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Course: biology library   >   unit 28, ecology introduction.

  • What is ecology?
  • Ecological levels: from individuals to ecosystems
  • Intro to ecology

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Table of Contents

What Is Ecology

Biotic And Abiotic Factors

Types Of Ecology

Importance Of Ecology

Examples Of Ecology

Ecology 

What is Ecology?

Ecology is a  branch of science, including human science, population, community, ecosystem and biosphere. Ecology is the study of organisms, the environment and how the organisms interact with each other and their environment. It is studied at various levels, such as organism, population, community, biosphere and ecosystem.

An ecologist’s primary goal is to improve their understanding of life processes, adaptations and habitats , interactions and biodiversity of organisms.

Let us have a detailed look at the ecology notes provided here and explore the concept of ecology.

Biotic and Abiotic Factors

The main aim of ecology is to understand the distribution of biotic and abiotic factors of living things in the environment. The biotic and abiotic factors include the living and non-living factors and their interaction with the environment.

Biotic components

Biotic components

Biotic components are living factors of an ecosystem. A few examples of biotic components include bacteria,  animals, birds,  fungi, plants, etc.

Abiotic components

Abiotic components

Abiotic components are non-living chemical and physical factors of an ecosystem. These components could be acquired from the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere. A few examples of abiotic components include sunlight, soil, air, moisture minerals and more.

Living organisms are grouped into biotic components, whereas non-living components like sunlight, water, topography are listed under abiotic components.

Types of Ecology

Types of Ecology

The diagram showing different Types of Ecology

Ecology can be classified into different types. The different types of ecology are given below:

Global Ecology

It deals with interactions among earth’s ecosystems, land, atmosphere and oceans. It helps to understand the large-scale interactions and their influence on the planet.

Landscape Ecology

It deals with the exchange of energy, materials, organisms and other products of ecosystems. Landscape ecology throws light on the role of human impacts on the landscape structures and functions.

Ecosystem Ecology

It deals with the entire ecosystem, including the study of living and non-living components and their relationship with the environment. This science researches how ecosystems work, their interactions, etc.

Community Ecology

It deals with how community structure is modified by interactions among living organisms. Ecology community is made up of two or more populations of different species living in a particular geographic area.

Population Ecology

It deals with factors that alter and impact the genetic composition and the size of the population of organisms. Ecologists are interested in fluctuations in the size of a population, the growth of a population and any other interactions with the population.

In biology, a population can be defined as a set of individuals of the same species living in a given place at a given time. Births and immigration are the main factors that increase the population and death and emigration are the main factors that decrease the population.

Population ecology examines the population distribution and density. Population density is the number of individuals in a given volume or area. This helps in determining whether a particular species is in endanger or its number is to be controlled and resources to be replenished.

Organismal Ecology

Organismal ecology is the study of an individual organism’s behaviour, morphology, physiology, etc. in response to environmental challenges. It looks at how individual organisms interact with biotic and abiotic components. Ecologists research how organisms are adapted to these non-living and living components of their surroundings.

Individual species are related to various adaptations like physiological adaptation,  morphological adaptation, and behavioural adaptation.

Molecular Ecology

The study of ecology focuses on the production of proteins and how these proteins affect the organisms and their environment. This happens at the molecular level.

DNA forms the proteins that interact with each other and the environment. These interactions give rise to some complex organisms.

Importance of Ecology

The following reasons explain the importance of ecology:

Conservation of Environment

Ecology helps us to understand how our actions affect the environment. It shows the individuals the extent of damage we cause to the environment.

Lack of understanding of ecology has led to the degradation of land and the environment. It has also led to the extinction and endangerment of certain species. For eg., dinosaurs, white shark, mammoths, etc. Thus, the study of the environment and organisms helps us to protect them from any damage and danger.

Resource Allocation

With the knowledge of ecology, we are able to know which resources are necessary for the survival of different organisms. Lack of ecological knowledge has led to scarcity and deprivation of these resources, leading to competition.

Energy Conservation

All organisms require energy for their growth and development. Lack of ecological understanding leads to the over-exploitation of energy resources such as light, nutrition and radiation, leading to its depletion.

Proper knowledge of ecological requirements prevents the unnecessary wastage of energy resources, thereby, conserving energy for future purposes.

Eco-Friendliness

Ecology encourages harmonious living within the species and the adoption of a lifestyle that protects the ecology of life.

Examples of Ecology

Following are a few examples of ecology:

Human Ecology

It focuses on the relationship between humans and the environment. It emphasizes the impact human beings have on the environment and gives knowledge on how we can improve ourselves for the betterment of humans and the environment.

Niche Construction

It deals with the study of how organisms alter the environment for the benefit of themselves and other living beings. For eg, termites create a 6 feet tall mound and at the same time feed and protect their entire population.

Also Read: Biodiversity

To explore more about what is ecology, importance and types of ecology, keep visiting the BYJU’S website or download the BYJU’S app for further reference.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ecology.

Ecology is the branch of science that deals with the relationship of organisms with one another and with their physical surroundings.

What are the different levels of ecology?

The different levels of ecology include- organisms, communities, population and ecosystem.

What are the different types of ecology?

The different types of ecology include- molecular ecology, organismal ecology, population ecology, community ecology, global ecology, landscape ecology and ecosystem ecology.

How are ecology and evolution related?

Ecology plays a significant role in forming new species and modifying the existing ones. Natural selection is one of the many factors that influences evolutionary change.

Who devised the word ecology?

Ecology was first devised by Ernst Haeckel, a German Zoologist. However, ecology has its origins in other sciences such as geology, biology, and evolution among others.

What is habitat ecology?

Habitat ecology is the type of natural environment in which a particular species of an organism live, characterized by both physical and biological features.

What is a niche?

An organism free from the interference of other species and can use a full range of biotic and abiotic resources in which it can survive and reproduce is known as its fundamental niche.

Register at BYJU’S for more ecology notes. Go through these notes for reference.

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types of ecological presentation

THANK FOR YOUR GOOD EXPLANATION OF ECOLOGY

very good explanation for ecology.

what is tolerance

Tolerance is defined as an organism’s capacity to survive variation in environmental conditions. For example, a polar bear can thrive in the sub-zero temperatures of the Arctic, but it cannot survive in warmer climates such as the tropics.

Nice and lovely answer dear

Thanks so much

tank you for good explain

the interaction of living and non living things in the community

thank you for giving details

thank you for good expression

Thanks for such a explanation

Thanks for the explanation

Thanks for such explanation

thankyou so mach for your explanation

Wow I enjoyed the explanations thanks

ecology and its relevance to man , natural resources, their sustainable management and conservation?

Thanks for the Info. Crystal clear and simple. Helped me a lot.

CAN I KNOW ABOUT THE SIGMOID GROWTH GRAPH?

Please refer to this link https://byjus.com/biology/an-introduction-to-population-growth/

This is very helpful because my half-yearly exam is coming, and easy to learn about ecology, thanks

Thanks so much for the well clear answers it helps so much

Thank you so much! This explanation has helped me a lot.

Thank you for the information about ecological system

types of ecological presentation

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  • Ecology: Definition, Types, Importance & Examples

Community (Ecology): Definition, Structure, Theory & Examples

Community ecology is the study and theory of how populations of organisms interact with each other and react to their non-living surroundings. As a subset of the general study of ecology, this field of specialization explores the organization and functioning of biological communities.

Community ecologists protect the environment and save species from extinction by assessing and monitoring environmental conditions such as global warming.

Community Ecology: Definition

One of the earliest formal definitions of community ecology was suggested by Cornell professor Robert Whittaker in 1975. Whittaker characterized community ecology as an assemblage of living organisms that interact and form a community with a unique structure and species composition. Knowing how a community functions is vital to promoting and preserving biodiversity .

Community ecology examines how coexisting organisms interact and compete in a particular niche or geographical location such as a woodland, prairie or a lake. Community ecology encompasses all populations of all species that live together in the same area.

