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The environment is a complex whole of so many interacting
factors that influence every organism. An organism is a component of the
environment and its
body is made up of
various elements which constitute the abiotic environment of the
habitat. Growth, behavior and life history of the organisms are
influenced by
the environment. Any
external force which surrounds and affects
the life of an organism
becomes a factor of its environment. These factors have been
variously called as environmental factors or ecological factors.
Environmental factors control the rate at which the various life processes
function in an organism. Each process has an upper and lower level of tolerance
for each environmental factor. The
factors may be living ( biotic ) as
well as nonliving ( abiotic ). The sum of all
these living and nonliving factors makes the environment of an organism. In
this chapter we will deal with atmospheric factor, water factor and
edaphic factor only
(A)
Atmospheric temperature
- Measure
atmospheric temperature .
- Measure
rainfall .
- Measure
atmospheric temperature and relative humidity by using Hygrothermograph.
- Measure
light intensity by using Luxmeter.
- Measure solar energy reaching the earth surface.
- Measure wind velocity.
- Measure
relative humidity .
(B)
Water Factor
- Measure
the transparency of water .
- Measure the temperature of water.
- Measure
of pH of water.
- Measure of
the total dissolved solids in water.
(C)
Edaphic Factor
(i) Physical Characters of Soil
- Measure
soil temperature .
- Evaluate
the colour property of soil.
- Evaluate
the soil texture.
- Determine
the bulk density
or apparent
density (
or volume weight
) and porosity
( or pore
space ) of
soil.
- Determine
the soil moisture content .
- Determine the
wilting coefficient
( or permanent wilting percentage ) of
soil.
- Determine
moisture equivalent of soil.
- Measurement
of soil moisture tension.
- Determine the water holding capacity of soil.
- Determine the field capacity of soil.
- Determine
sticky point of the soil.
(ii) Chemical Properties of Soil
- Evaluate the soil pF and correlation with moisture
content.
- Determine pH of the soil.
- Analyses the chemical properties of soil by rapid
spot tests.
- Estimate
the total
soil nitrogen
by microkjeldahl distillation
method.
- Estimate
the nitrate content in soil by phenoldisulphonic acid method.
- Estimate available phosphorus in soil.
- Estimate exchangeable bases (Na, K, Ca) in soil.
- Determine organic
matter in
the soil
by Walkley
and Black's rapid titration
method.
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