Tài liệu Environmental Science (Specialized English for Environmental Courses) ppt

3
VO DINH LONG
Environmental Science
(Specialized English for Environmental Courses)
PART 1
PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Ho Chi Minh University of Industry Publishing House, 2011
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PREFACE
This book is basically the result of six years of teaching in the
field of environmental science. Some of my graduate and
undergraduate students using this book have been being
engineers, practitioners, and officers. I am very grateful to them
for their patience and tolerance as it progressed from crude
lectures to its present book.
This book is divided into 5 chapters:
Chapter 1: Basic units of ecology.
Chapter 2: Materials and nutrient cycles.
Chapter 3: Humankind’s invention with nature.
Chapter 4: The pollution problems.
Chapter 5: Sustainable development and the future.
Many problems are discussed in the book include: the
ecosystem; materials and nutrient cycles; balance of nature;
progress in agriculture, engineering, and medicine; adverse
effects of people’s activities; air, water and soil pollution;
pollution reduction; how the global environment faces; and the
meaning of sustainable development.
Although this book contributes by one person for the purpose
of teaching and reading. I am lucky to have the supports from so
many people and without their helps this book would not have
been published. While most people did not help directly on my

theme, one of them contributed in some ways towarded helping
me.
Many thanks to my colleagues at Ho Chi Minh University of
Industry: Prof. Le Huy Ba for reading my book and offering
valuable advice; Miss. Nguyen Le Kim Cuong and Mrs. Nguyen
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Thi Thu Thuy for using my crude lectures for their teaching, and
Miss. Nguyen Thi Hong Nhung for her reading and
commending.
I would also like to thank all of them for numerous hours
they have allowed me to spend with them in discussing my
book, confirming reading notes, and helping me with this book.
The most importantly of all, my thanks also to the editorial
staff of Ho Chi Minh University publishing house for their
patience with me in reading, reviewing, and publishing this
book.
Ho Chi Minh City, June 2011
Author
VO DINH LONG
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Basic units of ecology
§1. The ecosystem
§2. Components of an ecosystem
Vocabulary
Questions
Chapter 2: Materials and nutrient cycles
§1. Importance of the nutrient cycles
§2. the water cycle
§3. the carbon and oxygen cycle

§4. the nitrogen cycle
§5. the phosphorus cycle
Chapter 3: Humankind’s invention with nature
§1. Balance of nature
§2. Progress in agriculture, engineering, and medicine
§3. Adverse effects of people’s activities
Chapter 4: The pollution problems
§1. Meaning of pollution
§2. Air pollution
§3. Land and soil pollution
§4. Radiation and its harmful effects
§5. Pollution reduction
Chapter 5: Sustainable development and the future
§1. The global environmental situation
§2. Suistainable development
Glossary
Metric unit conversion tables
References
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CHAPTER 1: BASIC UNITS OF ECOLOGY
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Define environment.
2. Define an ecosystem.
3. Identify the components of the biosphere.
4. Describe the living and nonliving components of the
environment.
5. Explain that bacteria and fungi are agents of decay.
6. Discuss the process of photosynthesis.
7. Enumerate the important factors that affect the growth of
plants and the survival of animals.

§1. THE ECOSYSTEM
When God created the world, He said, “Let the earth
produces all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that
bear fruit”, and it was done. Then He also created animals,
including human beings and provided light. God, therefore, saw
to it that everything needed for them to live is found in the world
which He created. He provided spaces, ways and means by with
different organisms can interact with one another and with their
environment.
Part of the world where life operates is known as the
biosphere.
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The biosphere consists of the air (atmosphere), water
(hydrosphere), and earth (lithosphere) where living things
interact with their environment.
When you study the interaction or relationship between
organisms and their environment, you are studying an
ecosystem. The term ecosystem refers to all the living things and
the nonliving things in a given area. It includes all the plants and
animals together with their surroundings.
Figure 1.1: The biosphere
The ecosystem of an aquarium, for example, consists of the
hydrilla and others plants, fish, snails, and other aquatic animals,
some of which can only be seen under the microscope. It also
includes sand and pebbles at the bottom. We can also include
the owner who takes care of the aquarium.
A grassland, too, is an ecosystem. This ecosystem consists of
the grass, earthworms, insects, bacteria, soil, water, sunlight, and
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other plants and animals that live on it. The pond is another

