ECOLOGY AND

THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT
M.ARCH-1/EL-05
(LECTURE 2 , TUTORIAL 1)
COURSE OBJECTIVES

 Introduction to basic understanding of ecology.

 Understanding ecology and relation to habitats – natural and man
made on regional scale.
 Sensitizing to alternative models of environmental conservation
COURSE CONTENT
 UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION
 Introduction to ecology and ecosystem services.
 Ecology as an model.
 Ecosystem integrity and environment capacity.
 Value of air water and land.

 UNIT 2 BIODIVERSITY AND URBAN ECOSYSTEM

 Ecological pyramids, energy flows and productivity in ecosystem.
 Biochemical cycles and bio magnification.
 Species and interspecies interaction.
 Biodiversity and ecological equilibrium.
 Urban ecosystem processes, urban climate, urban water cycle, urban
nutrient dynamics.
COURSE CONTENT
 UNIT 3 ECOLOGY AND HABITATION
 Ecological cybernetics- relation to urban habitats.
 Impact of natural and human influence
 Ecosystem atmosphere influence.
 Ecosystem atmosphere interactions.
 Urban heat island , urban wind pattern, aerosols and air pollution.

 UNIT 4 SUSTAINABLE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

 Regional ecology and bio-urbanism.
 Sustainable urban planning and development strategies.
 Sustainable communities.
 Conservation science, alternative development approaches, sustainable
lifestyles.
 Case studies.
REFERENCES
S NO BOOK TITLE YEAR

1 Sustainable Design Ecology , Architecture and planning 2007

by Deniel E Williams.
2 Reshaping the Built Environment Ecology, Ethics and 1999
economics by Charles J.Kibert.
3 Urban Ecosystems Ecological Principles for the built 2013
environment by Fredrick R Alder, Colby J tanner.
4 Principles of Ecological Designs by Todd NJ and Todd J 2004

5 Ecological Climatology by Bonan .G 2002

6 Trees of Chandigarh by Prof . Rajnish Wattas

MARKS DISTRIBUTION

 Internal 50 marks
 Jury 50 marks
 UNIT 1
INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY AND

ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
ECOLOGY
 Ecology is defined as the study of inter relationship of different organisms with
each other and with their environment. It is concerned with the general principles
that apply to both animals and plants.
 The word ecology is derived form Greek word Okios meaning house and logos
meaning study.
 The meaning for this word was given by German Biologist Hackle in 1869.
OBJECTIVE OF ECOLOGY
STUDIES
It is very important for humanity to understand environment because we have
ability to modify the environment through the use of technology , and through
over exploitation of natural resources as result of greed or sheer pressure of
numbers.
 Ecology is more than understanding of the interrelationship between organisms
and their environment it also has social, political, economical, and technological
dimensions.
 It also studies the evolutionary development of organisms , the biological
productivity and energy flow in natural system.
 Ecology concerns in developing mathematical models to relate interaction of
parameters and to predict the effects.
CLASSIFICATION OF ECOLOGY

 Ecology can be classified on the basis of following.

 Based on study area
 Based on environment or habitat
 Based on advancement of field of ecology
CLASSIFICATION BADED ON
STUDY AREA
 AUTECOLOGY- Deals with the study of individual species of
organisms and its population. Ecologists study the behavior and
adaptations of particular species to the environmental conditions
of that every single individual's life cycle. It is also called Species
Ecology.
 SYNECOLOGY: It deals with the study of communities their
compositions their behavior and relation with the environment. It
is also called ecology of community. It is further divided into
three parts.
1. Population ecology
2. Community ecology
3. Ecosystem ecology
 CLASSIFICATION ON
ENVIRONMENT
 HABITAT
Aquatic ecology:- study of interaction in water
1. Marine water ecology
1. Ocean
2. Deep sea
3. Estuary
2. Fresh water ecology
1. Letic (Running water)
I. River
II. Stream
III. Spring

2. Lentic (Standing water)

1. Pond
2. lake
 TERRESTRIAL ECOLOGY

 Study of interaction on land.

