphere

The biosphere, being a global ecosystem (ecosphere), like any ecosystem, consists of abiotic and biotic parts.

The abiotic part is represented by:

Soil and underlying rocks to a depth where there are still living organisms that enter into exchange with the substance of these rocks and the physical environment of the pore space.

Atmospheric air to heights where manifestations of life are still possible.

Aquatic environment - oceans, rivers, lakes, etc.
favorable temperatures: not too high so that the protein does not coagulate, and not too low so that enzymes - accelerators of biochemical reactions work normally,
a living being needs a living wage of minerals.

The biogenic migration of atoms in the biosphere is based on two biochemical principles:

1 to strive for maximum manifestation, for the "omnipresence" of life;

2 to ensure the survival of organisms, which increases the biogenic migration itself.

In a general consideration of the biosphere as a planetary ecosystem, the concept of its living matter, as a certain general living mass of the planet, acquires special significance. -3-

Properties of the biosphere

The biosphere is a centralized system.

Living organisms (living matter) act as its central link.

2. The biosphere is an open system. Its existence is unthinkable without energy from outside.

It is affected by cosmic forces, primarily solar activity.

The biosphere is a self-regulating system. Currently, this property is called homeostasis, meaning by it the ability to return to its original state, to dampen emerging disturbances by turning on a number of mechanisms.

The danger of the current ecological situation is associated primarily with the fact that the line of mechanical homeostasis and the Le Giatelier-Brown principle are violated, if not on a planetary, then on a large regional scale. The result is the disintegration of ecosystems, or the appearance of unstable, practically devoid of properties of homeostasis, systems such as agrocenosis or urbanized complexes.

The biosphere is a system characterized by great diversity.

Soil is a unique component of the biosphere

At the end of the XIX century. the great Russian naturalist V.V. Dokuchaev, by his studies of chernozem and other soils of the Russian Valley and the Caucasus, established that soils are naturalfeatures and properties are very different from the rocks on which they were formed. Their distribution on the Earth's surface is subject to strict geographical patterns.

The variety of soils is enormous. This is due to the variety of combinations of soil formation factors: rocks, surface age, plant and animal populations, and relief.

Soil is a special natural body and living environment resulting from the transformation of rocks on the land surface by the joint activity of living organisms, water and air.

Soil-forming processes on Earth are grandiose in their planetary scale and duration processes of creating soil organic matter, their biological accumulation and the emergence of fertility.

Living matter of the biosphere

"There is no chemical force on the earth's surface that is more powerful in its final effects than living organisms taken as a whole."

The living substance of the biosphere is the totality of all its living organisms. Living matter in the understanding of Vernadsky is a form of active matter, and its energy is the greater, the greater the mass of living matter. The concept of "living matter" was introduced into science by V.I. Vernadsky and understood above him the totality of all living organisms of the planet.

What are the properties of living matter?

Properties of living matter

The living matter of the biosphere is characterized by enormous free energy, which could only be compared with a fiery lava flow, but the energy of lava is not long-term.

In living matter, due to the presence of enzymes, chemical reactions occur thousands, and sometimes millions of times faster than in non-living matter. For life processes, it is characteristic that the substances and energy received by the body are processed and given off in much larger quantities.

Individual chemical elements (proteins, enzymes, and sometimes individual mineral compounds are synthesized only in living organisms).

Living matter tends to fill all possible space. IN AND. Vernadsky names two specific forms of motion of living matter:

a) passive, which is carried out by reproduction, and is inherent in both animal and plant organisms;

b) active, which is carried out due to the directed movement of organisms (a smaller measure of character for plants).

Living matter exhibits much greater morphological and chemical diversity than non-living matter. In nature, more than 2 million organic compounds are known that are part of living matter, while the number of minerals in inanimate matter is about 2 thousand, that is, three orders of magnitude lower.

Living matter is represented by dispersed bodies - individual organisms, each of which has its own genesis, its own genetic composition. The size of individual organisms ranges from 2 nm in the smallest to 100 m (range over 109).

Redi's principle (Florentine academician, physician and naturalist, 1626-1697) "everything living from living things" is a distinctive feature of living matter that exists on Earth in the form of a continuous alternation of generations and is characterized

genetic connection with living matter of all past geological epochs. Inanimate abiogenic substances, as is known, enter the biosphere from outer space, and are carried out in portions from the shell of the globe. They may be similar in composition, but in general they do not have a genetic connection. "Redy's principle ... does not point to

the impossibility of abiogenesis outside the biosphere or when establishing the presence in the biosphere (now or earlier) of physicochemical phenomena that were not accepted in the scientific definition of this form of organization of the earth's shell.

Living matter in the form of concrete organisms, unlike non-living matter, carries out tremendous work throughout its historical life.

Biosphere and space

The Earth is a unique planet, it is located at the only possible distance from the Sun, which determines the temperature of the Earth's surface at which water can be in a liquid state.

The biosphere is closely connected with space. The flows of energy coming to the Earth create the conditions that ensure life. The magnetic field and the ozone shield protect the planet from excessive cosmic radiation and intense solar radiation. Cosmic radiation reaching the biosphere provides photosynthesis and influences the activity of living beings.

Ecological interactions of living matter: who eats how

Planet Earth differs from other planets in that its biosphere contains a substance that is sensitive to the flow of solar radiation - chlorophyll. It is chlorophyll that provides the conversion of the electromagnetic energy of solar radiation into chemical energy, with the help of which the process of reduction of carbon and nitrogen oxides occurs in biosynthesis reactions.

In a green plant, photosynthesis occurs - the process of forming carbohydrates from water and oxygen dioxide (which is in the air or water). In this case, oxygen is released as a by-product. Green plants are autotrophs - organisms that take all the chemical elements they need for life from the inert matter surrounding them and do not require ready-made organic compounds of another organism to build their body. The main source of energy used by autotrophs is the sun. Heterotrophs These are organisms that need organic matter formed by other organisms for their nutrition.

Heterotrophs gradually transform the organic matter formed by autotrophs, bringing it to its original - mineral - state.

In the biosphere, the processes of transformation of inorganic, inert matter into organic matter and the reverse transformation of organic matter into mineral matter take place. The movement and transformation of substances in the biosphere is carried out with the direct participation of living matter, all types of which specialized in various ways of nutrition.