Community ecologists study ecological interactions and consider such things as how to intervene when a rising deer population is destroying the understory layer of a woodland .

Community Ecology Examples

Community ecology encompasses many types of ecological interactions that continue to change over time. A forest community includes the plant community, all trees, birds, squirrels, deer, foxes, fungi, fish in a forest stream, insects and all other species living there or migrating seasonally.

Similarly, a coral reef community includes a vast number of different species of corals, fish and algae. Abundance and distribution are strong forces that shape the biological community.

Community ecology focuses on how interactions between different species affect health, growth, dispersion and abundance of the ecological system. At the community level, species are often interdependent. Several short food chains are common in most biological communities. Food chains often overlap and form food webs of producers and consumers.

Community Ecology Theory

American, European and British scientists have long held many differing theories on the definition of community ecology, which was first called plant sociology. In the 20th century, opinions differed as to whether ecological niches were self-organized organismic communities or random assemblages of species that thrived because of their particular traits.

By the 21st century, theories broadened to include such ideas as the metacommunity theory that focuses on community structures and the evolutionary theory that incorporates principles of evolutionary biology into community ecology.

Currently held community ecology theory is based on the supposition that ecological communities are the result of different types of assembly processes . Assembly processes involve adaptation, speciation in evolutionary biology, competition, colonization, altitude, climate, habitat disturbances and ecological drift.

The theory of community ecology expands upon niche theory , which has to do with an organism having a specific place and role in an ecosystem.

Indicators of Ecological Health

Species richness refers to the richness, or number, of species found. For example, an annual bird count might yield a species richness of 63 different species of birds spotted in a nature center. One pileated woodpecker is counted the same as 50 chickadees in determining species richness of the area.

Species richness does not factor in the total number of individuals found within each species. The number and type of species present in a community gradually increases toward the equator. Species richness decreases towards the polar region. Fewer plant and animal species are adapted to cold biomes.

Species diversity looks at overall biodiversity. Species diversity measures species richness as well as the relative number of species present. High species diversity characterizes stable ecological communities. Sudden or significant changes in a community such as an influx of predators can disrupt the predator-prey ecological balance and reduce species diversity.

Community Ecology Structure

Community ecologists study the interaction between structure and organisms. Structure describes characteristics of ecological niches, species richness and species composition. Species interact with each other and with their environment in many different ways, such as competing for finite resources or working together to trap game. Population dynamics play a pivotal role in communities.

The energy pyramid shows how energy is made and transferred by organisms that comprise the food chain. Heterotrophic producers of usable food energy from the sun form the broad base of the pyramid.

Primary consumers such as herbivores cannot make food to fuel their cells and must eat producers to live. Secondary consumers are carnivores that eat primary consumers. Tertiary consumers devour secondary consumers, but the apex predator at the top of the pyramid has no natural enemies.

A food chain represents the flow of food energy in a community. For instance, phytoplankton are eaten by fish that may be caught and cooked by a human. Only 10 percent of the energy consumed is transferred at each trophic level, which is why the energy pyramid is not inverted. Decomposers play a role by breaking down dead organisms to release nutrients back into the environment.

Types of Interspecific Interactions

In biology, interspecific interactions refer to the ways in which species interact in their community. The effect of such interactions on different species may be positive, negative or neutral for one or both. Many types of interactions occur in an ecological community and influence population dynamics.

These are a few examples of those types of interactions:

  • Mutualism : both species benefit from interaction, such as bacteria in the gut that speed digestion (+/+).
  • Commensalism : one species benefits without affecting the other, such as a spider spinning a web on a plant (+/0).
  • Parasitism :  one species benefits, but the other is harmed, such as pathogenic microbes (+/-).
  • Predation : one species preys on the other for survival (+/-).
  • Competition : two species fight over limited resources (-/-).

Species and Structure Interactions

Even small changes in nature can have big effects on community ecology. For instance, structure is influenced by factors such as slight temperature changes, disturbances to habitat, pollution, weather events and species interaction.

Relative abundance of food is a stabilizing factor in communities. Normally, there is a check-balance system of food and consumption.

Types of Species in Community Ecology

Foundation species , like coral in a coral reef community, play a pivotal role in community ecology and shaping structure. Coral reefs are commonly called “rainforests of the sea” because they provide food, shelter, breeding areas and protection for up to 25 percent of all marine life , according to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Threats to coral reefs include climate change, pollution, overfishing and invasive species.

Keystone species like wolves profoundly affect community structure relative to the abundance of the other species. If removed, the loss of key predators dramatically changes the entire community. Predators keep other populations in check that would otherwise overgraze and threaten plant species resulting in a loss of food and habitat. Overpopulation can also lead to starvation and disease.

Invasive species are invaders that are not native to the habitat and disrupt the community. Many types of invasive species like the Zebra Mussel, destroy native species. Invasive species grow rapidly and reduce biodiversity, which weakens the overall animal and plant community within that niche.

Community Ecology Definition of Succession

Ecological succession is a series of changes over time to community structure that affect community dynamics and encourage the assemblance of plants and animals. Primary succession starts with the introduction of organisms and species, usually on newly exposed rock. Pioneer species like lichens on rock come first.

Secondary succession happens when orderly recolonization occurs in an area that was previously inhabited before a disruption. For instance, after a wildfire decimates an area, bacteria modify the soil, plants sprout from roots and seeds, bushes and shrubs establish, followed by tree seedlings. Vegetation provides a vertical and horizontal structure that attracts birds and animals to the biological community.

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What happens when something in a food chain goes extinct, limiting factors of the freshwater biome, the role of a consumer in an ecosystem, about food chains in the tundra ecosystem, why are ecosystems so important, biotic factors in the grassland biome, why is the food web important, what is the prey in an ecosystem, how have plants adapted to the coral reef to survive, five types of ecological relationships, how are food chains and food webs alike and different, the effects of the extinction of an organism in a desert..., examples of density dependent factors, biotic & abiotic factors in the tundra, how does a food chain affect an ecosystem, aquatic ecosystem facts, examples of density-dependent limiting factors, biomes of the tundra: food chains and webs.

  • CK12: Trophic Levels
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  • Koppa Open University: A Theoretical Basis of Community Ecology
  • Ecology Revisited: Reflecting on Concepts, Advancing Science
  • Khan Academy: Interactions in Communities
  • Oxford Bibliographies: Community Ecology
  • Science Encyclopedia: Community Ecology

About the Author

Dr. Mary Dowd studied biology in college where she worked as a lab assistant and tutored grateful students who didn't share her love of science. Her work history includes working as a naturalist in Minnesota and Wisconsin and presenting interactive science programs to groups of all ages. She enjoys writing online articles sharing information about science and education. Currently, Dr. Dowd is a dean of students at a mid-sized university.

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Ecosystem: Definition, Types, Structure & Examples

The Five Major Types of Biomes

A biome is a large community of vegetation and wildlife adapted to a specific climate.

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A biome is a large area characterized by its vegetation, soil, climate, and wildlife. There are five major types of biomes: aquatic , grassland , forest , desert , and tundra , though some of these biomes can be further divided into more specific categories, such as freshwater , marine , savanna , tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest, and taiga.

Aquatic biomes include both freshwater and marine biomes. Freshwater biomes are bodies of water surrounded by land—such as ponds, rivers, and lakes—that have a salt content of less than one percent. Marine biomes cover close to three-quarters of Earth’s surface. Marine biomes include the ocean, coral reefs, and estuaries.

Grasslands are open regions that are dominated by grass and have a warm, dry climate. There are two types of grasslands : tropical grasslands (sometimes called savannas ) and temperate grasslands . Savannas are found closer to the equator and can have a few scattered trees. They cover almost half of the continent of Africa, as well as areas of Australia, India, and South America. Temperate grasslands are found further away from the equator, in South Africa, Hungary, Argentina, Uruguay, North America, and Russia. They do not have any trees or shrubs, and receive less precipitation than savannas . Prairies and steppes are two types of temperate grasslands ; prairies are characterized as having taller grasses, while steppes have shorter grasses.