example of an ecosystem.
WARM UP
The forest is a more complex ecosystem. Can you identify
some of the components of this ecosystem?
The entire earth can be thought of as an ecosystem. It has an
abundance of different kinds of species of living things which,
although separate by great distances, still react with one another
and with the nonliving world.
In a forest ecosystem, interrelationships among its living and
nonliving components occur. The branches and leaves of trees
help break the force of the rain. Layers of dead leaves and twins
and branches on the forest floor soak up water and prevent rain
from washing soil away. Little water runs off the land. The roots
of trees hold the soil and water on which they depend.
Moreover, when the leaves and branches decay, they become
part of the rich topsoil.
The soil is made up of minerals like silica and clay. They
come from the breakdown of rocks. There are spaces between
the mineral particles which are filled with air and water. Roots
of plants penetrate deeper into the soil causing physical change.
They loosen the tightly packed particles. Chemical change also
occurs. The roots absorb the minerals present.
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Figure 1.2: Plant-soil relationship
There are thousands of organisms that live in the soil, like
earthworms, that decompose the dead plants and animals. Some
are too small to be seen, but they all help maintain the ecological
balance in the soil.
Figure 1.3: Organisms in the soil
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GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. What is an ecosystem?
………………………………………………………………………
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2. How do the living components of an ecosystem affect the
nonliving components? Give example.
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3. Can a fallen log be considered as an ecosystem? Explain
your answer.
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§2. COMPONENTS OF AN ECOSYSTEM
In the preceding section you learned what an ecosystem is.
The living component is known as the biotic and the nonliving
component is known as abiotic. The biotic component consists
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of plants, animals, and bacteria. The abiotic component includes
all the factors of the nonliving environment such as the
substratum, light, rainfall, nutrients, soil, and others. Both the
biotic and abiotic components are equally important in the
ecosystem because without one of them the ecosystem would
not function.
INSIGHTFULNESS

The ecosystem consists of the biotic and abiotic components.
The biotic components are the plants, animals, and
decomposers. The abiotic components are the nonliving factors,
such as temperature, water, and others. The abiotic affect the
biotic components and vice versa.
1. Green plants
Green plants are known as the producers. They capture
energy from the sun and together with carbon dioxide (CO
2
) in
the air and water (H
2
O) converting together those into food
energy. Since plants are able to manufacture their own food,
they are also known as autotrophs (or self-nourishing). These
plants are able to manufacture food though the process of
photosynthesis, which will be explained in the next section.
Green plants also take substances, such as nitrogen and sulfur
from the environment and convert those into plant materials that
can be used by other organisms as food. These green plants
further provide oxygen which is taken in by humans and animals
in the process of respiration. For these reasons, all life, whether
in the pond, forest, or grassland, depend on green plants.
You might think that green plants consist only of the trees or
big plants that you see around. The other producers are invisible
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to your eyes. These are the microscopic drifting plants which are
greater sources of food than the big plants that you can see. We
call these microscopic plants phytoplankton. When they become
too abundant, they can give a pond or a body of water a green

color, it is called Eutrophication (Eutrophication is an increase
in the concentration of chemical nutrients in an ecosystem to an
extent that increases the primary productivity of the ecosystem).
WARM UP
Have you ever seen a pond or a lake with green surface?
GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. What are producers?
………………………………………………………………………
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2. What do producers perform in an ecosystem?
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3. What is phytoplankton?
………………………………………………………………………
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2. Animals
Animals, or the consumers, obtain their food from plants or
other animals. Because of this, they are also known as
heterotrophs, which means that they feed on others and cannot
manufacture their own food, unlike the green plants.
There are three different types of consumers, namely, the
herbivores, the carnivores, and the omnivores.
Figure 1.4: There are three different types of consumers