Biogenic migration of atoms - an ecosystem property of the biosphere

The finite amount of matter that exists in the biosphere has acquired the property of infinity through the circulation of substances.

The image of the circulation of matter in the biosphere is created by the wheel of a water mill. However, in order for the wheel to turn, a constant flow of water is needed. Similarly, the flow of solar energy coming from space turns the "wheel of life" on our planet. How fast is the wheel spinning? In the course of biogeochemical cycles, the atoms of most chemical elements passed countless times through a living being. For example, all atmospheric oxygen "circulates" through living matter in 2000 years, carbon dioxide - in 200-300 years, and all water in the biosphere - in 2 million years.

Living matter is a perfect receiver of solar energy.

The energy absorbed and used in the reaction of photosynthesis, and then stored in the form of chemical energy of carbohydrates, is very large, there is evidence that it is comparable to the energy consumed by 100,000 large cities for 100 years. Heterotrophs use the organic matter of plants as food: organic matter is oxidized by oxygen, which is delivered to the body by the respiratory organs, with the formation of carbon dioxide - the reaction goes in the opposite direction. Thus, "eternal" makes life the simultaneous existence of autotrophs and heterotrophs.

the geochemical features of which are determined by living matter, both the one that now inhabits the biosphere and the one that has acted on Earth throughout geological history.

How the Biosphere Developed: Five Ecological Disasters

Since the founders of modern paleontology discovered that fossilized sediments can read the path of life, we have learned that the organic world on Earth has repeatedly experienced tragic events that led to the almost complete destruction of life on the planet. Over the past 500 million years, the Earth suddenly turned out to be seriously ill several times, and once - it was 250 million years ago - life on Earth almost stopped.

Experts identify five major catastrophes that the biosphere has experienced: the Carboniferous period, the Permian period, the Triassic, the Jurassic period, the Cretaceous period. Each of the catastrophes led to the development of living matter: a more complete adaptation to the environment; the emergence of more species; their penetration into new habitats.

With every catastrophe that has taken place in the biosphere, along with the mass of defeated species, we also see winners. At first there were very few of them, but they were able to "reap" the fruits of their victory, filling the vacated space with their own kind. However, no new species can be reproached for being involved in the catastrophe itself for the sake of the prosperity of its species or family. Cataclysms occurred for cosmic or purely terrestrial reasons due to the peculiarities of the development of living matter, when some of its parts oppressed or completely erased from the face of the planet others that could not adapt to the changed natural conditions.

The development of the living matter of the biosphere - an increase in the level of its organization and degree of adaptation to the environment - occurred through catastrophes - abrupt changes in the abiotic environment. The contradictions between the established abiotic and biotic components of the biosphere, with abrupt changes in the environment for geological time, were resolved every time due to the diversity and variability of the living matter of the biosphere. Living matter each time kept alive in the biosphere due to the survival of more adapted species.

Biosphere sustainability

Since ancient times, the richness of the living world has fascinated and delighted man. The diversity of species does not exhaust all biological diversity. Within each species, its populations and individuals, including humans, differ genetically to a much greater extent than previously thought. Two randomly selected individuals will differ in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of chromosome differences. Such differences are very important, many of them are associated with sensitivity to changes in environmental parameters, determine the adaptability or even the possibility of survival of individual organisms, a reminder that natural selection continues.

The adaptability of the biosphere to changing external conditions is an ordered process in which one species can be replaced by another, and at the same time it is a stream of shifting dynamic equilibria. The biological diversity of the biosphere provides a continuous biochemical cycle of matter and energy flows, maintaining the connections of all geospheres: the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, creating the integrity of the natural environment.

Biosphere and man: ecological danger

The world is already aware of the danger that threatens it. And this time a living being is known, guilty of the approaching catastrophe - Human . Its appearance was preceded by a long period in which the ancestors of Homo sapiens-hominids arose, evolved, gave way to one another. They developed and lived in the general stream of life, were its participants and possessed a whole range of needs and instincts absolutely necessary for life and evolution. All this made the flow of life, on the one hand, integral, easily vulnerable in separate links, and on the other hand, well self-protected and protected by the system.

Millennia passed, great civilizations created by man arose and perished. All the splendor of modern civilization - the abundance and variety of goods, transport, space flights, the opportunity for a huge number of people to engage in

Back in the last century, the famous geographer, climatologist, geophysicist Professor A. I. Voikov, the founder of the first geophysical observatory in Russia, formulated a well-known law: warm in the North - dry in the South. This law, which is now called Voikov's law, sums up many years of observations. Whenever, during the cyclic change in average temperatures in the North, it begins to warm up, the number of dry years increases in the Trans-Volga region, Kazakhstan and other regions of southeastern Eurasia. The vegetation of deserts and semi-deserts is especially sensitive to changes in the amount of precipitation.

Man is looking for ways to limit his detrimental impact on nature, because he has realized his dependence on the state of the biosphere. People realized that their activities must change radically and conform to the natural laws of the biosphere, within the boundaries of which all life activity can proceed.

Conclusion

Our planet is unique because it has life. Life permeates not only the water and air elements, but also the earthly firmament. Life on Earth is represented by living matter, which is formed by millions of species and billions of individuals. Living matter, the entire biological diversity of the Earth is protected from cosmic rays by the geomagnetic field and the ozone screen. All forms and manifestations of life do not exist on their own, they are connected by complex relationships into a single complex of life-global ecosystem (biosphere). These relationships and connections in wildlife are amazing! Each group of related species that form the kingdom plays a specific role in the cycle of substances: the creation, transformation, destruction of organic substances.

The main source of energy in the biosphere is the Sun. The biogenic cycle of substances does not allow interruption of life on planet Earth. The living creatures of the biosphere transformed the chemical composition of air, water, soil, determined their modern composition, influenced the formation of minerals and rocks, and the Earth's relief. The biosphere is the environment of life and the result of life activity.

One of the main tasks of the 21st century, to which ecology should make a significant contribution, is the achievement of harmony between man and nature.

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The biosphere is a global ecosystem. As noted earlier, the biosphere is divided into geobiosphere, hydrobiosphere and aerobiosphere. The geobiosphere has divisions in accordance with the main environmental factors: terra - biosphere and lithobiosphere - within the geobiosphere, marinobiosphere (ocean-biosphere) and aqua - biosphere - as part of the hydrobiosphere. These formations are called sub-spheres. The leading environment-forming factor in their formation is physical phase living environments: air-water in the aerobiosphere, water (freshwater and salt-water) in the hydrobiosphere, solid-air in the terrabiosphere and solid-water in the lithobiosphere.