 Grassland ecology
 Forest ecology
 Desert ecology.
 ECOLOGY BASED ON
ADVANCEMENT IN FIELD OF
Productive ecology ECOLOGY


 Population ecology
 Community ecology
 Ecosystem ecology
 Microbial ecology
 Radiation ecology
 Pollution ecology
 Space ecology
ECOLOGY AS A MODEL
 An ecological model shows the process that drive the ecological system under
study , as well as cycles associated with the flow of energy and materials
essential to its existence.
 Odum’s model devised by systems ecologist and holistic thinker Dr Howard T
Odum, illustrates the relation between flows of energy and materials between
system components and between producers and consumers.
 The ecological models illustrates the energy and matter flows, the distribution
of which is powered by sustainable energies including sun, gravity and natural
cycles.
 Since sustainability is achieved by using local renewable resources the model
illustrates the places of opportunity and connections needed for designing
interfaces.
ECOLOGY AS A MODEL
 The ecological model illustrates the relationship between needs and
things that are provided .
 Example :- The heat from sun, from the earth, biological process,
cooling from evaporation and transpiration; water and waste distribution
powered by gravity , precipitation, air movement, microclimates, soils
and food, and the interactions between these parts can be studied by a
model.
 Sun generated power and all cycles driven by it are sustainable energies
and more connected to these sustainable energies the product is the
greater is the potential for it to be sustainable affordable and profitable.
 Human biota, water ,wind ,crops etc. all are powered by solar energy
and more these sustainable energies are integrated into built
environment closer the environment will be to being sustainable.
THE ODUMS MODEL.
 Odum’s Energy laws
 Conservation of energy.
The First Law of Energy Conservation states that energy cannot be created or destroyed;
rather, the amount of energy lost in a steady state process cannot be greater than the amount
of energy gained
 Degradation of energy.
In all processes, some of the energy loses its ability to do work and is degraded in quality. The
arrow going into the ground symbol indicates the necessary degradation and dispersal of
energy as waste heat. We call this the ‘heat-sink symbol’. We keep the second law of energy in
mind by putting the heat-sink symbol on the diagram for every processes
ODUMS ENERGY LAWS

 Maximization of effectiveness in the use of available energy.

Systems that survive are those which get the most energy and use energy most
effectively in completion with other systems.”
 Free energy. The amount of free energy one economy has determines the
amount of additional outside energy it may purchase and still be competitive
with other economies
Odums symbols
PICTORIAL REPRESENTATION
OF ODUMS MODEL
ENVIRONMENTAL WORLD
VIEW
THE PLANATARY MANAGEMENT
WORLD VIEW
 It says that we are separate from nature, nature exists mainly to meet our needs
and wants, and we can use our technology and ingenuity to manage earth life
support system mostly for our benefits.
Stewardship world view

 The stewardship worldview holds that we can and should manage the earth
for our benefit, but that we have an ethical responsibility to be caring and
responsible managers, or stewards, of the earth. It says we should encourage
environmentally beneficial forms of economic growth and development and
discourage environmentally harmful forms.
ENVIRONMENTAL WISDOM
WORLD VIEW
 The environmental wisdom worldview holds that we are part of, and
dependent on, nature and that nature exists for all species, not just for us. It also
calls for encouraging earth-sustaining forms of economic growth and development
and discouraging earth degrading forms. According to this view, our success
depends on learning how the earth sustains itself and integrating such
environmental wisdom into the ways we think and act.
THREE PRINCIPLES OF
SUSTAINABILITY Solar Energy

Biodiversity

Chemical Cycling
Unsustainable Resource
Use
SUSTAINABILITY
 It is the ability of the earth’s various natural systems and human cultural systems
and economies to survive and adapt to changing environmental conditions
indefinitely.
 life on the earth has sustained itself for at least 3.5 billion years despite being
subjected to catastrophic changes in environmental conditions.
 These changes included collisions between the earth and gigantic meteorites, ice
ages lasting for hundreds of millions of years, and warming periods during which
melting ice raised sea levels and flooded vast areas.
 To learn how to live more sustainably, and thus more wisely, we need to find out how
life on the earth has sustained itself for 3.5 billion years.
SUSTAINIBILITY
 Reliance on solar energy: The sun warms the planet and provides energy
that plants use to produce food for themselves and for us and most other
animals.
 Biological diversity: It includes the astounding variety of different organisms;
the deserts, grasslands, forests, oceans, and other systems in which they exist
and interact; and the free natural services, such as soil renewal, pest control,
and air and water purification, that these species and systems provide. Without
biodiversity, most life would have been wiped out long ago.
 Chemical Cycling: Natural processes recycle nutrients, or chemicals that
plants and animals need to stay alive and reproduce. Without chemical cycling,
there would be no air, no water, no soil, no food, and no life.
SUISTAINABILITY
 A critical component of sustainability is Natural capital—the natural
resources and natural services that keep us and other forms of life alive
and support our economies.
 Natural resources
 Materials and energy in nature that are essential or useful to humans.
 These resources are often classified as renewable (such as air, water, soil,
plants, and wind) or non-renewable (such as copper, oil,and coal).
 Natural services
 are processes in nature such as purification of air and water, which support
life and human economies.
 The earth’s biodiversity of species, ecosystems, and interacting
components provide us with these essential services at no cost.
 We can use technology to enhance such services but there are no
substitutesfor them.
 Sustainable Development
 Refers to community and societal development that
“meets the needs of the present without
undermining the environment or social systems on
which we depend”.
 The concept also embodies the belief that the world
has “finite resources” and, consequently, in order to
continue improving the quality of life for future
generations, societies must adopt coordinated
approaches to planning and policy making that
involves the individual and public on both a local and
international level.
Impacts of Urbanization On
Environment
Impacts of Urbanization On
Environment
 Why Do We Have
Environmental Problems?