Forests are dominated by trees, and cover about one-third of the Earth. Forests contain much of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity , including insects, birds, and mammals. The three major forest biomes are temperate forests , tropical forests , and boreal forests (also known as the taiga). These forest types occur at different latitudes, and therefore experience different climatic conditions. Tropical forests are warm, humid, and found close to the equator. Temperate forests are found at higher latitudes and experience all four seasons. Boreal forests are found at even higher latitudes, and have the coldest and driest climate, where precipitation occurs primarily in the form of snow.

Deserts are dry areas where rainfall is less than 50 centimeters (20 inches) per year. They cover around 20 percent of Earth’s surface. Deserts can be either cold or hot, although most of them are found in subtropical areas. Because of their extreme conditions, there is not as much biodiversity found in deserts as in other biomes. Any vegetation and wildlife living in a desert must have special adaptations for surviving in a dry environment. Desert wildlife consists primarily of reptiles and small mammals. Deserts can fall into four categories according to their geographic location or climatic conditions: hot and dry, semiarid, coastal, and cold.

A tundra has extremely inhospitable conditions, with the lowest measured temperatures of any of the five major biomes with average yearly temperatures ranging from -34 to 12 degrees Celsius (-29 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit). They also have a low amount of precipitation, just 15–25 centimeters (six to ten inches) per year, as well as poor quality soil nutrients and short summers. There are two types of tundra : arctic and alpine . The tundra does not have much biodiversity and vegetation is simple, including shrubs, grasses, mosses, and lichens . This is partly due to a frozen layer under the soil surface, called permafrost . The arctic tundra is found north of boreal forests and the alpine tundra is found on mountains where the altitude is too high for trees to survive. Any wildlife inhabiting the tundra must be adapted to its extreme conditions to survive.

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  • Published: 26 October 2016

Integrated presentation of ecological risk from multiple stressors

  • Benoit Goussen 1 , 2 ,
  • Oliver R. Price 2 ,
  • Cecilie Rendal 2 &
  • Roman Ashauer 1  

Scientific Reports volume  6 , Article number:  36004 ( 2016 ) Cite this article

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  • Communication and replication
  • Ecological modelling
  • Environmental impact
  • Population dynamics

Current environmental risk assessments (ERA) do not account explicitly for ecological factors (e.g. species composition, temperature or food availability) and multiple stressors. Assessing mixtures of chemical and ecological stressors is needed as well as accounting for variability in environmental conditions and uncertainty of data and models. Here we propose a novel probabilistic ERA framework to overcome these limitations, which focusses on visualising assessment outcomes by construct-ing and interpreting prevalence plots as a quantitative prediction of risk. Key components include environmental scenarios that integrate exposure and ecology, and ecological modelling of relevant endpoints to assess the effect of a combination of stressors. Our illustrative results demonstrate the importance of regional differences in environmental conditions and the confounding interactions of stressors. Using this framework and prevalence plots provides a risk-based approach that combines risk assessment and risk management in a meaningful way and presents a truly mechanistic alternative to the threshold approach. Even whilst research continues to improve the underlying models and data, regulators and decision makers can already use the framework and prevalence plots. The integration of multiple stressors, environmental conditions and variability makes ERA more relevant and realistic.

Introduction

A challenge in current environmental risk assessment (ERA) practice is accounting explicitly for multiple stressors, ecological realism, and abiotic factors that vary accross different geographies. It is widely recognised that there is a need to consider how ecological realism can be best incorporated into prospective environmental risk assessment of chemicals, as there is a need to account for variability and uncertainty in a useful, explicit and transparent manner 1 , 2 , 3 . While these complexities are currently covered by assessment factors, next generation risk assessments have the potential to explicitly account for complex interactions based on our growing understanding of the chemical, biochemical, and ecological interactions that govern adverse effects. Chemical legislation continues to evolve and develop across the globe and the scientific community is calling on ERAs to be tailored to geographical needs and thus increase our confidence in our ability to protect local biodiversity and nature 4 , 5 , 6 . A step toward capturing more ecology in ERAs of chemicals is the use of environmental scenarios that represent key differences in ecology (e.g. species composition, food availability, predation, parasitism) and the physical/habitat differences (e.g. hydrology, temperature) 7 , 8 . The incorporation of environmental scenarios into ERA will enable meaningful interpretation and extrapolation to different geographical regions.

Another driver behind the call for more ecological realism is the acknowledgement that organisms do not live in single-stress situations. Rather they are constantly exposed to a series of different stressors, both chemical and non-chemical. Organisms and populations can respond to stress using a wide range of mechanisms from a behavioural response like a change of resting site by ectotherms according to the temperature stress, an acclimation response involving changes in enzymatic activities allowing a complete or partial recovery (re-establishment of the homeostasis), or even a genetic adaptation by natural selection of genetic variants presenting a higher metabolic efficiency 9 . Over the past 15 years, several studies have attempted to assess the effects of mixtures of chemicals 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , mixtures of ecological factors 15 , 16 or, mixtures of chemicals and ecological factors 17 , 18 , 19 on organisms and populations. These studies indicate that the prediction of the environmental effects of multiple stressors is a challenge that is beginning to be addressed by the scientific community. However, little effort has yet been invested in the communication of these often very complex results in an integrated and meaningful way that is easy for risk assessors to understand and interpret.

Probabilistic approaches have been suggested as a way to account for spatial, temporal, and environmental variability and to integrate multiple stressors into more ecologically relevant ERA 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 . Plots based on these approaches can present ecotoxicological data, account for ecologically relevant factors (e.g. temperature, food availability, predation, etc), and incorporate chemical exposure data on a spatial scale. Essentially such plots can help address two related questions: “How strong is the ecological effect?” and “In how many locations will we see the effect?” Our aim is to present an integrated approach to communicate results of ERA whilst accounting for variability in ecological and environmental factors. This approach enables an integrated representation of multiple stressors (e.g. chemical stress, temperature stress, and food limitation) on a single relevant figure. The output of such an analysis can support risk management decisions by assessing the prevalence (e.g. the proportion of freshwater habitats that are affected) and the magnitude of the impact (e.g. impact on populations of single species or even, in the long-term, loss of biodiversity) to allow decision makers to assess the threshold for acceptance.

Integration of Multiple Stressors

Risk is the integrated assessment of likelihood and severity of an undesired event. In ERA of chemicals, the undesired event depends on the chemical and risk assessment scenario, and is usually a detrimental effect on organisms, populations or ecosystems. The effect not only depends on the chemical’s toxicity and concentration at the biological target site, but also on the characteristics of the organism, population or ecosystem of concern. The magnitude and frequency of the effect will also be sensitive to additional environmental factors and stressors such as temperature, food availability, predation or habitat loss 18 , 24 , 25 . In addition to this complexity, exposure, biological traits, environmental factors and stressors all vary in space and time. This variability, combined with the uncertainty associated with the quantification of each of the above, result in the probability of an undesired effect. Methods to integrate different levels of uncertainty and variability in probabilistic risk assessment exist 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 . However, a major challenge is the integration of multiple environmental factors, stressors, and stress responses.

As an initial step, it is necessary to develop environmental scenarios with defined input variables and parameters that are a qualitative and quantitative description of the relevant environment for the ERA 30 . According to Rico et al . 7 “unified” environmental scenarios consist of a combination of both biotic and abiotic parameters required to characterise direct and indirect exposure, effects, and recovery of species, therefore integrating both ecological scenarios and exposure scenarios. The concept of exposure scenarios has been integrated in prospective ERAs for more than a decade in the EU 31 and probabilistic exposure assessment through the use of parameter distributions has been used as a part of chemical risk assessment for more than 20 years 7 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 32 . Despite this, to our knowledge, so far no regulatory submissions have actually used probabilistic approaches with EUSES (European Union System for the Evaluation of Substances) 21 , 22 . An exposure scenario will predict chemical fate on both spatial and temporal scales by integrating information on chemical use, physical-chemical properties, abiotic factors impacting the exposure, anthropogenic practices, and landscape configuration 7 , 31 , 33 .