The herbivores are those that eat plants only. For example,
the caterpillar that feeds on leaves is an herbivore while the
snake that eats the caterpillar is a carnivore. Omnivores eat both
plants and animals. A human being is a good example of an
omnivore.
Through the process of respiration, animals combine the food
they eat with oxygen to produce CO
2
and H
2
O which are used
by plants in the photosynthesis process. Animals also convert
the materials of the plant bodies into the materials that make-up
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their own bodies. All the energy produced and used by animals
comes from the plants.
GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. What are consumers?
………………………………………………………………………
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2. What are the three types of consumers? And give one
example for each type.
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3. Bacteria and fungi as agents of decay
Have you ever observed what happen to leaves that fall on

the ground?
After some time, the leaves wither, break down into smaller
pieces, decay, and finally become part of the soil. What do you
think is responsible for this change?
WARM UP
Have you heard of the word decomposer? What do you think
does a decomposer do?
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Decomposers make-up the third biotic component of the
ecosystem. They use the bodies of dead animals and plants for
their food. The materials contained in these dead bodies are
broken down by the decomposers, thus they get the energy they
need and release the minerals and other nutrients back into the
environment for use again by other organisms. Bacteria are
among the most abundant decomposers while fungi are known
to be the fast-acting decomposers.
Decomposers are found everywhere. In the pond, they are
abundant at the bottom where the remains of the dead organisms
(plants and animals) settle. On land, they abound on the surface
of the soil where the dead bodies of plants and animals are
found.
Each of the three groups of the biotic component of the
ecosystem - producers (plants), consumers (animals), and
decomposers (bacteria and fungi) - has its own specific function
or task to perform.
Figure 1.5: Relationship among biotic component of the ecosystem
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The work performed by an organism is known as its
ecological niche, while the place where the organism lives in the
ecosystem is known as its ecological habitat.

GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. What are decomposers?
………………………………………………………………………
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2. What do decomposers perform in the ecosystem ?
………………………………………………………………………
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4. Nonliving factors
The nonliving factors of the environment make-up abiotic
component of the ecosystem. These include the chemical and
physical factors in the environment, such as light, temperature,
water, pH (acidity), wind, chemical nutrients, salinity (saltiness),
soil, and others.
Organisms are affected by the biotic factors simultaneously
but, of course, different species of organisms are affected
differently. For example, lichens may not survive when
temperature gets very high but cactus may.
Different organisms thrive in different conditions. There are
animals, like the earthworms, which favor wet condition, while
others, like ants, prefer drier conditions. Some plants, such as
cactus, grow best in sandy soil while tomatoes grow best in
loamy soil.
As a whole, these environmental factors not only provide
essential energy and materials but also determine the kind of
organisms that will inhabit the area. Hence, they provide the

conditions necessary for the survival of the organisms.
GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. What are the components of an ecosystem?
………………………………………………………………………
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2. Give examples for each component of the ecosystem.
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3. What are the functions of these components?
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4. Can an ecosystem exist without one of its components?
Justify your answer.
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VOCABULARY
Autotrophs: Organism that is self-nourishing; one that can
produce its own food.
Heterotroph: Organisms that feeds on others and cannot
manufacture its own food.

Biological magnification: Accumulation or increase of
chemical substances on organisms in succeeding higher trophic
levels.
Biomass: Amount of organic materials in plants or animals
from which energy can be derived.
Energy: Capacity to do work
Energy content: The amount of energy available for doing
work. For example, amount of energy in fuel available for
powering a motor vehicle.
Food chain: Energy pathway which proceeds from the
producers to the consumers.
Food web: Series of interrelated food chains in an ecosystem.
Pyramid of energy: Representation of the organic content in
each trophic level.
Biosphere: Portion of the earth and its environment within
which life in any of its form is manifested.
Photosynthesis: Process of manufacturing food by green
plants in the presence of sunlight.
Atmosphere: Layer of air surrounding the earth.
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Hydrosphere: The part of the Earth composed of water
including clouds, oceans, seas, ice caps, glaciers, lakes, rivers,
underground water supplies, and atmospheric water vapor.
Lithosphere: The outer, rigid shell of the earth, situated
above the atmosphere and containing the crust, continents and
plates or the solid part of the earth’s surface.
Grassland biome: Community where grass is abundant while
trees are scarce and where mostly herbivores and rodents dwell.
Carnivore: Animals that get food from killing and eating
other animals.