In turn, they all fall into layers: the aerobiosphere into the tropobiosphere and altobiosphere; hydrobiosphere - into the photosphere, disphotosphere and afotosphere.

The structure-forming factors here, in addition to the physical environment, energy (light and heat), special conditions for the formation and evolution of life - the evolutionary directions of the penetration of biota onto land, into its depths, into spaces above the earth, the abyss of the ocean, are undoubtedly different. Together with the apobiosphere, parabiosphere and other sub- and above-biospheric layers, they constitute the so-called “layer cake of life” and the geosphere (ecosphere) of its existence within the boundaries of the megabiosphere.

The vertical extent of the biosphere and the ratio of surfaces occupied by the main structural units(according to F. Ramad, 1981)

The listed formations in a systemic sense are large functional parts of actually general earth or subplanetary dimensions. The general hierarchy of subsystems of the biosphere is shown in Fig.

Hierarchy of ecosystems of the biosphere (according to N. F. Reimers, 1994

Scientists believe; that in the biosphere there are eight to nine levels of relatively independent cycles of substances within the interconnections of the seven main material-energy ecological components and the eighth - informational

Ecological components (according to N. F. Reimers, 1994)

Global, regional and local circulations substances are not closed and partially “intersect” within the hierarchy of ecosystems. This material-energetic, and partly informational "cohesion" ensures the integrity of ecological supersystems up to the biosphere as a whole.

General patterns of organization of the biosphere.

The biosphere is formed to a greater extent not external factors, but internal patterns. The most important property of the biosphere is the interaction of living and non-living, which is reflected in the law of biogenic migration of atoms by V. I. Vernadsky, and we have considered it in section 12.6.

The law of biogenic migration of atoms enables humanity to consciously control biogeochemical processes both on the Earth as a whole and in its regions.

The amount of living matter in the biosphere, as is known, is not subject to noticeable changes. This pattern was formulated in the form of the law of constancy of the amount of living matter by V. I. Vernadsky: the amount of living matter of the biosphere for a given geological period is a constant. In practice, this law is a quantitative consequence of the law of internal dynamic equilibrium for the global ecosystem - the biosphere. Since living matter, in accordance with the law of biogenic migration of atoms, is an energy mediator between the Sun and the Earth, either its quantity must be constant, or its energy characteristics must change. The law of physical and chemical unity of living matter (all living matter of the Earth is physically and chemically one) excludes significant changes in the latter property. Hence, quantitative stability is inevitable for the living matter of the planet. It is fully characteristic of the number of species.

Living matter, as an accumulator of solar energy, must simultaneously respond both to external (cosmic) influences and to internal changes. A decrease or increase in the amount of living matter in one place of the biosphere should lead to a process exactly the opposite in another place, because the released biogens can be assimilated by the rest of the living matter or their deficiency will be observed. Here one should take into account the speed of the process, in the case of anthropogenic change, much lower than direct violation nature by man.

In addition to the constancy and constancy of the amount of living matter, which is reflected in the law of the physicochemical unity of living matter, in living nature there is a constant preservation of the informational and somatic structure, despite the fact that it changes somewhat with the course of evolution. This property was noted by Yu. Goldsmith (1981) and was called the law of conservation of the structure of the biosphere - informational and somatic, or the first law of ecodynamics. . To preserve the structure of the biosphere, living things strive to achieve a state of maturity or ecological balance. The law of striving for climax is the second law of ecodynamics by J. Goldsmith, applies to the biosphere and other levels ecological systems, although there is a specificity - the biosphere is a more closed system than its subdivisions. The unity of the living matter of the biosphere and the homology of the structure of its subsystems lead to the fact that the living elements of different geological age and initial geographical origin that have evolved on it are intricately intertwined. The interweaving of spatio-temporal genesis elements at all ecological levels of the biosphere reflects the rule or principle of the heterogenesis of living matter. This addition is not chaotic, but is subject to the principles of ecological complementarity (complementarity), ecological compliance (congruence) and other laws. Within the framework of Y. Goldsmith's ecodynamics, this is its third law - the principle of ecological order, or ecological mutualism, indicating a global property due to the influence of the whole on its parts, the feedback effect of differentiated parts on the development of the whole, etc., which in total leads to the preservation the stability of the biosphere as a whole.

Mutual assistance within the framework of the ecological order, or systemic mutualism, is affirmed by the law of orderliness of filling space and space-time certainty: the filling of space within a natural system, due to the interaction between its subsystems, is ordered in such a way that it allows the homeostatic properties of the system to be realized with minimal contradictions between parts within it. From this law follows the impossibility of the long-term existence of accidents “unnecessary” to nature, including those alien to it. created by man. The rules of the mutualistic system order in the biosphere also include the principle of system complementarity, which states that the subsystems of one natural system in their development provide a prerequisite for the successful development and self-regulation of other subsystems included in the same system.

The fourth law of ecodynamics by Yu. Goldsmith includes the law of self-control and self-regulation of living things: living systems and systems under the control of living things are capable of self-control and self-regulation in the process of adapting to changes in the environment. In the biosphere, self-control and self-regulation occur in the course of cascade and chain processes of general interaction - in the course of the struggle for the existence of natural selection (in the broadest sense of this concept), adaptation of systems and subsystems, wide co-evolution, etc. At the same time, all these processes lead to positive results "from the point of view of nature" - the preservation and development of ecosystems of the biosphere and it as a whole.

The link between structural and evolutionary generalizations is the rule of automatic maintenance global environment habitat: living matter in the course of self-regulation and interaction with abiotic factors autodynamically maintains a living environment suitable for its development. This process limited by changes, cosmic and global ecospheric scale and occurs in all ecosystems and biosystems of the planet, as a cascade of self-regulation, reaching a global scale. The rule of automatic maintenance of the global habitat follows from the biogeochemical principles of V. I. Vernadsky, the rules for the conservation of the species habitat, relative internal consistency and serves as a constant for the presence of conservative mechanisms in the biosphere and at the same time confirms the rule of system-dynamic complementarity.