Conversely, the concept of ecological scenarios is not yet well defined 7 , 8 . Ecological scenarios should include information on ecosystem structure, intra and inter-species ecological interactions, relevant population level traits, exposure susceptibility, as well as abiotic characteristics that may influence the species responses to stressors, landscape configuration, ecological stressors and spatial and temporal scale 7 .

At which level of biological organization should we integrate? How can we calculate the combined response of a population or community to both a toxicant and a variety of environmental factors and stressors? The organismal response to toxicants clearly depends on environmental factors and stressors, hence it appears obvious to integrate at this level of organization. Furthermore, organism responses can be measured in the laboratory. Therefore we model organism responses and then use the organism level model as a building block in population models to extrapolate to higher levels of organization. Extrapolations to the population level of organisation has already been developed and applied 34 , 35 , 36 but further work is still needed to extrapolate to higher level of organisation (e.g. community level) 37 , 38 . The organism level model needs to simulate life-history parameters such as survival, growth and reproduction because these determine population dynamics. As growth and reproduction are driven by an organisms’ energy balance, Dynamic Energy Budget models are particularly well suited to integrate toxicant and environmental stressors 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 .

Theory and Method

The results of such an integrated analysis will inevitably yield complex and multi-scaled results. A remaining challenge is to graphically depict the results in a way that is simple enough to understand, yet that retains enough of the complexity to make an informed decision. In current ERAs, assessors usually compare an exposure level to a no-effect level. In Europe, the Predicted Environmental Concentration/Predicted No-Effect Concentration (PEC/PNEC) ratio is often used. The PEC is often derived from mechanistic fate models and can usually be tailored for local environments. The PNEC is typically derived via the application of an assessment (or uncertainty) factor to the most sensitive species or to a species sensitivity distribution and therefore, does not account for environmental variability. It is also important to note that the usual PEC/PNEC ratio is an indication of an exceeded threshold and not a quantification of a risk. The value of this ratio does not explicitly account for uncertainties or variabilities and tells us very little about the nature or level of effect and the likelihood of an undesired event. Further, the relationship between the PEC/PNEC ratio and the level of effect is unknown 43 , 44 .

The method presented here has the potential to overcome the limitations associated with the PEC/PNEC ratio and similar methods as it is focused on a quantitative measure of effects and it enables the uncertainty and variability in effects and exposure to be quantified and could, ultimately, serve as a replacement. Prevalence plots present an endpoint or an effect size as a function of its cumulative prevalence ( Fig. 1 ). They (i) provide an estimate of risk by using more integrated biological endpoints, (ii) bring greater ecological relevance to risk assessments, and (iii) aid more transparent risk communication by using relevant effect size (e.g. assessor-defined reduction in population biomass) instead of a significant statistical effect (e.g. difference in means of two populations associated with p-values). Prevalence plots can either use “raw” data to represent the effects of the stressor on an endpoint or data scaled by baseline condition to represent the relative impact of the stressor (effect size). Such a plot enables a rapid and meaningful understanding of the effects of stressors and incorporates relevant ecological factors. The endpoints and effect sizes can be tailored depending on one’s needs from rather basic ones such as a brood-size or decrease in population growth rate to more elaborate metrics such as a population biomass or difference in a biodiversity indicator, or even a really complex one such as a score representing a population or ecosystem structure (e.g. Ecological Integrity Assessment 45 , 46 ). Likewise, the prevalence axis can be drawn according to one’s needs. It can indeed represent various scales of study such as the prevalence of an effect size in a portion of a freshwater habitat or the prevalence of an effect size in river basins within a region. This type of plot could therefore be used by various communities such as a risk assessor interested in the effect of chemicals discharged on the whole ecosystem of a river or an academic assessing the effect of pollution on a particular species worldwide.

figure 1

Prevalence plots.

The prevalence plot present an endpoint (e.g. brood-size, population biomass; see Fig. 3 ) or an effect size (e.g. loss of biomass, index relative to the population structure; see Fig. 4 ) as a function of a cumulative prevalence for this effect (e.g. proportion of a river, hydrogeographic basin) for a selected stress level (e.g. chemical stress, temperature stress). The map was created using GIMP 2.8.14 ( www.gimp.org ).

The Ecological Simulation Model.

To produce a conceptual working example of the prevalence plot, we simulated the response of a population of Daphnia magna exposed to stressors using a modified version of the DEB-IBM (Dynamic Energy Budget model coupled with an Individual Based Model) published by Martin et al . 47 to represent the effect size. DEB theory 48 is based on a mathematical description of the uptake and use of energy within an organism. Energy allocation can be affected by chemicals acting via various physiological modes of action (pMoA) 49 or by environmental parameters such as temperature or food availability which can affect all the energy fluxes in an organism 48 ( Table 1 ). The DEB model used in this study is a simplified standard version but it is readily able to relate a stressor level to physiological effects, more complex implementations can handle more subtle effects such as a receptor-mediated effect [ref. 48 , see p. 244]. An IBM is used to translate the changes in growth, reproduction, and survival to population endpoints pertinent to support risk assessment such as the population biomass or abundance or the population structure 34 , 50 .

We demonstrate the integration of multiple stressors by varying three conditions in the environment, namely food availability, temperature, and degree of chemical stress. To combine their effects, we modified the DEB part of the DEB-IBM model to account for variability in temperature by adjusting DEB rates according to an Arrhenius relationship

For this exercise, we defined our simulation scenarios with a minimal level of complexity, only considering variations in temperature, food availability, and chemical stress. To illustrate the impact of multiple stressors we chose to simulate the D. magna population in two scenarios – one within the temperature tolerance range (Temperate scenario), and another approaching and exceeding the temperature tolerance (Tropical scenario). While not ecologically realistic, this artificial example provides a clear illustrative example of how a chemical stressor can impact the overall performance of populations that are already under pressure from other unrelated stressors. For simplicity, the scenarios are identical with exception of the temperature distribution.

The temperature distributions were based on the temperature recorded in the river Thames from 1974 to 2005 (from 2.0 °C to 26.5 °C) for the Temperate scenario and from the river Brahmaputra from 1979 to 1995 (from 19.6 °C to 34.0 °C) for the Tropical scenario 55 . The amount of food available in the two scenarios is driven by an arbitrary uniform distribution of the resource dilution rate implemented in the DEB-IBM we used 47 (from 0.005 to 0.1 by 0.005 increments). To represent chemical exposure and impact on a test species, we applied chemical stress levels ranging from 0 to 1.5 in 0.1 increments. This corresponds to an expected reduction of the reproduction outputs compared to the control of respectively 0% to 95% in the OECD Daphnia magna reproduction test (assuming ad libitum food at 20 °C) [ref. 47 , see SI ]. In this illustrative example we have used an arbitrary stress level as described above. In practice, such stress levels can be derived from the predicted environmental concentrations in complex exposure models such as the ScenAT 56 . For further information on extrapolating from an external concentration to the chemical stress level, one can refer to Jager and Zimmer 2012 41 .

The DEB-IBM simulation allowed the D. magna population to reach steady-state over the first 150 days of the simulation at which point a constant level of chemical stress was applied until the end of the simulation at 600 days. Outputs were recorded between day 300 and day 600. This allowed sufficient time for the model to reach its new steady-state while avoiding the recording of transient dynamics 47 . Monte-Carlo simulations were used to simulate the D. magna population at different combinations of food availability, temperature, and chemical stress level. Each combination consisted of one constant value of food availability, of temperature, and of chemical stress. Thus the simulations do not account for seasonal or other temporal effects. Each combination was simulated three times whilst sampling DEB model parameters to account for inter-individual variability (See Supporting Information ). The parameters used for the DEB-IBM simulation are presented in Table S1 . It is important to note that we did not account for correlations that may exist between the temperature level and the food availability in these conceptual environmental scenarios. Further, our choice to assess the system at steady-state is appropriate for some questions, but may not be suitable for others where the interest might be in system resilience or structure.

