NATURAL RESOURCES

SUBMITTED TO:

Mrs. Sushama prabha.L

Lecturer in Natural Science

SUBMITTED BY:

Vidya Ravi.J

Natural Science(optional)

SUBMITTED ON:

8/8/2014

NATURAL RESOURCES

INDEX

Sl.No. Content Page no1. Introduction 42. Pond 43. Lakes and Rivers 54. Forest 5-65. Mangroves 7-86. conclusion 87. Reference 8

INTRODUCTION

The earth is a relatively small planet with limited resources to support a certain number of people for a given period of time.If there are more people to share its resources and if they use them or waste them at a fast rate then these will not last long.The earth has only acertain amount of air,water,soil,raw materials and minerals.These are called resources.If we use all of them there will be none left for the future generations.The earth is not limitless;it is finite.For million’s of years,mankinds need for mineral resources was modest and had little impact on the environment.With each invention that improved the chances of human survival,the need for minerals increased.The development of elaborate industries led to the need for larger quantities of raw materials such as stone,wood,clay,fibre,skins,and hides and later,metals.

POND

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man made,that is usually smaller than a lake.They may arise naturally in floodplains as part of a river system, or they may be somewhat isolated depressions.Usually they contain shallow with marsh aquatic plants and animals.

One of the most important features of pond is the presence of standing water, which provides habitat for wetland plants and animals.Familiar examples might include water-lilies, frogs, turtles and herons.Often,the entire margin of the pond is fringed by wetland,and these wetlands support the aquatic food web,provide shelter for wild life,and stabilize the shore of the pond.Some grazing animals like geese and muskrats consume the wet land plants directly as a source of food.In many other cases,however,the pond plants fall into the water and decay.A large number of invertebrates then feed on the decaying plants,and these invertebrates provide food for wetland species including fish,dragonflies,and herons.The open water may allow algae to grow ,and these algae may support yet another food web that includes aquatic insects and minnows’A pond ,therefore,may have combinations of three different food webs,one based on larger plants ,one based up on decayed plants and one based up on algae.Hence ,ponds often have a large number of different animal species using the wide array of food sources.They therefore provide an important source of biological diversity in landscapes.

USE

Globally,the most important service provided by a pond ,at many scales,is the production of fish and other wild life.These are often also a source of food for humans,as well as important source of recreation.At the same time,these ponds help maintain water quality by recycling nutrients.

LAKES AND RIVERS

Lakes are defined as large bodies of inland water.If surface water flows to a place that is surrounded by higher land on all sides,a lake will form.If a dam is built to hinder a rivers flow,the lake that forms is a reservoir.

Lakes are an essential soure of water in Ontario.The Great Lakes hold about 1/5 of the worlds,fresh surface water supply.Most of our drinking water,as well as water used for irrigation,industry and hydropower,come from fresh water lakes and reservoirs.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LAKES AND RIVERS

Lakes and rivers are vital components of our environment as they,are an important source of fresh water.It provide habitat for numerous species of plants and animals including species at risk.These are an essential components of the water cycle,and also an important source of renewable energy.

FOREST

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees.A forest is usually an area filled with trees but any tall densely packed area of vegetation may be considered a forest, even under water vegetation such as kelp forest, or non-vegetation such as fungi, and bacteria.Tree forests cover approximately 9.4 percent of the earth’s surface (or 30% of total land area), though they once covered much more (about 50% of total land area).

A typical tree forest is composed of the overstory (Canopy or tree layer) and the understory.The understory is further sub divided in the shrub layer,herb layer,and also the moss layer and soil microbes.In some complex forest, there is also a well-defined lower tree layer.Forest are central to all human life because they provide adiverse range of resources: they store

carbon,aid in regulating the planetary climate,purify water and mitigate natural hazards such as floods.Forest also contain roughly 90%of the worlds terrestrial biodiversity.

Forest can be classified in different ways and to different degrees of specificity.One such way is in terms of the “biome” in which they exist, combined with leaf longevity of the dominant species(whether they are evergreen or deciduous).Another distinction is whether the forest are composed predominantly of broad leaf trees,coniferous(needle-leaved)trees,or mixed.

