ECOLOGICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL ABIOTIC FACTORS
THE CHANGING OF THE AIR CONTENT AND ITS ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS
The double effects of earthly atmosphere to the organisms: 1. the chemical content has effect on organisms, 2. flow (wind) and in cases of some species even the atmospheric pressure has effects.
PERMANENT CONTENT: nitrogen (78 %(V/V)), oxygen (21 %(V/V)), biogenic origin, originated from the photosynthesis of algae), inert gases (argon (0,9 %(V/V)), neon, krypton, xenon, radon, helium).
VARIABLE CONTENT: carbon-dioxide (0,036%), methane (0,00017%), hydrogen, ozone and water vapour, HIGHLY VARIABLE CONTENT, which quantity and content can change fast, even within an hour: sulphur dioxide, ammonia, nitrogen-monoxide, carbon-monoxide, dust, grime, ash.
The UV (ultraviolet) radiation belongs to the short wavelength radiation range of sun. Three parts of
UV (ultraviolet) radiation based on wavelength: 1. UV-A (320-400 nm), beneficial for the earthy environment and living organisms; 2. UV-B (280-3320 nm), harmful for the living organisms; 3. UV-C
(<280 nm), it is fully absorbed by the atmosphere. The ozone at stratosphere as an umbrella of 20-30 km altitude protects the life on Earth against UV-B radiation. The measure unit of the thickness of ozone layer: Dobson-unit. 1 Dobson-unit is the thickness of an ozone layer, which comply with 0,01 mm at the air pressure on the surface of the Earth. The natural thickness of ozone is 300 Dobson
(around 3 mm would be on the surface of Earth). Ozone poisons: 1. Freon: colourless, odourless, cheap to produce, (chlorinated, chlorofluorocarbons, fridge producing, propellant devices, such as deodorants); 2. halon gases: e.g. chlorine – Cl, bromine – Br as an effect of UV-radiation fracture the ozone at the stratosphere . The ozone hole is sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller. The distribution of ozone is unbalanced: Above the North Pole is 450 D-unit (max.), above South Pole (380 D-unit
(max.). THE CHANGES OF DISTRIBUTION AND THICKNESS OF OZONE LAYER; THE ANNUAL AVERAGE
DECREASE OF OZONE CONCENTRATION AT STRATOSPHERE DURING 10 YEARS AT DIFFERENT
LATITUDINAL BELTS OF EARTH.
SMOG: the rapid and major accumulation of air polluting substances. Forming: when warmer air mass arrives above the ground-level air layer. The warm air blocks the longitudinal ventilation, and hinders the attenuation of pollutants. When it is combined with minimal wind and high humidity, then it’s almost certain that smog develop. Types of smog can be classified based on the dominance of reductive or oxidative materials. 1. reductive or London smog: its main pollutants are the sulphureous compounds, mostly sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, floating dust, soot; most frequently it appears from November to January; the most significant in the morning and in the evening; it causes mostly respiratory illnesses. 2. oxidative type or photochemical smog: its main component is the ozone, but it contains nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons as well; most frequently occurs from July to October, it’s most active around noon, it irritates the conjunctiva of eyes mostly.
SMOG ALERT: 1. 4000 people more died in London than the average of that time on a foggy week in
December 1952. 2. A smog alert system has been operating in Hungary since 1989. The air pollution and meteorological changes are measured continuously, and in case it exceeds the limits, the
utilization of specified vehicles are restricted or banned. TREND OF THE UTILIZATION OF OZONE
POLLUTANTS IN HUNGARY (IN TONNES) 1986-1997

