Environmental Biology and Ecology, Parts 1 to 2

Contents: Part I: Preface. Introduction. 1. Concept and scope of environmental biology. 2. Environmental factors. 3. Essential elements and concept of limiting factors. 4. Biotic environment and animal relationships. 5. Population ecology. 6. Community ecology. 7. Ecosystem. 8. Biogeochemical cycle. 9. Biomes (terrestrial habitat). 10. Animal distribution and zoogeography. 11. Freshwater habitat (ecology). 12. Marine ecology. 13. Coral reefs. 14. Estuarine ecology. 15. Planktons. 16. Environmental pollution and public health. 17. Major anthropogenic global problems. 18. Air pollution.

Part II: 19. Water pollution. 20. Noise pollution. 21. Radioactive pollution. 22. Thermal pollution. 23. Pesticide pollution. 24. Soil (land) pollution. 25. Wild life in India. 26. Endangered flora of India. 27. Environmental organizations, laws and policies. 28. Environmental impact and risk assessment. 29. Biodiversity.
 

“All the living beings, the animals and the plants should not be studied separately owing to their almost simultaneous origin. Both of them have shared same environment for their intensification and propagation.

The surroundings may be natural, physical, chemical or biotic. The environment is thus, a complex of many components around organisms that interact not only with the organisms but also among themselves. As a result of this interaction, it is difficult to isolate or alter any one of them without affecting other components. The behavior, development, growth and life history of an organism are, therefore, influenced by the environment in which they live.

The study of plants, the ecology (Greak-oikos=home, habitat+logos = study) is the study of plants and their relationships with their surroundings. Now ecology is gaining more popularity with the term “Environmental Biology”. Nevertheless, both the terms are synonymous. It would not be out of place to mention that the environmental biology is not a new discipline but simply an extension of ecological approach which stresses the study of the environment in its totality with special emphasis on the welfare and comfort of man who has been considered the most evolved and an intelligent unit of the ecosystem.” (jacket)