The law of refraction of cosmic influences testifies to the cosmic impact on the biosphere: cosmic factors, influencing the biosphere and especially its subdivisions, are subject to change by the planet's ecosphere and therefore, in terms of strength and time, manifestations can be weakened and shifted or even completely lose their effect. Generalization is important here due to the fact that there is often a stream of synchronous effects of solar activity and other space factors on the Earth's ecosystems and the organisms that inhabit it.

It should be noted that many processes on the Earth and in its biosphere, although they are influenced by space, and cycles of solar activity are assumed with an interval of 1850, 600,400, 178, 169,88,83,33,22,16, 11.5 (11.1 ), 6.5 and 4.3 years, the biosphere itself and its subdivisions do not necessarily have to react with the same cyclicity in all cases. Cosmic influences of the biosphere system can completely or partially block

Ways of cosmic influence on the biosphere

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Biosphere is the inhabited part of the geological shell of the Earth.

Biosphere- this is a part of the geological shell of the Earth, the properties of which are determined by the activity of living organisms.

The second definition covers a wider area: after all, atmospheric oxygen formed as a result of photosynthesis is distributed throughout the atmosphere and is present where there are no living organisms. The biosphere in the first sense consists of lithosphere, hydrosphere and lower atmosphere - troposphere. The limits of the biosphere are limited by the ozone screen, located at a height of 20 km, and the lower boundary, located at a depth of about 4 km.

Biosphere - a global ecosystem, a shell of the Earth inhabited by living organisms, which arose with the appearance of living beings as a result of evolutionary development planets. It includes the upper part of the lithosphere, the entire hydrosphere, the troposphere and the lower part of the stratosphere. The doctrine of the biosphere was created by an academician IN AND. Vernadsky ( 1926).

Atmosphere - the gaseous shell of the Earth and some other planets, the Sun and stars. The Earth's atmosphere has a length of up to 100 km and consists of the troposphere, stratosphere and ionosphere. At the lower boundary of the stratosphere at an altitude of 15-35 km, free oxygen turns into ozone (02 -> 03), which forms the Earth's protective screen.

Hydrosphere - water shell Earth located between the lithosphere and the atmosphere. It occupies 70.8% of the Earth's surface and includes oceans, seas, rivers, lakes.

Lithosphere - the outer solid shell of the Earth, the earth's crust, consisting of sedimentary and igneous rocks. Soil is formed on its surface - a special natural body that arose during the interaction of rocks, water, air and living organisms. The lithosphere is the most saturated part of the biosphere with living matter.

Humus (humus) - organic matter of the soil, formed as a result of the decomposition of plant and animal residues by decomposer organisms. The amount of humus is an indicator of soil fertility. The thickness of the humus horizon in podzolic soils is 5-10 cm, in chernozem soils it is 1-1.5 m with a humus content of up to 30%.

Soil reclamation - improvement of soil properties in order to increase its fertility. There are such types of melioration, as hydrotechnical - drainage, irrigation, washing of saline soils; chemical - liming, plastering, oxidation; physical - sanding, claying; agroforestry - planting forest belts, etc.

Landscape - General view of the area. Landscapes are natural (lake, mountain, forest) and man-made (fields, gardens, parks, reservoirs, factories, cities). In artificial landscapes, landscaping is of great importance, as it affects the composition of air, water, and noise levels. Great importance has the preservation of the natural landscape during the development of cities, the extraction of building material (pebbles, crushed stone, sand), especially on the banks of rivers and seas.

Natural resources - minerals, energy sources, soil, waterways and reservoirs, minerals, forests, wild plants, animal world land and water areas, gene pool cultivated plants and pets, picturesque landscapes, wellness areas, etc.:

Exhaustible Resources :

non-renewable - oil, coal, other minerals;

renewable - soil, vegetation, wildlife, sedimentary rocks (salts), the rate of consumption of which must correspond to the rate of their recovery, otherwise they will disappear.

Inexhaustible - these are space, climatic and water resources (but they also largely depend on the state of the atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere as a whole).

The teachings of V.I. Vernadsky about the biosphere and noosphere is a generalization of natural science knowledge, which considers the components of the biosphere, its boundaries, the functions of living matter and the evolution of the biosphere. Academician V.I. Vernadsky was the first to show the enormous biogeochemical role of plants, animals and microorganisms in the formation of the biosphere. In the structure of the biosphere, he singled out the following Components :

living matter (the totality of living organisms on the planet); in all geological epochs, living matter, transforming and accumulating solar energy, influenced the chemical composition of the earth's crust, was a powerful geochemical force shaping the face of the Earth;

inert (non-living) matter (atmo-, hydro-, lithosphere and their components - gases, particulate matter and water vapor emitted by volcanoes, geysers);

inanimate biogenic substance , created in the process of vital activity of organisms of modern and past geological eras (fossil remains of organisms, oil, coal, atmospheric gases, lake silt - sapropel, sedimentary rocks, for example, limestone);

bio-inert substance - the result of the vital activity of organisms and non-biological processes (soil, water of inhabited reservoirs, clay minerals).

The biosphere has certain borders, which coincide with the boundaries of the distribution of living organisms in the shells of the Earth, which is determined by the presence of conditions for the existence of life (favorable temperature, radiation level, sufficient amount of water, minerals, oxygen, carbon dioxide ). Upper limit of the biosphere located at an altitude of 15-20 km from the Earth's surface, passes in the stratosphere and is determined by the ozone screen, which delays harmful to living ultra-violet rays sunlight. The bulk of living organisms is located in the lower air shell - the troposphere. Most populated the lowest part of the troposphere (50-70 m). Lower limit of life passes through the lithosphere at a depth of 3.5-7.5 km. Life is concentrated mainly in the upper part of the lithosphere - in the soil and on its surface.

AT different parts biosphere, the density of life is not the same. The largest number organisms is located near the surface of the lithosphere and hydrosphere. The content of biomass also varies by zone. Tropical forests have the maximum density, Arctic ice, high-mountain regions, and deserts have an insignificant density.

Productivity of the biosphere - the total increase in the biomass of the Earth for 1 year. annual primary production of plants is 170 109 tons (dry weight) and contains about 300-500 1021 J of energy. The largest part of this production is accounted for by land plant communities - 117,109. Animal (secondary) production is 3,934,106 tons, of which about 909,106 tons are on land and 3,025,106 tons are in the World Ocean.

