Absolutely all organisms on planet Earth are affected by environmental factors. It can be direct or indirect, but it still has a significant impact on human life, the state of plants and animals. The environmental factor is an element of the environment that makes living organisms adapt to certain living conditions. Influence can be exerted through the climatic features of the locality (temperature, humidity, radiation background, topography, illumination), human activity or the vital activity of various living creatures (parasitism, predation, competition).
Determination of the environmental factor
The environment is a kind of complex of conditions surrounding a living organism that affect its vital functions. It can be a combination of phenomena, material bodies, energies. An environmental factor is an environmental factor that organisms have to adapt to. This can be a decrease or increase in temperature, humidity or drought, radiation background, human activity, competition among animals, etc. The term “habitat” in its essence means a part of the nature in which organisms live, among what has direct or indirect influence. These are the factors, because they somehow affect the subject. The environment is constantly changing, its components are diverse, so animals, plants and even people have to constantly adapt, adapt to new conditions in order to somehow survive and multiply.
Classification of environmental factors
On living organisms, both natural and artificial effects can be produced. There are several types of classifications, but the most common types of environmental factors are abiotic, biotic, and anthropogenic. All living organisms are somehow affected by the phenomena and components of inanimate nature. These are abiotic factors affecting the life of a person, plants, animals. They, in turn, are divided into edaphic, climatic, chemical, hydrographic, pyrogenic, orographic.
Light conditions, humidity, temperature, atmospheric pressure and precipitation, solar radiation, wind can be attributed to climatic factors. The edaphic ones affect living organisms through the thermal, air and water conditions of the soil, its chemical composition and mechanical structure, groundwater level, acidity. Chemical factors are the salt composition of water, the gas composition of the atmosphere. Pyrogenic - the effect of fire on the environment. Living organisms are forced to adapt to the terrain, elevation, as well as to the characteristics of the water, the content of organic and mineral substances in it.
The biotic environmental factor is the relationship of living organisms, as well as the impact of their relationship on the environment. Influence can be either direct or indirect. For example, some organisms are able to influence the microclimate, change the composition of the soil , etc. Biotic factors are divided into four types: phytogenic (plants affect the environment and each other), zoogenic (animals affect the habitat and each other), mycogenic (fungi have an effect) and microbiogenic (microorganisms are at the center of events).
The anthropogenic environmental factor is a change in the living conditions of organisms in connection with human activities. Actions can be both conscious and unconscious. However, they lead to irreversible changes in nature. Man destroys the soil layer, pollutes the atmosphere and water with harmful substances, violates natural landscapes. Anthropogenic factors can be divided into four main subgroups: biological, chemical, social and physical. All of them to one degree or another affect animals, plants, microorganisms, contribute to the appearance of new species and wipe old ones from the face of the earth.
The chemical effect of environmental factors on organisms mainly affects the environment. To achieve good yields, people use mineral fertilizers, kill pests with poisons, thereby polluting the soil and water. To this should also be added the waste of transport and industry. Physical factors include moving in airplanes, trains, cars, using atomic energy, and the effect of vibration and noise on organisms. Do not forget about the relationship of people, life in society. Biological factors include organisms for which a person is a source of food or habitat, food should also be included here.
Environmental conditions
Depending on their characteristics and strengths, various organisms respond differently to abiotic factors. Environmental conditions change over time and, of course, change the rules for the survival, development and reproduction of microbes, animals, and fungi. For example, the life of green plants at the bottom of a reservoir is limited by the amount of light that can penetrate the water column. The number of animals is limited by the abundance of oxygen. The temperature has a huge effect on living organisms, because its decrease or increase affects development and reproduction. During the ice age, not only mammoths and dinosaurs became extinct, but also many other animals, birds and plants, thereby changing the environment. Humidity, temperature and light are the main factors that determine the living conditions of organisms.
Shine
The sun gives life to many plants, animals, it is not so important as the representatives of the flora, but still they can not do without it. Natural lighting is a natural source of energy. Many plants are divided into photophilous and shade-tolerant. Different types of animals show a negative or positive reaction to light. But the most important influence the sun has on the change of day and night, because different representatives of the fauna lead an exclusively night or day lifestyle. The impact of environmental factors on organisms is difficult to overestimate, but if we talk about animals, then lighting does not directly affect them, it only signals the need for restructuring the processes in the body, due to which living creatures respond to changes in external conditions.
Humidity
The dependence on water for all living things is very large, because it is necessary for their normal functioning. Most organisms are unable to live in dry air, sooner or later they die. The amount of precipitation falling for a specific period characterizes the humidity of the area. Lichens catch water vapor from the air, plants feed on roots, animals drink water, insects, amphibians are able to absorb it through the integument of the body. There are creatures that receive fluid with food or through the oxidation of fats. Both plants and animals have many devices that allow them to waste water more slowly and save it.
Temperature
Each organism has its own temperature range. If it goes beyond, rising or falling, then he simply can die. The influence of environmental factors on plants, animals, and humans can be either positive or negative. Inside the temperature range, the body develops normally, but as soon as the temperature approaches the lower or upper limits, life processes slow down, and then completely stop, which leads to the death of the creature. Someone needs cold, someone needs warmth, and someone can live under different environmental conditions. For example, bacteria, lichens withstand a wide range of temperatures, tigers feel good in the tropics and in Siberia. But most organisms survive only in narrow temperature ranges. For example, corals grow in water at 21 ° C. Lowering the temperature or overheating is deadly for them.
In tropical areas, weather fluctuations are almost invisible, which can not be said about the temperate zone. Organisms are forced to adapt to the change of seasons, many with the onset of winter make long migrations, and plants die off completely. Under adverse temperature conditions, some creatures hibernate in order to wait out the period that is not suitable for them. These are only the main environmental factors; atmospheric pressure, wind, and altitude also affect organisms.
