Biologically Qualified Environment, Ecologically Evaluated Conditions

1. How to determine the quality of an environment

     Basically, there are two approaches. One makes the classifications based on certain indicators relevant to the method of utilization (e.g. the parameters of drinking water, industrial waste water, irrigation water, sewage water [3]), and the data is interpreted according to the appropriate range of standards. This approach is oversimplified, and consequently not quite operative. It is evident that a component of the environment does possess a "quality" even if it is not utilized for any purpose. The concept of quality is not the same as the concept of expediency, (bonitas) or appropriateness.

The second approach evaluates the quality of an environment as the sum of all characteristics. This means the quality is not determined based on a single method selected, favoring one particular angle (such as temperature [1], light conditions [6], the level of phosphorus, etc.) If one wants to determine the actual quality of any given component of an environment, one cannot be limited to measuring such individual factors separately.

The quality junctions of a material system cannot be solely or even primarily characterized by the number and level of these elements, but rather by their specific structure, i.e. the particular interrelations of the components within the domain of the entire system. As opposed to the individual characteristics of a particular component, it is essentially more complex and complicated to interpret and analyze the totality of the specific characteristics created by their interrelations.

Consequently, the quality of an environment can be defined as the condition determined by actual values measured in all of the characteristics of the given environment in a given time [5].

The characteristics-complex that determines the quality of an environment has three basic components as follows:

§  the abiotic sphere (the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere comprising the glosphere [2])

§  the biosphere (living organisms)

§  the human society (noosphere).

2. Biologicallyqualified environment

The biological quality of an environment is defined as the condition reflecting the quantitative representation of living organisms in a given space and time. The object of our examination can be a living being, a single individual, or a single part of an individual (e.g. an organ, a cell, a gene), or a single characteristic of the individual (e.g. its metabolism, its perception.) In the latter case, the biological environment qualification deals with the infraindividual, or "below" the individual level.

The object selected can be a population of a single species, or a group of populations. A population is an isolated group of individuals of the same species, existing together in space and time, thus creating an actual reproductive community. A group of different populations existing together in space and time is called a biocenosis.

My lecture presents environment qualification in a biocenosis synbiologically, i.e. on the supraindividual or "above" the individual level.

3. Characteristics of ecologically evaluated conditions

The research survey examines both the quantitative and qualitative composition of the biocenosis, and also the factors responsible for their distribution in space and time as characteristics: basic data, condition characteristics, and qualitative indicators are registered and analyzed.

Basic data: A list of species is compiled, summarizing the specific species involved in the given biocenosis. The quantitative characteristics are determined, such as the values of abundance, i.e. the number of individuals, and the values of dominance, i.e. the frequency and the size of the area covered.

Condition characteristics (Figure 1): The symbiotic relations, the number of species representing different levels of frequency, and the number of individuals are determined, the dominant and characteristic species are distinguished.

The status of designated nature conservation area, and diversity (Figure 2.) can be considered as qualitative indicators. Diversity is increased by the variety of environmental factors, and the relative stability of living conditions. The main advantage of diversity is to provide genetical variety. The more genetically different the living organisms are in a given area, the more increased the probability is that several species will be able to adapt to any potential environmental changes, thus avoiding the extinction of the flora (plants) and fauna (animals) of the given area.

The survey of ecological effects can be divided into three successive phases [4].

§  In the first phase, the ecological quality and condition of the given area is evaluated. My lecture focuses primarily on this phase, applying the results of field exercises performed by our environmental engineer students.

§  In the second phase, the potential environmental changes that might be created by a given land development project must be analyzed as relevant to the biosphere.

In the third phase, the operations of the completed project must be monitored, and the results of observations and measurements taken must be continuously evaluated and analyzed.