Herbivore: Organisms that eat plants only.
Omnivore: Organisms that consume both plants and animals
Biotic factor: Living component of the ecosystem which
includes plants, animals, and bacteria.
Biotic potential: Reproductive capacity of the living
components of the ecosystem.
Producer (autotroph): Green plant or organism that,
performs photosynthesis.
Consumer: Organism that feeds on other organisms.
Decomposer (also known as microconsumer): Organism
which breaks down nonliving organic material; example are
bacteria and fungi.
Environment: Sum of all external forces and conditions
acting on an organism or a community of organisms.
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CHOOSE THE BEST ANSWER FOR THE FOLLOWING
QUESTIONS
1. The biosphere consists of ………………
a) atmosphere
b) hydrosphere and atmosphere
c) atmosphere and lithosphere
d) atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere
2. Atmosphere ………………
a) is the air environment
b) consists of air and water
c) consists of soil and water
d) consists of soil and air
3. Hydrosphere ………………
a) is the air environment
b) is the soil environment

c) is the water environment
d) is the water and soil environment
4. The biosphere is place where ………………
a) living things do not interact with their environment
b) living things interact with their environment
c) nonliving things interact each other
d) living things interact each other
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5. Lithosphere is ………………
a) The air environment
b) The water and air environment
c) The soil environment
d) The organisms and their environment
6. Studying an ecosystem concentrates on ………………
a) the relationship between organisms and organisms
b) the relationship between organisms and their
environment
c) the relationship between nonliving things
d) plants and animals
7. The term ecosystem refers to ………………
a) all the living things in a given area
b) all the living things and the nonliving things in a given
area
c) all the nonliving things in a given area
d) the relationship between organisms and organisms
8. A grassland is an ecosystem because it consists of ………
a) the grass
b) earthworms, insects and bacteria
c) plants and animals
d) plants and animals together with their surroundings

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9. The living components of an ecosystem affect the nonliving
components by …………
a) the consumption
b) the decomposition
c) the production
d) the relationship between organisms and their
environment
10. ……………… are known as the biotic.
a) The nonliving components
b) The living components
c) The nonliving and the living components
d) Water and vapour water
11. The abiotic components consist of ………………
a) plants and animals
b) factors of the nonliving environment
c) factors of the living environment
d) bacteria
12. Both the biotic and abiotic components ………………
a) are unequally important in the ecosystem
b) are equally important in the ecosystem
c) are not important in the ecosystem
d) do not relate in the ecosystem
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13. ……………… are known as the producers
a) Animals
b) Green plants
c) Both green plants and animals
d) Bacteria
14. ……………… capture the energy from the sun and

together with carbon dioxide in the air and water convert
together those into food energy.
a) Green plants
b) Animals
c) Both green plants and animals
d) Bacteria
15. Plants are known as autotrophs because ………………
a) they are green plants
b) they are producers
c) they are able to manufacture their own food
d) they are consumers
16. ……………… can take substances from the environment
and covert those into materials that can be used by other
organisms as food.
a) Green plants
b) Animals
c) Consumers
d) Decomposers
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17. ……………… can provide oxygen which is taken in by
humans and animals in the process of respiration.
a) Consumers
b) Animals
c) Green plants
d) Decomposers
18. We call the microscopic plants phytoplankton because …
a) they give a pond or a body of water a green color
b) they are invisible to your eyes
c) they are microscopic drifting plants
d) big plants

19. Green plants consist of ………………
a) trees
b) big plants
c) phytoplankton
d) trees, big plants and phytoplankton
20. Animals are known as heterotrophs because …………
a) they obtain their food from plants or other animals
b) they are producers
c) they are able to manufacture their own food
d) they are unlike the green plants
21. Consumers include ………………
a) herbivores
b) carnivores
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c) omnivores
d) herbivores, carnivores and omnivores
22. Herbivores are those ………………
a) that eat animals and plants
b) that eat animals
c) that eat plants only
d) that are the producers
23. Carnivores are those ………………
a) that eat animals and plants
b) that eat animals only
c) that eat plants
d) that are the consumers
24. Omnivores are those ………………
a) that eat animals and plants
b) that eat animals only
c) that eat plants only

d) that are the decomposers
25. A human being is ………………
a) a herbivore
b) a carnivore
c) an omnivore
d) a producer
26. All the energy used by animals comes from ……………
a) the sun