Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Goals) PDF

❑ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Goals) 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere. 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality educat...

❑ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Goals) 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere. 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation. 10. Reduce inequality within among countries. 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustained. 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystem, sustainable manage forest, combat desertification and half and reserve land degradation and biodiversity loss. 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institution to all levels. 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. Meaning 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. Structure of the Ecosystem The structure of an ecosystem is characterized by the organization of both biotic and abiotic components. This includes the distribution of energy in our environment. It also includes the climatic conditions prevailing in that particular environment. The structure of an ecosystem can be split into two main components, namely: Biotic Components Abiotic Components The biotic and abiotic components are interrelated in an ecosystem. It is an open system where the energy and components can flow throughout the boundaries.  Biotic Components Biotic components refer to all living components in an ecosystem. Based on nutrition, biotic components can be categorised into autotrophs, heterotrophs and saprotrophs (or decomposers). Producers: include all autotrophs such as plants. They are called autotrophs as they can produce food through the process of photosynthesis. Consequently, all other organisms higher up on the food chain rely on producers for food. Consumers: are organisms that depend on other organisms for food. Consumers are further classified into primary consumers, secondary consumers and tertiary consumers. Primary consumers: are always herbivores as they rely on producers for food. Secondary consumers: depend on primary consumers for energy. They can either be carnivores or omnivores. Tertiary consumers: are organisms that depend on secondary consumers for food. Tertiary consumers can also be carnivores or omnivores. Quaternary consumers: are present in some food chains. These organisms’ prey on tertiary consumers for energy. Furthermore, they are usually at the top of a food chain as they have no natural predators. Decomposers include saprophytes such as fungi and bacteria. They directly thrive on the dead and decaying organic matter. Decomposers are essential for the ecosystem as they help in recycling nutrients to be reused by plants.  Abiotic Components Abiotic components are the non-living component of an ecosystem. It includes air, water, soil, minerals, sunlight, temperature, nutrients, wind, altitude, calcium carbonates and a variety of organic compounds. Functions of Ecosystem The functions of the ecosystem are as follows: 1. It regulates the essential ecological processes, supports life systems and renders stability. 2. It is also responsible for the cycling of nutrients between biotic and abiotic components. 3. It maintains a balance among the various trophic levels in the ecosystem. 4. It cycles the minerals through the biosphere. 5. The abiotic components help in the synthesis of organic components that involve the exchange of energy.  Energy Flow in an Ecosystem The chemical energy of food is the main source of energy required by all living organisms. This energy is transmitted to different trophic levels along the food chain. This energy flow is based on two different laws of thermodynamics: First law of thermodynamics, that states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only change from one form to another. Second law of thermodynamics, that states that as energy is transferred more and more of it is wasted. ❑ Trophic level The producers and consumers in the ecosystem can be arranged into different feeding groups and are known as trophic level or the feeding level. 1.The producers (plants) represent the first trophic level. 2.Herbivores (primary consumers) present the second trophic level. 3.Primary carnivores (secondary consumers) represent the third trophic level 4.Top carnivores (tertiary consumers) represent the last level. ❑ Food Chain It maybe defined as the transfer of energy and nutrients through a succession of organism through repeated process of eating and being eaten. In food chain initial link is a green plant or producer which produces chemical energy available to consumers. Grazing food chain (GFC) – This is the normal food chain that we observe in which plants are the producers and the energy flows from the producers to the herbivores (primary consumers), then to carnivores (secondary consumers) and so on. Saprophytic or Detritus food chain (DFC) – In this type of food chain, the dead organic matter occupies the lowermost level of the food chain, followed by the decomposers and so on. Parasitic food chain (PFC) – In this type of food chain, large organisms either the producer or the consumer is exploited and therefore the food passes to the smaller organism. ❑ Food Web A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Position in the food web, or trophic level, is used in ecology to broadly classify organisms as autotrophs or heterotrophs ❑ Ecological Pyramid The tropic structure of an Ecosystem can be indicated by means of Ecological Pyramid. At each step in the food chain a considerable fraction of the potential energy is lost as heat. As a result, organism in each trophic level pass on lesser energy to the next tropic level than they actually receive. This limits the number of steps in any food chain to 4 or 5. Longer the food chain the lesser energy is available for final members. ❑Types of Ecological Pyramid 1. Pyramid Of Numbers 2. Pyramid Of Biomass 3. Pyramid Of Energy 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.  