THE MOST IMPORTANT AIR POLLUTANTS: 1. sulphur dioxide (SO
2
): derived from heating and burning of fossil fuels, industrial burning and from traffic, it causes the formation of acid rain 2. nitrogen oxides (NO x
): derived from industrial burning on high temperature and from traffic, it causes the
formation of acid rain, 3. carbon monoxide (CO): derives from traffic, heating and industrial burning,
health damaging!!! 4. ozone (O
3
): it comes to exist as a result of sunshine in the ground-level air layer which is loaded by nitrogen oxide or hydrocarbons, health damaging! 5. smoke, soot: it is formulated as a harmful effect of industrial procedures and traffic.
The advantages of wind: it protects from the extreme warming, helps the pollination and transfer of scents (such as insects and pheromones). The disadvantages of wind: due to the one way wind the foliage of plants, mostly of trees is malformed (wind damaged trees), makes the soil dry and blow away the soil particles from area without or with thin foliage (deflation).
THE WATER, AS ECOLOGICAL FACTOR, THE ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF WATER POLLUTION
The water participates in the composition of organisms as free or bound formed water: 1. blood, lymph, liquid in brain and spinal cord, 2. bound as water film to protein molecules. Water content: seeds 20-25%, woodstem 50-60%, leaf 45-70%, alga 95-98%, jelly-fish 95-98%, human 50-70 % of water.
Hydrosphere: water according to its condition can be found as solid, fluid or vapour in Earth. The water resources of Earth are 3 billion years old, cover 71% of Earth’s surface. The total water resources are ~ 2 billion km 3 , 30% (0,6 billion km 3 ) of it can be found as bound water in minerals and rocks. The remaining accessible water resources: 1,4 billion km 3 .
• Oceans:
• Freshwater resources: 3,44 %
96,56 %
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• Terrestrial water: 1,7 %
• Arctic, high mountainous, snow, ice: 1,74 %
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• In proportion of ice fields, glaciers and freshwaters: 79 %
• Deep water: 20 %
• Accessible surface water: 1 % (360000km 3 )
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• Lake: 50 %
• Groundwater:
• Vapour:
38 %
8 %
• Biogene water:
• Rivers, creeks:
1 %
1 % (3600 km 3 )
Humanity covers 80% of its water demand from rivers and creeks, which mean 0,0003 % of the total water resources of Earth!!!
TEMPERATURE AND SALT CONTENT OF OCEANS
Global water cycle: 1. evaporation with heat claim, (surface, water surface, organisms  specific for all sphere), 2. condensation and formation of precipitation accompanied by heat emission, 3. water currents on surface and under surface caused by gravitation, 4. motions as a result of the rotation of

the Earth, 5. currents caused by heat differences, 6. formation of water resources (soil moisture, ice, lakes), 7. organisms, minerals using water.
Main cycle routes: 1. ocean – atmosphere – ocean, 2. ocean – atmosphere – mainland – ocean, 3. mainland – atmosphere – mainland.
CARACTHERISTICS OF THE WATER: 1. Halobity (ion concentration): depends on the concentration and quality of all ions in the water, 1 German degrees (dH) = means 10 mg calcium content (CaO)
per litre of water. Salt tolerance: narrow tolerance, organisms requiring permanent salinity, wide
tolerance, oganisms tolerate fluctuating salt concentration, e.g. living in the area of river mouths.
(freshwater animal species, marine species). 2. Trophic index: the ability for producing organic material of the aquatic biomes, eutrophication: growth in production of plants. Trophity of the
water: Ologotrophic (low nutrient content), mesotrophic (medium level of nutrient), eutrophic (rich in nutrients and living organisms), politrophic (very nutrient rich) (indexes: number of alga biomass
(db/m 3 , chlorophyll A: mg/m 3 . 3. Saprobic: shows the intensity of defractioning of organic matter by aquatic biomes, the opposite process of primary organic matter production, 4. Toxicity: ability to damage an organism  indicator species.
As a habitat: the surface water layer based on the temperature of the environment warms up and colds down; the medium layer is the heat exchange layer, in the deeper layers the temperature is steadily cold. Adaption of plants to the water: Significant part of the plants’ body is water. Plants are only viable with access to water. Based on binding to water: aquatic plants (e.g. seaweeds), marsh plants (e.g. marigold, meadow buttercup), plants with medium water demand (e.g. woody plants),
Drought tolerant plants (e.g. species of dry grasslands – chamomile). Plants adaption to dry environment: dense, deep roots, storing stalk, small evaporation surface, wax to decrease the evaporation, hairlike formations, thicker leaf. Plants adaption to wet environment: shallow, divergent roots, big surfaced thin leaf with specific water holes (‘tearing leaf’) Animals adaption to water:
Water can be in form of bound or free water in animals’ body. The organisms can damage even in case of minor water losses. according to adaption to water: aquatic species (e.g. fishes), species periodically binding to water (e.g. amphibians), terrestrial species (e.g. butterflies). INTERACTION OF
HYDROSPHERE AND HUMAN, DRINKING WATER – FOOD – SOIL; EFFECTS OF CHEMICALS; MEANS
AND MAXIMUM NITRATE CONTENT VALUES OF SIX WATER WORKS (BAZ COUNTY);
SOIL AND RELIEF
Composition of soil: 1. Solid part (50%), A) inorganic (99%; O, Si, Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, K), B) organic
(vegetal, animal humus; = totality of partially decomposed plant and animal substances and bacteria,
C, O, H, N, S, P) 2. Fluid (20-30%, water – soil solutions) 3. Gaseous (20-30 %; soil air  porosity!!).
SOILPROFILE: litter layer, leaching layer, aggregation layer, soil formation layer, parent rock. complete and incomplete structured soils (saline soils with no vegetation:

A, limestone:

B) for example: INCOMPLE STRUCTURED LIMESTONE; Moderately rainy soil profile: A horizon: rich in organic material, B horizon: rich in clay minerals, C: weathered parent rock, D: parent rock. Dry soil:
B: rich in calcium carbonate. Very rainy: A: little organic material, insoluble iron and aluminium compounds, leaching zone, parent rock.
Soil: the top fertile layer of Earth’s crust. The scene of material and energy exchange of lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere systems. Origin: physical, chemical and biological

weathering. living organisms found on soil surface and in soil  edaphon; specific habitat is the rizosphere (environment fromed by roots). Most edaphons belong to microflora, only small proportion belongs to animals (table). Soil organisms classified by their movement types: 1. binding to soil (e.g. bacteria, funghies) 2. floating in soil (e.g. flagellates, ciliated, rotifers) 3. climbing in soil
(e.g. Rhizopoda sp., nematodes, annelids, Chilopoda sp., isopods, collembolans, insect larvae) 4. digging in soil (e.g. earthworms, mole crickets, dung beetle, wireworms and other larvae of two winged insects, moles and voles). Soil organisms classified by their size: microflora and fauna (e.g.: bacteria, algae, microscopical fungi), mesofauna (e.g.: collembolans, rotifers), macrofauna (e.g.: annelids, insects), megafauna e.g.: soil living mammals). EFFECTS OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS TO THE
SOIL: Flora: physical: (erosion, protection against dry, weathered soil) biological (soil maturation,
facilitate humification) Animals: loosening of the soil (by routes) improvement in ventilation, facilitation of crumbliness by nutrition and faeces, increase in nutrient content by their devastation.
Acidity of soil: < 4,5 pH very acid soil, , 4,5 – 5,5 pH acid soil, 5,5 – 6,8 pH slightly acid soil, 6,8 – 7,2 pH neutral soil, , 7,2 – 8,5 pH slightly alkaline soil, 8,5 – 9,5 pH alkaline soil, > 9,5 pH very alkaline soil.
The acidity of soil determinates the flora living on it. 1. acid sand (Nyírség)  sorrel sp. 2. calcareous sand (Kiskunság)  Alkanna, 3. nitrogen rich soils  urtica, thistle, bourtree, 4. saline soils with no vegetation  camomile, Western Pontic (Na-indicators), 5. fresh soils (rich in calcium)  bluebonnet, white bottle. 49 genetic soil types can be distinguished in Hungary, one of the biggest
natural values of the country is the soil! EFFECTS OF CLIMATE INCREASING, EFFECTS OF PARENT ROCK
DECREASE, EFFECTS OF WATER IS WEAKER, ROLE OF CLIMATE INCREASES. entisols, sediment soils, rock forming soils, brown forest soils, chernozem, alkali soils, phaeozem, histosoils Factors
endangering soil: 1. atmogenic/wind caused erosion (deforestation, drainage) fluvial/water caused
(rainfall, inappropriate cultivation), 2. chemical pollution (fertilizers, nitrated water), 3. inappropriate animal keeping, 4. sewage, 5. fire.
The relief is not ecological factor, but it can change the ecological aspects significantly! 1. local changing of climatic factors, 2. (angle of incidence of sunlight, amount of precipitation, strength and
main direction of wind, erosion of soil), 3. influence of pedological factors, 4. influence of hydrography, 5. definition of plants and animals, 5. limitation on the distribution of species.
Macrorelief, big relief factor: distribution of seas and mainlands, variation of hilly and flat regions, altitude above sea level. Microrelief, small relief factor: exposure of the relief, angle of gradient, soil aspects, hydrograph aspects, zonality of the vegetation. Anthropogenic relief formation effects: mining, deforestation, cultivation, drainage, road construction, diking, slag hills, building of cities.