Visualising the Model Output in Prevalence Plots.

As an endpoint for our analysis we choose the population biomass calculated as the average sum of the adult individuals’ cubic length over 300 days 47 relative to the water body volume simulated. In the prevalence plot, an endpoint can be based on the raw value compared to a baseline condition or as an effect size, thus relative to the baseline condition, using for our case study:

where “i” is the i th combination of environmental parameters. The prevalence plots are based on the frequency distribution of the population biomass for each stress level. This frequency distribution can represent the raw ( Fig. 2 ) or the effect-size data ( Fig. S1 ). The prevalence plots are then constructed by plotting the increasing cumulative sum of the frequency distribution for each range of stress level and for either the raw or the effect-size data. Plotting the cumulative probability on the y-axis is common in probabilistic risk assessment 21 and environmental fate studies 57 , hence we followed the same convention.

figure 2

Raw prevalence histogram.

Prevalence distribution of the population biomass (mm 3 L −1 ) for the Temperate (dark grey) and the Tropical (light grey) conceptual scenarios for the five ranges of chemical stress level. The arrows in the “Medium high” and “High” panels denote a prevalence of 76% and 100% respectively.

In our study, the cumulative prevalence represents the proportion of all water bodies in a specific location in the Temperate or Tropical scenario having a certain D. magna biomass or less. Because our interest is in the contribution of chemical stress to the overall biomass, each plotted line represents a given level of chemical stress. To compare different stressor levels we plot multiple lines. If the question asked concerns one of the other factors, here food availability or temperature, one can plot a line for each level of food availability or each temperature ( Fig. 1 ). In practice it is best to define ranges for the factor being plotted to reduce the number of plotted lines to a manageable number. Thus, we decided to plot the contribution of five ranges of chemical stress (no-chemical 0, low 0.1–0.2, medium low 0.3–0.7, medium high 0.8–1.2, and high 1.3–1.5).

At the Helm: Decision Making Using Prevalence Plots

In contrast to current ERA, prevalence plots (i) provide an estimate of risk by using more integrated biological endpoints, (ii) bring greater ecological relevance to risk assessments, and (iii) aid more transparent risk communication. We illustrate these three points by constructing prevalence plots for the example of population biomass of D. magna exposed to a hypothetical stressor in two illustrative scenarios: Temperate and Tropical.

The raw prevalence distribution ( Fig. 2 ) is the first step before building the raw cumulative prevalence plot ( Fig. 3 ). Figure 2 demonstrates that even without any chemical stress, i.e. the baseline conditions, a difference in the distribution of the population biomasses exists between the Temperate and the Tropical scenarios. The raw prevalence plot ( Fig. 3 ) shows that the baseline population biomass is at maximum 5.50 mm 3 L −1 and 2.37 mm 3 L −1 at the 50 th percentile for the Temperate and Tropical scenarios respectively. This denotes the important effect of the environmental scenario on the baseline, or natural, state of ecological endpoints, and therefore, the necessity to carefully build the scenarios. In our illustrative case, the difference between the two scenarios is the temperature distribution, which drives the prevalence distribution of the baseline state of the population biomass.

figure 3

Raw prevalence plot.

Population biomass (mm 3 L −1 ) for the Temperate and Tropical scenarios as a function of the cumulative prevalence for the five ranges of chemical stress.

While adding a chemical effect, a shift of the distribution towards a lower population biomass is observed in both scenarios ( Figs 2 and 3 ). For example, with a medium low level of chemical stress, the population biomass would be at maximum 3.31 mm 3 L −1 and 1.07 mm 3 L −1 at the 50 th percentile in the Temperate and Tropical scenarios respectively. As we are interested in the effects of the chemical stress on the population biomass, we can also plot effect-size prevalence plots ( Figs 4 and S2 ) based on the effect-size prevalence distribution ( Fig. S1 ). Such plots represent the population biomass relative to a baseline state as a function of the cumulative prevalence. This baseline state includes the effects of natural stressors but not the effects of the stressor of interest (chemical stress in our illustration). As the effect-size plot compares the predicted state to a baseline state, the baseline, “no chemical” line is the same for both the Temperate and the Tropical scenario. Figure 4A shows that the population biomass of individuals exposed to a low level of chemical stress is reduced by at least ca. 15% compared to the population biomass of the non-exposed individuals (baseline state) in 50% of the cases for the Temperate scenario. This reduction would be at least ca. 18% for the Tropical scenario. While increasing the chemical stress level ( Fig. 4B,C ), the impact on the population biomass increases in both scenarios, but more dramatically in the Tropical scenario. For example, with a medium high level of chemical stress ( Fig. 4C ), in 50% of the cases, the population biomass would be reduced by at least ca. 60% and 100% in the Temperate and Tropical scenarios, respectively. This denotes a higher risk of population extinction in the latter conceptual scenario for that specific species.

figure 4

Effect-size prevalence plot.

Population biomass relative to the no-chemical stress level population biomass (baseline) as a function of the cumulative prevalence for the baseline state, the Temperate and the Tropical scenarios and for a low, medium low, and medium high level of chemical stress.

It is ultimately a policy decision to define a maximal prevalence (e.g. the proportion of rivers) and impact (e.g. percent reduction in biomass) that are ecologically acceptable for different systems. For instance, a protection goal where 90% of rivers have less than 20% reduction in river biomass due to additional chemical stress could be deemed acceptable compared to a baseline scenario (dashed line on Fig. 4 ). In such a case, our Temperate scenario would indicate that a low level of chemical stress is acceptable but our Tropical scenario would not be acceptable at this level of chemical stress ( Figs 4 and S2 ). This policy decision could be tailored to ecological, local, commercial or political needs. For endangered, key ecosystem or key touristic or commercial species for example, the policy decision could be to allow no more than 95% of river systems to see a 5% reduction in population biomass whereas in areas set aside for intensive agricultural production a stronger impact might be considered acceptable. Whatever the policy decision is, it can be translated into maximum acceptable chemical stress levels using prevalence plots, whilst accounting for ecological factors and variable environmental conditions.

Back to the Engine Room: Improving the Underlying Science

In order to obtain meaningful and non-biased results, it is necessary to carefully build the unified environmental scenarios. In our illustrative example, both the Temperate and the Tropical scenarios are based on a single species, D. magna . Yet, our Tropical scenario fell outside of D. magna temperature tolerance range. Thus, the individuals are already stressed by a non-optimal temperature environment which can induce a lower capability of the population to cope with a new stress 58 . Therefore, the addition of another stress (here a chemical stress) induces a higher adverse effect on the population biomass. The selection of a relevant species is thus an important step of the construction of the environmental scenario. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that, even if some individual differences exist for specific compounds and taxa 59 , 60 , no clear pattern in differences in sensitivity exist between tropical and temperate species exposed to chemical stress under laboratory or semi-field/mesocosm conditions 59 , 60 , 61 . Kwok et al . 59 for instance, assessed the differences in species sensitivity between temperate and tropical species for 18 chemicals using species sensitivity distributions (SSD) comparisons. The authors found that no real pattern exists between the species from the two different climatic zones but noted that temperate species seem more sensitive to metals. Conversely, they observed the reverse result for other types of chemicals such as chlorpyrifos, un-ionized ammonia or phenol. Similarly, no real pattern was found by Daam and van den Brink 61 who assessed the differences between temperate and tropical freshwater ecosystems for the ERA of pesticides. They concluded that vulnerability of freshwaters to pesticides did not consistently differ between tropical and temperate ecosystems. However, it is important to note that these studies are conducted under laboratory or relatively clean semi-field “pristine” conditions and do not reflect the variability of real world multi-stressed environments. Indeed, the impact of multiple stressors on aquatic communities is an active and growing area of research 10 , 18 , 62 , 63 . Characterisation of these stressors in diverse scenarios and their influence on the aquatic community composition and chemical fate and behaviour is critical to better understand potential differences in chemical stress on Temperate and Tropical scenarios.