Population Unsustain Poverty Excluding Trying to

growth able Environme manage
Resource ntal Costs nature
Use from without
market knowing
prices enough
about it.
 The Human Population
 The Human Population Is Growing Exponentially at a Rapid Rate.
 Exponential growth occurs when a quantity such as the human population or
pollution increases at a fixed percentage per unit of time, for example, 2% per
year.
 No one knows how many people the earth can support indefinitely, and at what
level of resource consumption or affluence, without seriously degrading the
ability of the planet to support us and other forms of life and our economies.
 Population Growth
Typical Growth Curve for Bacteria Logistic Growth Curve
 Population Growth

 Mathematically Logistic Curve is derived from

 N = Population size
 r= Growth rate
 K= Carrying Capacity of Environment
 = Factor of Environmental Resistance
Maximum Sustainable Yield

 It is the maximum rate that individuals can be harvested

(removed) without reducing the population size.
 As Slope of logistic curve is given by

 By setting derivative equals to zero we get

Age Structure
 A graphical representation of
the data, indicating number
of people in each age
category, is called an age
structure or a population
pyramid.
 Age Structure
Stationary Population is one that is constant in number.
Population Stability
 The population having constant birth and death rates so that the percentage of
population in any age category is unchanging.
 Stable population pyramid does not change its shape with time. A stable population
may be growing or shrinking; it does not have to be stationary.
 Poverty Has Harmful
Environmental and Health Effects
 The daily lives of the world’s poor are focused on getting enough
food, water, and cooking and heating fuel to survive.
 Desperate for short-term survival, some of these individuals
degrade forests, soil, grass lands, fisheries, and wildlife, at an
ever-increasing rate.
 Connection of Poverty and Population Growth
 To many poor people, having more children is a matter of survival.
Their children help them gather fuel (mostly wood and animal dung),
haul drinking water, and tend crops and livestock.
 The children also help to care for their parents in their old age (which
is their 40s or 50s in the poorest countries) because they do not have
social security, health care and retirement funds.
Harmful Effects of Poverty
 Prices Do Not Include
the Value of Natural Capital
 Companies using resources to provide goods for consumers generally are not required
to pay for the harmful environmental costs of supplying such goods.
 Example : Timber companies pay the cost of clear-cutting forests but not for the
resulting environmental degradation and loss of wildlife habitat.
 The primary goal of these companies is to maximize profits for their owners or
stockholders, which is how capitalism works. Indeed.
 It would be economic suicide for them to add these costs to their products unless
government regulations created an even economic playing field by using taxes or
regulations to require all business to do so.
 Prices Do Not Include
the Value of Natural Capital
 Another problem is that governments (taxpayers) give companies tax breaks and
payments called subsidies to assist them with using resources to run their
businesses.
 This helps to create jobs and stimulate economies. But it can also degrade natural
capital, again, because the value of the natural capital is not included in the
market prices of goods and services.
 Indeed, environmentally harmful, or perverse, subsidies encourage the depletion
and degradation of natural capital.
 Ecological Footprints
 A Model of the Unsustainable Use of Renewable Resources.
 Ecological Footprint is the amount of biologically productive land and water
needed to indefinitely supply the people in a particular country or area with
renewable resources and to absorb and recycle the wastes and pollution produced
by such resource use.
 The per capita ecological footprint is an estimate of how much of the earth’s
renewable resources an individual consumes.
 Ecological Footprints
 According to William Rees and Mathis Wackernagel, the developers of the
ecological footprint concept, it would take the land area of about five more planet
earths for the rest of the world to reach current U.S. levels of renewable resource
consumption with existing technology.
 One problem that we face is the time delay between the unsustainable use of
renewable resources and the resulting harmful environmental effects. Time delays
can allow an environmental problem to build slowly until it reaches a threshold
level, or ecological tipping point, which causes an often irreversible shift
in the behaviour of a natural system.
 Rich and Poor Countries Have
Different Environmental Impacts
 The United Nations classifies the world’s countries as economically developed or
developing based primarily on their average income per person.
 According to U.N. and World Bank data, the developed countries, with only 18% of
the world’s population, use about 88% of the world’s resources and produce about
75% of the world’s pollution and waste.
 All other nations, where 82% of the world’s people live, are classified as developing
countries.
 Affluence Has Harmful and
Beneficial Environmental Effects
 The harmful environmental impacts of poverty are serious, especially in terms of
human health, but so are the impacts of the large ecological footprints of
individuals in affluent nations.
 The U.S. population is almost one-fourth that of India. But the average American
consumes about 30 times as much as the average citizen of India consumes and
100 times as much as the average person in the world’s poorest countries
consumes.
 As a result, the average environmental impact, or ecological footprint per person, in
the United States is much larger than the average impact per person in developing
countries.
 Beneficial Effects of Affluence
 Affluence can allow for better education, which can lead people to become more
concerned about environmental quality.
 It also provides money for developing technologies to reduce pollution, environmental
degradation, and resource waste.
 Improvements in environmental quality were achieved because of greatly increased
scientific research and technological advances financed by affluence.
IPAT : Another Environmental
Impact Model
 In the early 1970s, scientists Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren
developed a simple model showing how
• Population size (P)
• Affluence or resource consumption per person (A)
• The beneficial and harmful environmental effects of technologies (T)
• help to determine the environmental impact (I) of human
activities.
 This model can be summarized by the simple equation
Impact (I) = Population (P)× Affluence (A) × Technology (T)
IPAT : Another Environmental
Impact Model
Overall Solutions By Using Principles
of Sustainability
Current Sustainability
Emphasis Emphasis