Biomass of the Earth - the totality of all living organisms (living matter) of the planet. Expressed in units of mass or energy per unit area or volume. The biomass of the Earth reaches approximately 2.423 1012 tons, of which 97% is the biomass of green land plants, and 3% is the biomass of animals and microorganisms. Biomass is 0.01% of the mass of the globe.

Biomass of the oceans - the totality of all living organisms inhabiting the hydrosphere (2/3 of the Earth's surface). Their biomass is 1000 times less than the biomass of land inhabitants, and is 3.9? 109 tons, since the use of solar energy in water reaches 0.04%, and on land - 0.1-2.0%.

Living matter of the biosphere - the totality of living organisms (biomass) of the Earth - is open system, which is characterized by growth, reproduction, distribution, metabolism and energy with the external environment, the accumulation of energy and its transfer in food chains. Living matter in the biosphere performs various biogeochemical functions, which ensures the circulation of substances and the conversion of energy and, as a result, the integrity, constancy of the biosphere, its sustainable existence. The most important functions :

Energy- accumulation and conversion of solar energy by plants during photosynthesis (chemoautotrophic bacteria convert the energy of chemical bonds) and its transfer through food chains: from producers to consumers and further to decomposers. At the same time, the energy is gradually dissipated, but part of it, together with the remains of organisms, passes into a fossil state, is “conserved” in the earth’s crust, forming reserves of oil, coal, etc.

Gas- constant gas exchange with the environment during respiration and photosynthesis (green plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere during photosynthesis, while most living organisms (including plants) use oxygen during respiration, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere gas). Thus, by participating in metabolic processes, living matter maintains the gas composition of the atmosphere at a certain level.

redox- metabolism and energy, photosynthesis (microorganisms in the process of life oxidize or reduce various compounds, while receiving energy for life processes, participating in the formation of minerals, for example, the activity of iron bacteria in the oxidation of iron led to the formation of sedimentary rocks - iron ores; sulfur bacteria, reducing sulfates, formed sulfur deposits).

concentration function - biogenic migration of atoms that are concentrated in living organisms, and after their death they pass into inanimate nature (the ability of living organisms to accumulate various chemical elements, for example, sedges and horsetails contain a lot of silicon, seaweed and sorrel - iodine and calcium, in the skeletons of vertebrates animals contain a large amount of phosphorus, calcium, magnesium). The implementation of this function contributed to the formation of deposits of limestone, chalk, peat, coal, oil.

Evolution of the biosphere . IN AND. Vernadsky in his works emphasized that the history of the emergence and evolution of the biosphere is the history of the emergence of life on Earth. The development of the biosphere goes along with evolution organic world- the composition of its components changes, the boundaries expand, etc. The scientist at the beginning of the 20th century. pointed out the increasing influence of man on the course of evolution of the biosphere, predicted many trends in the impact of man on nature and introduced the concept of the noosphere as the "intelligent shell" of the Earth.

For the transition of the biosphere into the noosphere, it is necessary to learn the laws of the structure and development of the biosphere and develop new principles of morality and human behavior in order to maintain a stable and progressive development of our planet.

Global changes in the biosphere. Protection of flora and fauna

Anthropogenic impact on the biosphere . Man has always used the environment as a source of resources, but since the end of the last century, changes in the biosphere have been influenced by economic activity pose a threat to the existence of the biosphere and of man himself. Effects anthropogenic activities are manifested in the depletion of natural resources, pollution of the biosphere with industrial waste, climate change and the structure of the Earth's surface, disruption of natural biogeochemical cycles, destruction of natural ecosystems.

pollution - presence in the environment harmful substances that disrupt the functioning of ecological systems or their individual elements and reduce the quality of the environment. The environmental impact of polluting agents at the organismal level leads to disruption of certain physiological functions of organisms, changes in their behavior, reduced growth and development, resistance to other adverse factors external environment. At the population level, pollution can cause changes in their abundance and biomass, fertility, mortality, structure, annual migration cycles, and a number of others. functional properties. At the biocenotic level, pollution affects the structure and functions of communities, and ecosystems are degraded.

Distinguish natural and anthropogenic pollution. natural pollution occurs as a result of natural causes - volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, catastrophic floods and fires. Anthropogenic pollution is the result of human activity.

pollutants, arising as a result of human activities, and their impact on the environment are very diverse. These are compounds of carbon, sulfur, nitrogen, heavy metals, various organic substances, artificially created materials, radioactive elements, etc. Each pollutant has a certain negative impact on nature. Legislation establishes for each pollutant maximum allowable discharge (MPD) and maximum allowable concentration (MAC) in the natural environment. Maximum Permissible Discharge (MPD) - the mass of a pollutant emitted by individual sources per unit of time, the excess of which leads to adverse effects in the environment or is dangerous to human health. Maximum Permissible Concentration (MAC) - the amount of a harmful substance in the environment that does not adversely affect human health or its offspring through permanent or temporary contact with it. When determining MPC, not only the degree of influence of pollutants on human health is taken into account, but also the impact on animals, plants, fungi, microorganisms, natural community generally.

In addition to environmental pollution, anthropogenic impact is expressed in depletion of the natural resources of the biosphere . The huge scale of the use of natural resources has led to a significant change in landscapes in a number of regions. Up to a certain level, the biosphere is capable of self-regulation, which allows minimizing Negative consequences human activities. But there is a limit when the biosphere is no longer able to maintain balance. There is a qualitative and quantitative restructuring of the entire biosphere of the planet, irreversible processes arise, leading to environmental disasters.

Air pollution. The modern gas composition of the atmosphere is the result of a long historical development the globe - a gas mixture of nitrogen (78.09%) and oxygen (20.95%), as well as argon (0.93%), carbon dioxide (0.03%), inert gases (neon, helium, krypton, xenon ), ammonia, methane, ozone, sulfur dioxide and other gases. Air emissions of industrial gases, including compounds such as carbon monoxide CO ( carbon monoxide), oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, ammonia and other pollutants, leads to inhibition of vital activity of plants and animals, violations metabolic processes poisoning and death of living organisms.

An increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accompanied by an increase in the amount of aerosol (fine particles of dust, soot, suspensions of solutions of some chemical compounds) and excessive air absorption thermal radiation Earth, leads to "greenhouse effect» - an increase in the average temperature of the planet's atmosphere by several degrees. A certain role in creating the "greenhouse effect" is played by the heat released from thermal power plants and nuclear power plants. Climate warming can lead to intensive melting of glaciers in the polar regions, an increase in the level of the World Ocean, a change in its salinity, temperature, and flooding of coastal lowlands.

acid rain, caused mainly by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, cause great harm to forest biocenoses. It has been established that conifers suffer from acid rain to a greater extent than broad-leaved ones. Only on the territory of our country, the total area of forests affected by industrial emissions has reached 1 million hectares.

Ozone layer depletion atmosphere, which is a protective screen from ultraviolet radiation that is harmful to living organisms, occurs over the poles of the planet - Antarctica and the Arctic, where the so-called ozone holes. The main reason for the depletion of the ozone layer is the use by people of chlorofluorocarbons (freons), which are widely used in production and everyday life as refrigerants, foaming agents, solvents and aerosols.

Pollution of natural waters - decrease in their biospheric functions and economic importance as a result of the entry of harmful substances into them (oil and oil products, household (sewer) and industrial wastewater containing lead, mercury, arsenic, which have a strong toxic effect, synthetic substances used in industry, transport, household services, agricultural effluents containing significant amounts of fertilizer residues (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) applied to the fields, pesticides etc.) Oil can get into the water as a result of its natural outflows in the areas of occurrence. But the main sources of pollution are associated with human activities: oil production, transportation, processing and use of oil as fuel and industrial raw materials. Oil on water forms a thin film that prevents gas exchange between water and air. Settling to the bottom, oil enters the bottom sediments, where it disturbs natural processes life of bottom animals and microorganisms.

Water reserves are also depleted due to excessive water intake from rivers for irrigation. One of the types of water pollution is thermal pollution. power plants, industrial enterprises Often they dump heated water into a reservoir, which leads to an increase in the water temperature in it and the rapid reproduction of pathogens and viruses. Once in drinking water, they can cause outbreaks of various diseases.

Soil pollution . As a result of the development of human economic activity, pollution, changes in the composition of the soil and even its destruction occur. Enormous areas of fertile lands are destroyed during mining and industrial work, the construction of enterprises and cities. The destruction of forests and natural grass cover, repeated plowing of the land without observing the rules of agricultural technology lead to soil erosion - the destruction and washing away of the fertile layer by water and wind. The main soil pollutants are metals (mercury, lead) and their compounds, radioactive elements, as well as fertilizers and pesticides - persistent organic compounds used in agriculture. They accumulate in soil, water, bottom sediments of water bodies and are included in ecological food chains, pass from soil and water to plants, then to animals and eventually enter the human body with food.

Radiation pollution are significantly different from others. Radioactive nuclides are the nuclei of unstable chemical elements that emit charged particles and short-wave electromagnetic radiation. It is these particles and radiations that, when they enter the human body, destroy cells, resulting in radiation sickness.

There are natural sources of radioactivity everywhere in the biosphere, and man, like all living organisms, has always been exposed to natural radiation. External exposure occurs due to radiation of cosmic origin and radioactive nuclides in the environment. Internal exposure is created by radioactive elements that enter the human body with air, water and food. At present, radioactive elements are widely used in various fields. Negligence in the storage and transportation of these elements leads to serious radioactive contamination. radioactive contamination biosphere is associated, for example, with the testing of atomic weapons, accidents at nuclear power plants. The warehousing and storage of radioactive waste poses a great danger to the environment. military industry and nuclear power plants.

The mass destruction of forests entails the death of the richest flora and fauna.

Thus , due to the increase in the scale of anthropogenic impact (human economic activity), especially in last century, the balance in the biosphere is disturbed, which can lead to irreversible processes and raise the question of the possibility of life on the planet. This is due to the development of industry, energy, transport, agriculture and other human activities without taking into account the possibilities of the Earth's biosphere. Serious environmental problems have already arisen before humanity, requiring immediate solutions.

Environmental forecast - behavior prediction natural systems determined by natural processes and human impact on them. Forecasts are global (planetary) and local (for a small area), for the near future and for 100-120 years ahead. Taking into account the forecast data, measures are being taken to protect water bodies, soil, vegetation, wildlife from pollution, destruction, and to preserve the species composition.

Protection of the natural environment from pollution - a system of measures aimed at eliminating negative influence person, which is expressed in emissions poisonous gases, water pollution, the use of herbicides, pesticides, combustible materials, radioactive substances, intense noise, nuclear raw materials.

environmental protection - protection of the environment in which humanity lives, and natural objects this environment. There is an International Program created in 1973 by the United Nations (UNEP) dedicated to acute problems state of the art environment: the fight against desertification, the protection of the oceans, soil cover, rain rainforest, fresh water sources, etc. Environmental measures to preserve the species composition of the planet are associated with the creation of the Red Book and protected natural areas.

Red Book - a list of endangered, rare and endangered species of plants and animals.

Black list - an international list of extinct species of animals and plants, from which only stuffed animals, skeletons and carcasses, drawings, herbariums that are in museums remain.

Now on Earth, the rate of extinction of species is several thousand times higher than that which would exist in untouched nature.

reserves - areas of land or water, completely excluded from all types of economic use, where natural landscapes are preserved in an undisturbed state.

Reserves - areas of land or water where the use of certain types of natural resources is temporarily prohibited. Validity of reserves - 5-10 years.

National parks - territories excluded from economic exploitation in order to preserve natural complexes having a special ecological, historical, aesthetic value and also used for recreation and cultural purposes.

Thematic tasks

A1. The main feature of the biosphere:

1) the presence of living organisms in it

2) the presence in it of non-living components processed by living organisms

3) the circulation of substances controlled by living organisms

4) binding of solar energy by living organisms

A2. Deposits of oil, coal, peat were formed in the process of circulation:

1) oxygen

2) carbon

4) hydrogen

A3. Find the wrong statement. Irreplaceable natural resources formed during the carbon cycle in the biosphere:

2) combustible gas

3) hard coal

4) peat and wood

A4. Bacteria that break down urea to ammonium and carbon dioxide ions take part in the cycle

1) oxygen and hydrogen

2) nitrogen and carbon

3) phosphorus and sulfur

4) oxygen and carbon

A5. The cycle of matter is based on processes such as

1) dispersal of species

3) photosynthesis and respiration

2) mutations

4) natural selection

A6. Nodule bacteria are included in the cycle

3) carbon

4) oxygen

A7. solar energy caught

1) producers

2) consumers of the first order

3) consumers of the second order

4) decomposers

A8. The strengthening of the greenhouse effect, according to scientists, is most facilitated by:

1) carbon dioxide

3) nitrogen dioxide

A9. The ozone that forms the ozone shield is formed in:

1) hydrosphere

2) atmosphere

3) in the earth's crust

4) in the mantle of the Earth

A10. The largest number of species is found in ecosystems:

1) temperate evergreen forests

2) tropical rain forests

3) temperate deciduous forests

A11. The most dangerous cause of biodiversity depletion is the most important factor sustainability of the biosphere is

1) direct extermination

2) chemical pollution of the environment

3) physical pollution environments

4) habitat destruction

Any living system there is private view most complex systems built on the basis of protein compounds. Therefore, a systematic approach in ecology is very popular.