Currently our illustrative scenario only includes three stress factors (food availability, temperature, and chemical) and a simple question about the effect of chemical stress at steady state. But with further development other factors ( Table 1 ) and questions can also be tackled with the framework we present. Indeed, one can be interested in the effect of stressors on dynamic transition states of a population in order to assess the resilience capabilities of this population. One can also be interested in a scenario accounting for the seasonal dynamics of food or photo period (e.g. for algae) or even for more complex ecological interactions such as the impact of competition and/or predation on the response of a population to a chemical stressor or the impact of a reduced dissolved oxygen in areas receiving untreated wastewater 64 .

Whereas prevalence plots presented here only account for the unified environmental scenario variability, it is possible to include the analysis of the uncertainty as well in to these plots ( Fig. S3 ). One can calculate the uncertainty around the effect size using a bootstrap method for example. These uncertainties exist in all levels of the scenarios. Thus, it may exist on the baseline state, based on the uncertainties around abiotic factors such as the temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, water quality measurements and biotic factors such as the species selection, the ecological processes to include in the scenarios, or even the quality of the biomonitoring data. Uncertainties will also be related to the fate of the stressor of interest with factors of uncertainty such as a chemical emission and use or degradation behaviour. It may also exist as the intrinsic uncertainty of the model equations and of the model calibration processes. The uncertainty is assumed to be reduced according to the refinement used while building the unified environmental scenario. Thus, lower tier ERA, that may include more generic scenarios, will lead to a higher uncertainty whereas higher tier ERA, with refined and specific scenarios and more data, will lead to a lower and explicitly characterised uncertainty.

Although, in principle, this framework could be used by regulators and decision makers, it requires additional scientific research to improve various components ( Fig. 5 ). The scope of this iterative framework will increase with scientific and technological advances. For example, as we continue to better understand the real systems our ability to characterise key ecosystem functioning (e.g. characterisation of food webs, ecosystem resilience) will aid the refinement of the problem formulation and the development or update of conceptual models. The creation of the latter is indeed, as all parts of the framework, an iterative process that will require fit for purpose environmental scenarios that are adequately characterised in terms of key ecosystem components, selection of key species, ecological interactions, key abiotic factors and chemical fate and behaviour and that can be improved with increasing knowledge. The translation of these components and their interactions into a mathematical and computerised models also requires scientific improvements, especially in modelling theories able to cope with multiple species, multiple interactions, and multiple stressors. Finally, the analysis of the outputs of such models requires prior knowledge and accurate definition of the protection goals. However, what we present here already are meaningful metrics and a means of communicating potential risks of chemicals to the environment for a range of stakeholders.

figure 5

Schematic view of the framework and the underlying scientific improvements needed.

Conclusions

It is widely acknowledged that current environmental risk assessment methodologies for single stressors are conservative and generally protective. However, in order to incorporate advances in scientific understanding, improve ecological realism (multiple stressors) and better account for uncertainty and variability a new framework is required. We presented a novel framework that enables ERA to use unified environmental scenarios that combine mechanistic effects models with exposure models to overcome these limitations. The framework can already be used to aid decision making, but it does require a good understanding of key ecological services that are of specific interest to risk assessors in order to build relevant unified environmental scenarios. Another priority to improve the framework is to better account for multiple stressors in ERA and improve our ability to extrapolate effects to ecologically relevant levels of organisation. Interactions of chemicals with each other and with environmental factors can modulate bioavailability, toxicokinetics (TK, uptake, distribution, biotransformation, and depuration), toxicodynamics (TD, action on the biological target) or both TK and TD 65 . Whereas ideas and equations exist for the integration of single toxic and ecological stressors (see Table 1 for a vision on the integration of single stressors in DEB models), a knowledge gap still exists on the integration of the effects of combined stressors (both chemical and ecological). Such combined effects on individuals could be taken into account by impacting the relevant energy fluxes in the DEB framework. This, however, requires caution as the type, the sign, and the strength of the effect seems to be dependent on multiple factors (such as the prey, parasite, or predator type, the abundance of each species, the type of habitat, etc.) and the consequences of their interactions for an organism’s energy budget are poorly understood. This framework is computationally intensive, especially for high resolution, spatially explicit environmental scenarios therefore optimising the framework as well as the model parametrisation and model analysis are needed to implement this framework efficiently.

Stakeholders and decision makers can begin to use the framework. Importantly, an iterative process needs to be initiated early with input from risk assessors and risk managers to better inform model developers so that the framework can be optimised to ensure the right balance between realism and pragmatism is incorporated and that the output enables a shift from threshold ERA, driven by summary statistics such as the PEC/PNEC ratio, to a more mechanistic and risk based ERA. Indeed, the use of prevalence plots provides a more transparent, quantitative and meaningful interpretation of environmental risk than conventional PEC/PNEC threshold approaches. The prevalence plots represent a flexible interface between the risk assessment and the risk management, which explicitly accounts for the effect of complex interactions as well as variabilities and uncertainties that can be tailored to bespoke problem formulations.

Additional Information

How to cite this article : Goussen, B. et al . Integrated presentation of ecological risk from multiple stressors. Sci. Rep. 6 , 36004; doi: 10.1038/srep36004 (2016).

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Acknowledgements

We are especially grateful to Antonio Franco, Tjalling Jager, Ian Malcomber, and Stuart Marshall for helpful discussions and suggestions on the manuscript. This work was funded by Unilever (grant: MA-2014-00701).

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types of ecological presentation

Ecological Succession PPT

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different types of environment

Different Types of Environment

Sep 06, 2014

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Different Types of Environment. Natural ecological, biodiversity Manmade infrastructure, utilities, institutions, housing, energy, etc. Social &amp; cultural customs, traditions, ethics, etc. Business internal, external, economic, micro-operating, etc. Environment Management.

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Different Types of Environment Natural • ecological, biodiversity Manmade • infrastructure, utilities, institutions, housing, energy, etc. Social & cultural • customs, traditions, ethics, etc. Business • internal, external, economic, micro-operating, etc.

Environment Management What is Environment Management? • Control on use of limited (natural) resources • Prevention of pollution • Building systems for the purpose • Execution • Using technology • Organising (marketing, HR, finance) • Educating people • Pricing/costing

The Need Why is there a need to control or prevent? • For sustainable development • For health & sanitation • For benefit of humans beings & (of other animals) • When we set standards, we set it for ourselves, which varies with consumption related to population, governance, finance/economy, HR, our climatic conditions, our ecological resources, our capacity to absorb, our perception of a good life

Causes How do we pollute? • Intersection of human enterprise and (natural) resources • Through use of resources that create waste. So the issue is of the amount of resources used, or the technology applied. The more the use of resources, the greater the waste. • Waste can also be used as resource • Waste management, a subject by itself: solid, liquid, gaseous, based on people, governance, cost, technology/knowledge & political will

Definitions Of late, we have been defining/formulating EM based on our market conditions • Market economy: developed countries • Survival economy: developing economy with traditional methods eg. India, China, Africa • Nature’s economy: only based on natural resources –tribals/agrarians living off the land. Conflicts: Tehri & Narmada Sagar dam. Accessibility: transfer of resources from developing to developed countries, global glut leading to falling prices, impoverishing poor countries, increasing debt, lowering currency values

Strategies Adopted Market Economy • Developed countries have more consumption, but less pollution, despite intense use of resources: environmental regulation, greening of industries, relocation of polluting industries Survival Economy • Traditional village-based life, polluting to produce for others, large population with less money for development, migration to cities without education & skill leading to unemployment & poverty

Contd. Natural Economy • Depletion of natural, non-renewable resources, leading to shortage & poverty • Environmental Burden= population, affluence/consumption and technology (EB=P×A×T) population, affluence (consumption) & technology • Future belief: sustainable development will be the biggest opportunity in commerce

Stages of Pollution Management • Stage I: shift from pollution control to pollution prevention. Emerging global stds. Eg. ISO 9000, 14001, etc. • Stage II: product stewardship (like total quality control). Profitable vs altruism, a trade-off • Stage III: clean technology • Stage IV: sustainability vision

Illustration Market Economy Emerging Economy Poverty Pollution Common Survival Economy Nature’s Economy Depletion

The Challenge • To develop a sustainable global economy, capable of supporting eternally • All depends on innovations and the methods used, which should be a combination of social, environmental and economic interests and their balance • So, there is an issue of trade-off. How much can we afford?