Pyramid Of Biomass Of Organism The living weight or biomass of the members of the food chain present at any one time form the pyramid of biomass of organisms. This indicates, by weight or other means of measuring materials, the total bulk of organism or fixed energy at one time. Pyramid of biomass in each tropic level from base to apex. Pyramid of Energy This depicts not only the amount of total energy utilized by the organism at each tropic level of food chain but more important, the actual role of various organisms in transfer of energy. At the producer level the total energy will ne much greater than the energy at the successive higher trophic level. ❑Methods of measuring Primary Production Harvest Method: It involves removal od vegetation periodically and weighting the material. For measuring above ground production, the above ground plant parts are clipped at ground level, dried to constant weight at 80 degree Celsius and weighted. Carbon dioxide assimilation: also known as biological carbon fixation, is the process by which living organisms convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds. Carbon assimilation is a crucial part of photosynthesis, which is how plants convert carbon dioxide into glucose. Oxygen Production Method: In this technique, a sample of water is placed in two bottles, one in the light and one in the dark. The difference in dissolved oxygen between the two bottles over time measures the total amount of oxygen produced by photosynthesis. The difference between the amount of oxygen produced through photosynthesis and that consumed through aerobic respiration is the net productivity. The difference in dissolved oxygen over time between the bottles stored in the light and in the dark is a measure of the total amount of  Oxygen Production Method: In this technique, a sample of water is placed in two bottles, one in the light and one in the dark. The difference in dissolved oxygen between the two bottles over time measures the total amount of oxygen produced by photosynthesis. The difference between the amount of oxygen produced through photosynthesis and that consumed through aerobic respiration is the net productivity. The difference in dissolved oxygen over time between the bottles stored in the light and in the dark is a measure of the total amount of oxygen produced by photosynthesis. The total amount of oxygen produced is called the gross productivity. Chlorophyll Method: The relation of total amount of chlorophyll to the photosynthetic rate is referred to as assimilation ratio or rate of production chlorophyll. Total chlorophyll per unit area is greater in land plants as compared to that in aquatic plants. ❑ Ecological Succession Ecological succession is the steady and gradual change in a species of a given area with respect to the changing environment. It is a predictable change and is an inevitable process of nature as all the biotic components have to keep up with the changes in our environment. The ultimate aim of this process is to reach equilibrium in the ecosystem. The community that achieves this aim is called a climax community. In an attempt to reach this equilibrium, some species increase in number while some others decrease.  Types of Ecological Succession ✓ Primary Succession Primary succession is the succession that starts in lifeless areas such as the regions devoid of soil or the areas where the soil is unable to sustain life. When the planet was first formed there was no soil on earth. The earth was only made up of rocks. These rocks were broken down by microorganisms and eroded to form soil. The soil then becomes the foundation of plant life. These plants help in the survival of different animals and progress from primary succession to the climax community. If this primary ecosystem is destroyed, secondary succession takes place. ✓ Secondary Succession Secondary succession occurs when the primary ecosystem gets destroyed. For eg., a climax community gets destroyed by fire. It gets recolonized after the destruction. This is known as secondary ecological succession. Small plants emerge first, followed by larger plants. The tall trees block the sunlight and change the structure of the organisms below the canopy. Finally, the climax community arrives. ✓ Cyclic Succession This is only the change in the structure of an ecosystem on a cyclic basis. Some plants remain dormant for the rest of the year and emerge all at once. This drastically changes the structure of an ecosystem. ❑ Forest Types in India ✓ Coniferous Forest Coniferous forests consist mostly of conifers, which are trees that grow needles instead of leaves and cones instead of flowers. Conifers tend to be evergreen—they bear needles all year long. These adaptations help conifers survive in areas that are very cold or dry. Some of the more common conifers are spruces, pines, and firs. Precipitation in coniferous forests varies from 300 to 900 mm annually, with some temperate coniferous forests receiving up to 2,000 mm/ year (79 in/year). The amount of precipitation depends on the forest location. In the northern boreal forests, the winters are long, cold and dry, while the short summers are moderately warm and moist. In the lower latitudes, precipitation is more evenly distributed throughout the year. ✓ The Broadleaved Forests It can be categorized into- evergreen forest, deciduous forest, mangrove forest. These forms of forest have trees with large broad leaves of different shapes. Evergreen Forest The evergreen forests can be found in the Western Ghats, Northeastern Himalayas, and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The trees in this type of forest stay green throughout the year because in these regions monsoon lasts for a long time. The trees of evergreen forests are tall, straight, and have green crowns that almost form a canopy. Some examples of evergreen trees are Jamun, Betel Nut Palm, Mango, Jackfruit, and Hollock.  Deciduous Forests Deciduous forests are found in regions that receive a moderate amount of rainfall. Here one can find teak trees. The trees in the deciduous forests shed their leaves during dry seasons, mostly in winter. The thorn forests are found in the semi-arid regions of the country. The trees in this type of forest are sparsely distributed and are enclosed by open grasslands. These types of plants are known as Xerophytes. This means they can conserve water. These trees have a different form of leaves. Some have thick, waxy leaves that help in regulating the water loss at the time of transpiration. Further, they have a long fibrous root that can reach water at greater depths. The thorns that are present on the plant prevent water loss and keep them safe from herbivores. Mangrove Forest The mangrove forests in India are found in the river deltas and along the coast. The trees in this forest grow in a mixture of freshwater and saline water. The low-lying areas where these trees grow become submerged under the water during high tide. To facilitate breathing in clayey soil, nature has equipped mangrove plants with breathing roots. Some common mangrove plants are sundari, goran, gewa, etc. The Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in India and the world. It is located in the Ganges delta of West Bengal and Bangladesh.