In ecology, there are two approaches to understanding the essence of phenomena:

Population approach - focuses on populations of living beings, that is, on groups of individuals of the same species, a large number of generations of which inhabit a certain space within limited limits (it is believed that it is the population that is the main elementary unit studied by traditional ecology);

Ecosystem approach - based on the concept ecosystems- a set of organisms and non-living components interacting together and connected by flows of matter and energy.

The concept of an ecosystem was introduced by the English botanist A. Tensley in 1935.

Geographer and writer G.K. Efremov gave a figurative definition of an ecosystem as “any natural education– from bump to shell (geographical)”.

The ecosystem approach gravitates towards a holistic description of nature, while the population approach tends towards a plural one.

All ecosystems can be divided into ranks:

1) microecosystems (puddle, rotting stump, decaying corpse, etc.);

2) mesoecosystems (forest, lake, river, small island, etc.);

3) macroecosystems (sea, ocean, continent, large island, etc.);

4) global ecosystem (biosphere).

In addition to the above classification of ecosystems in ecology, the concept of biogeocenosis is traditionally considered, which is close in meaning to the concept of an ecosystem. Biogeocenosis- this is a special case of a large ecosystem, covering, as a rule, a significant territory, suggesting the obligatory presence of vegetation as the main link, that is phytocenosis, which provides this ecosystem with the supply of primary energy (information). In view of such energy autonomy, biogeocenosis is theoretically immortal, unlike, for example, a rotting fallen tree, whose ecosystem dies after all the energy accumulated by the tree during its life is used up, and the tree itself turns into components of humus (fertile soil layer).

As part of any ecosystem, two blocks are usually distinguished: biocenosis and ecotope. Biocenosis consists of interconnected organisms different species that are included in it not as individual individuals, but as populations. special case biocenosis - a community, it can unite only part of the types of biocenosis (for example, a plant community). Under ecotope understand the habitat of this biocenosis. This may be the territory of a given biogeocenosis, characterized by a certain composition of its geological rocks. A fallen tree that gives life to various kinds of destructors (insects, fungi, microbes and other organisms that destroy organic matter down to a mineral state) is also an ecotope of the ecosystem existing on its basis.

Thus, biogeocenosis = ecotope(hydrological factors (hydrotope), climatological factors ((climatotope), soil factors (edaphotop)) + biocenosis(plants (phytocenosis), animals (zoocenosis), microorganisms (microbiocenosis)) (this model was proposed by V.N. Sukachev in 1942).

1.4.1. Ecosystem features

1. Close interconnection and interdependence of all links, both biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living). Link adjustments lead to a return to the original state or to death.

2. Strong positive and negative feedbacks.

An example of positive feedback is waterlogging of the territory after deforestation. This leads to soil compaction, consequently, to the accumulation of water and the growth of moisture-accumulating plants, which leads to its depletion in oxygen, which means to a slowdown in the decomposition of plant residues, the accumulation of peat and a further increase in waterlogging.

An example of a negative (stabilizing) feedback is the relationship between predator and prey, for example, between lynxes and hares: an increase in the number of hares contributes to an increase in the number of lynxes, but an excessive number of lynxes reduces the number of hares, after which the number of lynxes also decreases. Under natural conditions, this system stabilizes rather quickly.

3. Explicitly expressed emergence.

For example, a rare tree stand does not yet constitute a forest, since it does not create a specific environment: soil, hydrological, meteorological, etc.

Emergence increases the resilience of an ecosystem and its ability to self-regulate. Human activity leads to disruption of direct and feedback links in ecosystems.

For example, moderate pollution of water bodies with organic matter leads to an intensification of the reproduction of microorganisms, which leads to self-purification of the water body. Immoderate pollution, called eutrophication, leads to excessive reproduction of organisms that actively decompose organic matter, which sooner or later leads to depletion of a given reservoir of oxygen, which means to the oppression and death of these organisms, the destruction of bonds, changes in the system and its transition to a new type of relationship. , usually it is swamping.

Ecosystems usually need random stresses such as storms, fires, etc. to increase their resilience. But chronic stress low intensity, characteristic of anthropogenic impact on nature, do not give obvious reactions, so their consequences are very difficult to assess, but they can be disastrous for the ecosystem.

ª Questions for self-examination

1. What is the difference between the population approach and the ecosystem approach in ecology?

2. How are ecosystems divided? Give an example of each type of ecosystem.

3. Define biogeocenosis.

4. How does biogeocenosis differ from an ecosystem?

5. What is a biocenosis, ecotope? List their constituent elements.

6. Give an example of an artificial ecosystem

1.4.2. Levels biological organization

Usually, 6 main levels of organization of living matter are distinguished, forming a formal hierarchy: molecular ® cellular ® organismal ® population ® ecosystem ® biospheric, there are no clear boundaries between these levels, just as there are no clear boundaries between ecosystems of different ranks (the “matryoshka” effect - one ecosystem is part another, bigger size), the allocation of different ecosystems is rather arbitrary.

Ecosystem is a system consisting of living beings and their habitat united into a single functional whole.

Basic properties:

1) the ability to carry out the cycle of substances

2) resist external influences

3) produce biological products

Types of ecosystems:

1) microecosystems (a tree trunk in the breeding stage, an aquarium, a small pond, a drop of water, etc.)

2) mesoecosystem (forest, pond, steppe, river)

3) macroecosystem (ocean, continent, natural area)

4) global ecosystem (biosphere as a whole)

Y. Odum proposed a classification of the ecosystem based on biomes. These are large natural ecosystems corresponding to physical and geographical zones. It is characterized by some basic type of vegetation or other characteristic feature of the landscape.