History • Indus Valley Civilization: Environment management was in the form of waste management ... planners had a high concern for public health • Mughal Period: Ameliorating weather conditions • British Rule: Legislation on conservation of forests, wildlife & natural resources …. intention being to exploit resources …. forest reserves, national parks, bird sanctuaries, fisheries, etc. • Public nuisance: Smoke Act – Bengal, Bombay, Gujarat – this was pre-independence

Multi-tier System of Law Making International laws, treaties, cross border Constitution …… Central/National laws State Laws … land Concurrent laws Local Laws, Municipal laws Case laws

Environment Management • Indian Penal Code, 1860: impose penalties if anybody disobeyed laws • Sectoral Laws: Motor Vehicles Act, Factories Act, Industries Act, Land Acquisition, Municipal Acts, Urban Land Ceiling (repealed), Atomic Energy, Mines & Minerals, Indian Ports, Insecticide Act, Public Liability (PIL), Slum Act, Urban Arts, Electricity, Metropolitan Development Acts • Five –Year Plans: Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh (for policies) • Natural Environment: Forest Conservation, Riparian Protection, Coastal Regulations, water (including groundwater), air, land, vegetation

Environment Related Legislation • Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 • Land Acquisition Act, 1894 • Indian Easement Act, 1982 • National Housing Policy, 1998 • Public Premises Act, 1971 • Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 • Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 • Indian Forest Act, 1927 • Factories Act, 1948 • Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, 1951

Contd. • Environment Protection Act, 1986 • National Environmental Tribunal Act, 1995 • National Environmental Appellate Authority Act, 1997 • Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 • National Water Policy, 1987 • Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977 • Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 • Groundwater Control Regulation Bill

Municipal Laws • 74th Amendment in 1992 • Nagar Panchayat • Municipal Council • Municipal Corporation • Twelfth Schedule consisting of 18 items Managing at the local level, at grassroots level

UN Conventions • 1972 United Nations Conference on Human Environment held at Stockholm, Sweden • 1976 UN Conference on Human Settlements, Vancouver, Canada (Habitat I) • 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio (Earth Summit I) • 1996 UN Conference on Human Settlements, Istanbul, Habitat II • 1997 Rio+5 Earth Summit II, New York

Environment Management • 1972 UN Conference: was an incentive for protection of environment: Department of Science & Technology (to protect & improve environment) • 1992 Constitution:73rdAmendment – rural areas – leading to Panchayati Raj, 74th Amendment– urban areas – leading to 3-tier government • Standardisation: Indian – Zakaria Committee, Global – ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO/IEC 27001, • Department of Science & Technology (dissolved) - MOEF – CPCB & SPCB

Environment & Sustainable Development • 1987: Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, amended in London in 1990, in Copenhagen in 1992, in Vienna in 1995, in Montreal in 1997, in Beijing in 1999. • The Protocol stipulates that the production and consumption of compounds that deplete the ozone layer – chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halons, carbon, tetrachloride and methyl chloroform – were to be phased out by 2000 (methyl chloroform by 2005). • Ozone shields the planet from the damaging Ultra Violet radiation-UV-B.

Contd. • 1972: UN Conference on Human Environment … lead to the establishment of UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) hosts several environmental convention secretariats, including the Ozone Secretariat….Definition of sustainable development … Brundtland Report…. (WCED) • 1973: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora • 1985: Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer

Contd. • Kyoto Protocol is a legally binding agreement to tackle change through a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Arose out of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). • India acceded to the protocol in August 2002 – one of the objectives was to fulfill the prerequisite of implementation of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in accordance with the national sustainability priorities.

Contd. • Kyoto Protocol entered into force when Russia ratified the treaty, in 2005. The Kyoto Protocol deals with six gases – carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). • The US did not sign the treaty.

Clean Development Mechanism & Carbon Credits • A company has two ways of bringing down GHG emissions: (i) by adopting new technology or (ii) improving upon the existing technology to attain new norms for emission of gases. • The extent to which a company is emitting less carbon (as per the standards fixed by UNFCCC) is explained as earning ‘carbon credits” (earned in the form of Certified Emission Reductions-CERs. Each CER is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide reduction). These credits are bought over by those companies that overshoot their limits. • Consequently, a market for ‘carbon credits’ has developed. The process is known as ‘cap and trade’. • 23 multinational corporations came together in the G8 Climate Change Roundtable. • India Inc earned Rs.1,500 crores around 2005-6. Projections are for Rs. 18,000 crores by 2012.

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Villanova University

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Villanova University to Present Civitas Dei Medal to Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, PhD, Influential Feminist Theologian and Ecological Ethicist

Villanova University to Present Civitas Dei Medal to Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, PhD, Influential Feminist Theologian and Ecological Ethicist

VILLANOVA, Pa. (February 14, 2024) — Villanova University will award its  Civitas Dei Medal  to  Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, PhD , distinguished professor emerita of Theology at Fordham University and an influential voice in feminist theology and ecological ethics. Johnson will deliver the lecture, “ Ask the Beasts, Ask the Galaxies” at the medal presentation on Thursday, February 22, at 4 p.m. With the  Civitas Dei  Medal, Villanova University honors Catholics who have made exemplary contributions to the Catholic intellectual tradition and the pursuit of truth, beauty and goodness.

After earning her doctoral degree at the Catholic University of America, Johnson taught there for 10 years before moving to Fordham University, where she taught in both graduate and undergraduate programs. Johnson is the former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America as well as the former president of the American Theological Society. She was awarded Fordham University’s Teaching Award in 1998, the Professor of the Year Award in 2011 and has received 15 honorary doctorates, including one from Villanova University in 2005.

Johnson is deeply involved in the life of the church and has served as a theologian and consultant on numerous Catholic education boards and committees, including the U.S. Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue and the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Women in Church and Society. Systematic theology, ecological ethics tied to creation and the ongoing dialogue between science and religion are key focal points in Johnson’s research. Her investigations are framed within the context of feminist theology, exploring their connection to the human dignity of women.

An award-winning writer, Johnson is the author of She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse (1992), which won the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, and Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in Theology of God (2007), among others. Her most recent book will be released February 21 and is titled Come, Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth (2024).

The Civitas Dei Medal takes its name from the Latin title of St. Augustine’s City of God . In this seminal work, Augustine encouraged intellectual engagement between the Church and the world.

View the list of previous Civitas Dei Medal recipients.

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova University’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nation’s top universities, Villanova supports its students’ intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu .

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  1. types of ecological presentation

    types of ecological presentation

  2. types of ecological presentation

    types of ecological presentation

  3. PPT

    types of ecological presentation

  4. Ecological Perspective: Definition and Examples (2024)

    types of ecological presentation

  5. Ecological Pyramids

    types of ecological presentation

  6. PPT

    types of ecological presentation

VIDEO

  1. What ecological impact will you have?? #conservation #nativeplants #grasslands

  2. Ecosystem || Class 12 || Ecological Pyramid types and Limitations one shot || Dr. Goyal Sir

  3. Ecological lids for any types of container #### vegetable cover....Using old cotton saree

  4. Imaginary Ecological System

  5. ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, ECOSYSTEM

  6. examples of ecosystem #shorts #study #viral

COMMENTS

  1. Ecological pyramids

    1. Ecological Pyramids A key to understanding the structure and function of ecosystems 2. What are Ecological Pyramids? • Ecological pyramids are graphical representations of the trophic structure of ecosystems. • Trophic levels are the feeding position in a food chain such as primary producers, herbivore, primary carnivore, etc. 3.

  2. PDF Lecture 4. Ecosystems: Definition, concept, structure and functions

    Ecosystem ecology - which views ecosystems as large units, and Population ecology - which attempts to explain ecosystem behavior from the properties of individual units. In practice, the two approaches are usually merged.

  3. Ecosystem- Structure, Functions, Units and Types of Ecosystem

    An ecosystem is a structural and functional unit of ecology where the living organisms interact with each other and the surrounding environment. In other words, an ecosystem is a chain of interactions between organisms and their environment. The term "Ecosystem" was first coined by A.G.Tansley, an English botanist, in 1935.

  4. PDF Microsoft PowerPoint

    Ecological Relationships. NICHE - Role of organism in the ecosystem (job) NICHE DIVERSITY - Number of niches in an ecosystem; often determined by abiotic factors. Abiotic = non-living. A niche is the sum of all activities and relationships a species has while obtaining and using resources needed to survive and reproduce.

  5. Ecological Pyramid

    They are as follows: Pyramid of Numbers Pyramid of Numbers In this type of ecological pyramid, the number of organisms in each trophic level is considered as a level in the pyramid. The pyramid of numbers is usually upright except for some situations like that of the detritus food chain, where many organisms feed on one dead plant or animal.

  6. Ecological interactions (article)

    Ecological interactions. Google Classroom. The image is a sketch of 6 different organisms. There is a snake, a flower, a mushroom, an amoeba, a paramecium, and a single cell organism with a flagella. ... In fact, they have many different types of interactions with each other, and many of these interactions are critical for their survival. ...

  7. Ecological Pyramid

    Ecological Pyramid An ecological pyramid is a graphical representation designed to show the number of organisms, energy relationships, and biomass of an ecosystem. Succeeding levels in the pyramid represents the dependence of the organisms at a given level on the organisms at lower levels.

  8. Ecology introduction (video)

    Ecology studies how life interacts with other life and their environment, focusing on both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) factors. It explores different scales, from individual organisms to populations, communities, ecosystems, and the biosphere. Each level offers unique insights into the complex, often balanced systems that form our ...

  9. A guide to ecosystem models and their environmental applications

    Ecological management strategies — from conservation to fisheries — require ecosystem-level thinking. This Review describes the main types of ecosystem model, how to select an appropriate ...

  10. Free Ecology PowerPoint Templates & Google Slides Themes

    Free Ecology Slide Templates for an Eco-Friendly Slideshow Make your ecology presentations impactful with an ecology PowerPoint template. Whether you're a teacher, student, or environmentalist, these templates will help you deliver your message with clarity and style.

  11. Types of Ecology

    ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY Types of Ecology Ecology is the study of organisms' relationships have to each other and to their environment. Grades 5 - 8 Subjects Biology, Ecology Photograph Leaf-Cutter Ants By harvesting leaves to cultivate fungus in underground gardens, leaf-cutter ants play an important role in structuring tropical plant communities.

  12. What is Ecology?

    The different types of ecology are given below: Global Ecology It deals with interactions among earth's ecosystems, land, atmosphere and oceans. It helps to understand the large-scale interactions and their influence on the planet. Landscape Ecology It deals with the exchange of energy, materials, organisms and other products of ecosystems.

  13. Types of Biodiversity PPT

    Types of Biodiversity PPT. Types of Biodiversity: Alpha, Beta and Gamma Diversity. Method to Measure the Biodiversity? Importance of Biodiversity PPT

  14. Interactions in an Ecosystem

    Based on whether, the interaction is beneficial to both interacting species or harmful to at least one interaction species, the ecological of biological interactions are classified into two categories. (I). Positive interactions (II). Negative interactions (I). Positive interactions:

  15. PDF Ecological Concepts, Principles and Applications to Conservation

    Figure 3 provides an overview of the ecological concepts and principles discussed in section 2 and their ap-plication as discussed in section 3. Ecological concepts are general understandings (or facts) about ecosystems and ecosystem management. Ecological principles are basic assumptions (or beliefs) about ecosystems and how

  16. Ecology ppt

    Introduction to Ecology Presentation of biodiversity PPT OF BIODIVERSITY Biodiversity Ecology and Ecosystem Principles of ecology Biomes: PowerPoint Abiotic factors in an ecosystem Ecological succession Type of biodiversity Ecology Levels of Organization Ecological pyramids ppt Ecolgy and it's branches Viewers also liked (19) Ecology and ecosystem

  17. Community (Ecology): Definition, Structure, Theory & Examples

    Community ecology focuses on how interactions between different species affect health, growth, dispersion and abundance of the ecological system. At the community level, species are often interdependent. Several short food chains are common in most biological communities. Food chains often overlap and form food webs of producers and consumers.

  18. The Five Major Types of Biomes

    A biome is a large area characterized by its vegetation, soil, climate, and wildlife. There are five major types of biomes: aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra, though some of these biomes can be further divided into more specific categories, such as freshwater, marine, savanna, tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest, and taiga. Aquatic biomes include both freshwater and marine ...

  19. Integrated presentation of ecological risk from multiple stressors

    Our aim is to present an integrated approach to communicate results of ERA whilst accounting for variability in ecological and environmental factors. This approach enables an integrated ...

  20. ecology slides.ppt

    Ecology Definition - the study of ecosystems, the interactions among organisms and the interactions between organisms and their environment On the left side of your notebook write why you believe...

  21. PPT

    An ecological pyramid is a diagram that shows the relationship amounts of energy or matter contained within each trophic level in a food web or food chain. ... to download presentation Download Policy: ... (a.k.a. food pyramid) . There are three types ; all have producers on the bottom, then primary consumers, then secondary & tertiary ...

  22. Ecological Succession PPT

    The process of Ecological Succession: Types of Ecological Succession, Causes of Ecological Succession, Process of Ecological Succession - Nudation, Invasion, Competition and Co-action, Reaction, Stabilization (climax) Learn more: Notes on Process of Ecological Succession

  23. PPT

    Different Types of Environment Natural • ecological, biodiversity Manmade • infrastructure, utilities, institutions, housing, energy, etc. Social & cultural • customs, traditions, ethics, etc. Business • internal, external, economic, micro-operating, etc.. Environment Management What is Environment Management? • Control on use of limited (natural) resources • Prevention of ...

  24. Villanova University to Present Civitas Dei Medal to Elizabeth A

    Villanova University will award its Civitas Dei Medal to Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, PhD, distinguished professor emerita of Theology at Fordham University and an influential voice in feminist theology and ecological ethics. Johnson will deliver the lecture, "Ask the Beasts, Ask the Galaxies" at the medal presentation on Thursday, February 22, at 4 p.m.

  25. Stakeholders collaboration model in management of landfill ecological

    This study aims to design a conceptual model of stakeholder collaboration in a landfill ecological restoration project after being closed more than 20 years ago. On-Nut Disposal Plant environmental restoration project is one of Green Bangkok 2030 planning toward a sustainable urban green space area and increasing the active citizen participation in urban forest park development. This research ...

  26. Manage your Microsoft 365 subscription or Office product

    If you selected My Microsoft account, the Microsoft account dashboard will open.This is where you manage your Microsoft account and any Microsoft products associated with this account. On the Microsoft account dashboard, select Services & subscriptions to view all Microsoft products associated with this account. For non-subscription versions of Office (such as Office 2013 and later):