1. TEMPERATE NEEDLE LEAF

Temperate needle leaf forests mostly occupy the higher latitude regions of the northern hemisphere,as well as high attitude zones and some warm temperate areas,especially on nutrient-poor or otherwise unfavourable soils.These forests are composed entirely, or nearly so, of coniferous species’(coniferophyta).

2. TEMPERATE BROAD LEAF AND MIXED

Temperate broad leaf and mixed forests include a substantial component of trees in the Anthophyta.They are generally characteristic of the warmer temperate latitudes, but extend to cool temperate ones, particularly in the southern hemisphere.

They include such forest type as the mixed deciduous forests of the united states and their counter parts in China and Japan, the broadleaf evergreen rain forests of Japan, Chile and Tasmania, the sclerophyllous forests of Australia, central Chile, the Mediterranean and California, and the Southern beech Nothofagus forests of Chile and Newzealand.

3. TROPICAL MOIST FOREST

There are many different types of tropical moist forests although most extensive are the lowland evergreen broad leaf rain forests.Frests located on mountain are also included in his category divided largely in to upper and lower montane formation on the basis of the variation of physiognomy corresponding to changes in attitude.

4. TROPICAL DRY FOREST

Tropical dry forests are characteristic of areas in the tropics affected by seasonal drought.The seasonality of rain fall is usually reflected in the deciduousness of the forest canopy,with most treesbeing leafless for several months of the year.However ,undersome conditions,eg: less fertile soils or less predictable drought regimes, the production of ever green species increase and the forests are characterized as “sclerophyllus”.Thorn forest, a dense forest of low stature with a high frequency of thorny or spiny species , is found where drought is prolonged ,and especially where grazing animals are plentiful. On very poor soils, and especially where fire is a recurrent phenomenon, woody savannas develop.

MANGROVES

Mangroves are various types of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics-mainly between latitude 25 degree N and 25 degree S.The remaining mangrove forest areas of the world in 2000 was 53.the term “mangrove” comes to English from Spanish (perhaps by way of Portuguese),and is likely to originate from Gurani.i t was earlier “mangrow”, but this word was corrupted via folk etymology influence of the word “grove”.

BIOLOGY

Of the recognized 110 mangrove species, only about 54 species in 20 genera from 16 families constitute the “true mangroves”, species that occur almost exclusively in mangrove habitats.Demonstrating convergent evolution, many of these species found similar solutions of the tropical conditions of variable salinity, tidal ange,anaerobic soils and intense sunlight.

1. ADAPTATION TO LOW OXYGEN

Red mangroves, which can survive in the inundated area, prop themselves above the water level with stilt roots and can then absorb air through pores in their bark. Black mangroves live on higher ground and make many pnematophores which are also covered in lenticels.These breathing “tubes” typically reach heights of up to 30cm.The roots also contain wide aerenchyma to facilitate transport which in the plants.

2. LIMITING SALT INTAKE

Red mangroves exclude salt by having significantly impermeable roots which are highly suberised, acting as an ultrafiltration mechanism to exclude sodium salts from the rest of the plant.

3. LIMITING WATER LOSS

Because of the limited fresh water available in salty inter tidal soils, mangroves limit the amount of water they lose through their leaves.They can restrict the opening of their stomata.

4. NUTRIENT UP TAKE

The biggest problem mangroves faces is nutrient uptake.Because the soil is perpetually water logged,little free oxygen is available.Anaerobic bacteria liberate nitrogen gas,soluble iron,inorganic phosphate,sulfides and methane,which make the soil much less nutritious.

SACRED GROVES

A sacred grove or sacred woods are any grove of trees of special religious importance to a particular culture.Sacred groves were most prominent in the Ancient Near East and prehistoric Europe.But feature in various cultures through out the world.They were important features of the mythological landscape and cult practice of celtic.

CONCLUSION

Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by humanity, in anatural form.A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems.Natural resources are derived from the environment.Some of them are essential for our survival while most are used for satisfying our wants.

REFERENCES

Environmental science Education-A.Panneer selvam, Mohana Ramakrishnan.