Pollution Cleanup • Pollution Prevention

Waste Disposal (Bury or • Waste Prevention

Burn)

Protecting Species • Protecting Habitat

Environmental Degradation • Environmental Restoration

Increasing Resource Use • Less Resource Waste

Population Growth • Population Stabilization

Depleting and Degrading • Protecting Natural Capital

Natural Capital
VALUE OF LAND
 As human populations expanded into the natural landscape, the relationship between the
land and ownership of it became a source of conflict.
 Questions of stewardship soon became central to the issues of freedom and ownership.
 In the early 1900s, zoning laws started with one neighbor’s land use resulting in the
interruption, pollution, or denial of access to clean water and sunlight to another neighbor.
At the beginning of the 2000s, there is an intriguing design problem on a regional, perhaps
continental scale: the problem of designing for all conditions and needs simultaneously—
maximum system value
 We have to present a new method for ecologically sustainable land use planning within
multiple land use schemes.
 To develop a method that can be used to locate important areas based on their ecological values.
 To evaluate the quality, quantity, availability, and usability of existing ecological data sets and to
demonstrate the use of the method , where there are requirements for the simultaneous
development of nature conservation, tourism, and recreation.
ECOLOGICAL VALUE

 We define ecological value generally as the level of benefits

that the space. water, minerals, biota, and all other factors that
make up natural ecosystems provide to support native life forms.
IMPORTANCE OF WATER AND
TREATIES
 Water is today the most important global resource that does not have any
international agreement, says World Bank lawyer Salman M.A. Salman.
 Abstractions of water from rivers have tripled in the past 50 years, mostly
for irrigation. The entire flows of some rivers are now being taken for
human use. And the natural flows of many others are disrupted by
hydroelectric dams that only allow water to pass when the dam owners
want electricity.
 The International Water Treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation
and information exchange between the one or more countries regarding
their use of river water under the arbitration of Neutral Expert. It fixed
and delimited the rights and obligations on the use of the river water.
 Water will become the most sought-after natural resource most
likely to cause wars in the 21st century, according to the World
Bank.
CONSERVATION OF SPECIES
(BIOLOGICAL HOTSPOTS)
 BIODIVERSITY It refers to the variety and variability among all
groups of living organisms and ecosystem complexes in which
they occur.
 HOT SPOTS OF BIODIVERSITY Areas which exhibits high
species richness as well as high species endemism are termed as
hot spots of biodiversity.
 CRITERIA FOR A REGION TO BE A HOTSPOT.
 It must contain at least 1500 species of vascular plants as endemics.
 Species have lost 70 percent of its original habitat.
BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS IN INDIA
 Himalaya: Includes the entire Indian Himalayan region (and that
falling in Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar)
 Indo-Burma: Includes entire North-eastern India, except Assam and
Andaman group of Islands.
 Sunderland: Includes Nicobar group of islands.
 Western Ghats and Sri Lanka: Includes entire Western Ghats.
 Ecology hotspots
 Ecological sensitive areas
 Cost of ecology
 Impact assessment
 Cost of land water and air
 Role of architecture in ecology.