The impact of environmental factors on a living organism
The development and reproduction of living creatures is significantly affected by the habitat. All groups of environmental factors usually act in a complex, and not one at a time. The power of one depends on the other. For example, lighting cannot be replaced with carbon dioxide, but by changing the temperature it is quite possible to suspend plant photosynthesis. All factors affect organisms in one way or another differently. The leading role may vary depending on the time of year. For example, in spring, for many plants, temperature is important, during flowering - soil moisture, when ripe - air humidity and nutrients. There are also limiting factors, the excess or deficiency of which is close to the limits of endurance of the body. Their action is manifested even when living things are in a favorable environment.
The influence of environmental factors on plants
For each representative of the flora, the surrounding environment is considered to be its habitat. It is she who creates all the necessary environmental factors. The habitat provides the plant with the necessary soil and air humidity, lighting, temperature, wind, the optimal amount of nutrients in the soil. The normal level of environmental factors allows organisms to grow, develop and multiply normally. Some conditions can negatively affect plants. For example, if you plant a crop on a depleted field in the soil of which there is not enough nutrients, then it will grow very weak or not at all. This factor can be called limiting. But still, most plants adapt to living conditions.
Representatives of the flora growing in the desert adapt to conditions using a special form. They usually have very long and powerful roots that can go 30 meters deep into the ground. A superficial root system is also possible, allowing moisture to be collected during short rains. Trees and bushes are stored in water in trunks (often deformed), leaves, branches. Some desert residents are able to wait a few months for life-giving moisture, but others are pleasing to the eye for only a few days. For example, ephemerals disperse seeds that germinate only after rain, then the desert blooms early in the morning, and at noon the flowers wither.
The influence of environmental factors on plants affects in cold conditions. The tundra has a very harsh climate, the summer is short, you cannot call it warm, but frost lasts from 8 to 10 months. Snow cover is negligible, and the wind completely bares the plants. Representatives of the flora usually have a superficial root system, a thick skin of leaves with a waxy coating. The necessary supply of nutrients plants accumulate during the period when the polar day lasts . Tundra trees produce seeds that germinate only once every 100 years during the most favorable conditions. But lichens and mosses adapted to reproduce vegetatively.
Environmental factors of plants allow them to develop in a variety of conditions. Representatives of flora are dependent on humidity, temperature, but most of all they need sunlight. He changes their internal structure, appearance. For example, a sufficient amount of light allows trees to grow a luxurious crown, but the bushes, flowers that grew in the shade seem oppressed and weak.
Ecology and people very often go their separate ways. Human activities are detrimental to the environment. The work of industrial enterprises, forest fires, transport, air pollution by emissions from power plants, factories, water and soil with oil product residues - all this negatively affects the growth, development and propagation of plants. In recent years, many species of representatives of the flora fell into the Red Book, many became extinct at all.
The impact of environmental factors on humans
Two centuries ago, people were much healthier and physically stronger than today. Labor activity constantly complicates the relationship between man and nature, but up to a certain point they managed to get along. This was due to the synchronism of the way of life of people with natural regimes. Each season had its own labor mood. For example, in the spring, peasants plowed the land, sowed cereals and other crops. In summer, they looked after crops, grazed cattle, in the fall - they harvested, in winter - they did household chores, rested. The culture of health was an important element of the general culture of man, the consciousness of the individual changed under the influence of natural conditions.
Everything changed dramatically in the twentieth century, during a huge leap in the development of technology and science. Of course, even before that, human activities significantly damaged nature, but here all records of negative impact on the environment were broken. The classification of environmental factors makes it possible to determine what people influence to a greater extent, and what to a lesser extent. Mankind lives in a production cycle mode, and this cannot but affect the state of health. There is no periodicity, people do the same job all year long, have little rest, are constantly in a hurry. Of course, working and living conditions have changed for the better, but the consequences of such comfort are very unfavorable.
Today, water, soil, air are polluted, acid rain falls , destroying plants and animals, damaging structures and structures. The thinning of the ozone layer also can not but scare the consequences. All this leads to genetic changes, mutations, the health of people worsens every year, the number of patients with incurable diseases is growing inexorably. A person is largely affected by environmental factors, biology studies this effect. Previously, people could die from cold, heat, hunger, thirst, in our time, humanity "digs its own grave." Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, fires - all these natural phenomena take the lives of people, but even more people harm themselves. Our planet is like a ship that goes at high speed on the rocks. It is necessary to stop before it is too late, to correct the situation, to try to pollute the atmosphere less, to become closer to nature.
Human impact on the environment
People complain about a sharp change in the environment, deterioration in health and general well-being, but they rarely realize that they themselves are to blame. Various types of environmental factors have changed over the centuries, there have been periods of warming, cooling, the seas have dried up, the islands went under water. Of course, nature forced a person to adapt to conditions, but it did not set limits on people, did not act spontaneously and quickly. With the development of technology and science, everything has changed significantly. For one century, mankind has so polluted the planet that scientists are clutching their heads, not knowing how to change the situation.
We still recall mammoths and dinosaurs that died out during the ice age due to a sharp cooling, and how many species of animals and plants have been wiped off the face of the earth over the past 100 years, how many are on the verge of extinction? Big cities are stuffed with factories, factories, pesticides that pollute soil and water are actively used in villages, everywhere there is a saturation of transport. There are practically no places left on the planet that can boast of clean air, unpolluted land and water. Deforestation, endless fires, which can be caused not only by abnormal heat, but also human activities, pollution of water by oil products, harmful exhaust in the atmosphere - all this negatively affects the development and reproduction of living organisms and does not improve people's health.
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