Biome types

1) terrestrial (tundra, taiga, steppes, deserts)

2) freshwater (flowing waters: rivers, streams, stagnant waters: lakes, ponds, swampy waters: swamps)

3) marine ( open ocean, shelf waters, deep water zones)

concept biogeocenosis and ecosystem close, but there are differences. Any biogeocenosis is a system. An ecosystem may include several biogeocenoses, but not every ecosystem has a biogeocenosis, since it does not have all the features of it.

In an ecosystem, one can two components - biotic and abiotic . Biotic is divided into autotrophic (organisms that receive primary energy for existence from photo- and chemosynthesis or producers) and heterotrophic (organisms that receive energy from the processes of oxidation of organic matter - consumers and decomposers) components that form the trophic structure of the ecosystem.

The only source of energy for the existence of an ecosystem and the maintenance of various processes in it are producers that absorb the energy of the sun (heat, chemical bonds) with an efficiency of 0.1-1%, rarely 3-4.5% of the initial amount. Autotrophs represent the first trophic level of an ecosystem. Subsequent trophic levels of the ecosystem are formed due to consumers (2nd, 3rd, 4th and subsequent levels) and are closed by decomposers that convert inanimate organic matter into a mineral form (abiotic component), which can be assimilated by an autotrophic element.

Main components of the ecosystem

From the point of view of the structure in the ecosystem, there are:

1. climatic regime, which determines the temperature, humidity, lighting regime and other physical characteristics of the environment;

2. inorganic substances included in the cycle;

3.organic compounds that link the biotic and abiotic parts in the cycle of matter and energy:

Producers - organisms that create primary products;

Macroconsumers, or phagotrophs, are heterotrophs that eat other organisms or large particles of organic matter;

Microconsumers (saprotrophs) are heterotrophs, mainly fungi and bacteria, which destroy dead organic matter, mineralizing it, thereby returning it to the cycle.

The last three components form biomass ecosystems.

From the point of view of the functioning of the ecosystem, the following functional blocks of organisms are distinguished (in addition to autotrophs):

biophages - organisms that eat other living organisms,

saprophages - organisms that eat dead organic matter.

This division shows the temporal-functional relationship in the ecosystem, focusing on the division in time of the formation of organic matter and its redistribution within the ecosystem (biophages) and processing by saprophages. Between the death of organic matter and the re-inclusion of its components in the cycle of matter in the ecosystem, a significant period of time can pass, for example, in the case of a pine log, 100 years or more.

All these components are interconnected in space and time and form a single structural and functional system.

Term biosphere was introduced by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck at the beginning of the 19th century, and proposed in geology by the Austrian geologist Eduard Suess in 1875. However, the creation of a holistic doctrine of the biosphere belongs to the Russian scientist Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky.

Biosphere - an ecosystem of a higher order, uniting all other ecosystems and ensuring the existence of life on Earth. The biosphere includes the following "spheres":

The atmosphere is the lightest of the shells of the Earth, it borders on outer space; through the atmosphere there is an exchange of matter and energy with space (outer space).

The hydrosphere is the water shell of the Earth. Almost as mobile as the atmosphere, it actually penetrates everywhere. Water is a compound with unique properties, one of the foundations of life, a universal solvent.

Lithosphere - outer hard shell Earth, consists of sedimentary and igneous rocks. Currently under the earth's crust is understood as the upper layer of the solid body of the planet, located above the Mohorovichic boundary.

The biosphere is also closed system, it is actually completely provided by the energy of the Sun, a small part is the heat of the Earth itself. Every year, the Earth receives about 1.3 1024 calories from the Sun. 40% of this energy is radiated back into space, about 15% is used to heat the atmosphere, soil and water, the rest of the energy is visible light which is the source of photosynthesis.

V. I. Vernadsky for the first time clearly formulated the understanding that all life on the planet is inextricably linked with the biosphere and owes its existence to it:

V. I. Vernadsky

Living matter (the totality of all organisms on Earth) is an insignificant part of the mass of the Earth, but the influence of living matter on the processes of transformation of the Earth is enormous. All that appearance of the Earth, which is observed now, would not be possible without billions of years of vital activity of living matter.

At the moment, man himself, as part of living matter, is a significant geological force and significantly changes the direction of the processes occurring in the biosphere, thereby endangering his existence:

In a vivid way, the economist L. Brentano illustrated the planetary significance of this phenomenon. He calculated that if each person were given one square meter and put all people side by side, they would not even occupy the entire area of the small Lake Constance on the border of Bavaria and Switzerland. The rest of the Earth's surface would remain empty of man. Thus, all mankind taken together represents an insignificant mass of the planet's matter. Its power is connected not with its matter, but with its brain, with its mind and its work directed by this mind.

In the midst, in the intensity and complexity of modern life, a person practically forgets that he himself and all of humanity, from which he cannot be separated, are inextricably linked with the biosphere - with certain part the planet they live on. They are geologically naturally connected with its material and energy structure.

Mankind, as a living substance, is inextricably linked with the material and energy processes of a certain geological shell of the Earth - with its biosphere. It cannot physically be independent from it even for one minute.

The face of the planet - the biosphere - chemically changes sharply by man consciously and mostly unconsciously. Man changes physically and chemically the air shell of the land, all its natural waters.

V. I. Vernadsky.

artificial ecosystems

Arable land is a typical artificial ecosystem, inextricably adjacent to a natural meadow

artificial ecosystems- these are ecosystems created by man, for example, agrocenoses, natural economic systems or Biosphere 2.

Artificial ecosystems have the same set of components as natural ones: producers, consumers and decomposers, but there are significant differences in the redistribution of matter and energy flows. In particular, human-made ecosystems differ from natural ones in the following ways:

a smaller number of species and the predominance of organisms of one or more species (low evenness of species);

low stability and strong dependence on the energy introduced into the system by a person;

short food chains due to the small number of species;

open circulation of substances due to the withdrawal of the crop (community products) by man, while natural processes, on the contrary, tend to include as much of the crop as possible in the cycle

No maintenance energy flows on the human side, in artificial systems, natural processes are restored at one speed or another and a natural structure of ecosystem components and material-energy flows between them is formed.

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General patterns of organization of the biosphere.

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