Conservation of Plants and Animals class 8 notes: Class 8 science ch 5 notes
| Textbook | Ncert |
| Class | Class 8 |
| Subject | Science |
| Chapter | Chapter 5 |
| Chapter Name | Conservation of Plants and Animals |
| Medium | English |
Are you looking for Class 8 Science chapter 5 notes? Now you can download Conservation of Plants and Animals class 8 notes pdf from here. In this chapter, we study the importance of conserving forests and wildlife. We learn about deforestation. The chapter explains the concepts of flora and fauna, endemic and endangered species, and the role of biosphere reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, and national parks in conservation.
🌿 Conservation :-
Conservation means the process of preserving and protecting something from damage, loss, or degradation, especially natural resources and the environment.
🌍 Biosphere :-
The biosphere is the part of the Earth where living organisms exist or that supports life. It includes the land surface, atmosphere, and water bodies of the Earth.
🐘 Wildlife :-
Wildlife refers to all the plants and animals that occur naturally in forests and other natural habitats, without human introduction or domestication.
🧬 Biodiversity :-
Biological diversity, or biodiversity, refers to the vast variety of organisms existing on Earth, their interrelationships, and their relationships with the environment.
🌱 Ecosystem :-
An ecosystem is made of all the plants, animals and microorganisms in an area along with non-living components such as climate, soil, river deltas etc, and their interactions with one another and with their environment.
🪓 Deforestation :-
Deforestation means clearing of forests and using that land for other purposes such as agriculture, urban development, or mining.
🔥 Causes of deforestation :-
Trees in the forest are cut for some of the purposes mentioned below:
- Procuring land for cultivation.
- Building houses and factories.
- Making furniture or using wood as fuel.
- Some natural causes of deforestation are forest fires and severe droughts.
⚠️ Consequences of Deforestation:
- Increases temperature and pollution levels on Earth
- Raises carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere
- Ground water level also gets lowered
- Deforestation disturbs the balance in nature
- Decrease rainfall and soil fertility
- Increased chances of natural calamities such as floods and droughts.
- Leads to global warming due to more carbon dioxide
- Affects the water cycle and causes drought
- Causes soil erosion and loss of fertile topsoil
- Leads to desertification (land turning into desert)
- Reduces water-holding capacity of soil
- Alters soil properties like nutrient content and texture
- May lead to shortage of forest products (like timber, fruits, herbs, etc.)
🏜️ Desertification :-
Desertification is the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of soil erosion, loss of humus, and reduced fertility due to deforestation and other human activities.
🛡️ Protection of Flora and Fauna:
- Purpose: To conserve plants, animals, and their habitats.
- Protected Areas:
- Wildlife Sanctuaries
- National Parks
- Biosphere Reserves
🐾 Wildlife Sanctuary :-
Areas where animals are protected from any disturbance to them and their habitat.
🌲 National Park :-
Areas reserved for wild life where they can freely use the habitats and natural resources.
🌐 Biosphere Reserve :-
Large areas of protected land for conservation of wild life, plant and animal resources and traditional life of the tribals living in the area.
🌼 Flora :-
The plants that are found in a particular area are called the flora of that area. Sal, teak, mango, jamun, silver ferns, arjun, etc., are examples of the flora.
🐅 Fauna :-
The animals that are found in a particular area are called the fauna of that area. chinkara, blue-bull, barking deer, cheetal, leopard, wild dog, wolf, etc. are examples of the fauna.
👨👩👧👦 Species :-
Species is a group of population which are capable of interbreeding. This means that the members of a species can reproduce fertile offspring only with the members of their own species and not with members of other species. Members of a species have common characteristics.
🏞️ Endemic species :-
Endemic species are those species of plants and animals which are found exclusively in a particular area. They are not naturally found anywhere else.
🚨 Endangered Animals :-
Animals whose numbers are diminishing to a level that they might face extinction are known as the endangered animals.
📕 Red Data Book :-
Red Data Book is the source book which keeps a record of all the endangered animals and plants. Red Data Book is maintained internationally by an organisation. India also maintains Red Data Book for plants and animals found in India.
🕊️ Migration :-
Migration is the phenomenon of movement of a species from its own habitat to some other habitat for a particular time period every year for a specific purpose like breeding.
🐧 Migratory birds :-
Birds who cover long distances to reach another land are known as migratory birds. These birds fly for laying eggs as the weather in their natural habitat becomes unsuitable
📄 Recycling of Paper :-
- Deforestation and Paper Use: Making 1 tonne of paper requires 17 full-grown trees. This is a significant cause of deforestation.
- Importance of Saving Paper: If each student saves one sheet of paper per day, it can lead to saving many trees annually.
- Recyclability of Paper: Paper can be recycled 5 to 7 times for reuse. Recycling reduces the demand for fresh raw materials (trees).
📌 Benefits of Recycling Paper :-
- Saves trees, helping in conservation of forests.
- Saves energy and water used in paper manufacturing.
- Reduces use of harmful chemicals in paper production.
- Reduces pollution and environmental damage.
📌 What We Should Do for Saving Paper :-
- Save paper by using it wisely.
- Reuse used paper whenever possible.
- Recycle paper to minimize waste and conserve natural resources.
🌲 Reforestation :-
It is the restocking of deforested forests by planting new trees.
📌 Steps to follow reforestation:
- Try to implant new plants of the same species which were present before.
- Try to plant the same or more number of trees as are cut.
📌 Types of Reforestation:
- Artificial: Human-led tree planting.
- Natural Reforestation: Reforestation can also happen naturally if the deforested area is left undisturbed. In this process, no human intervention is required.
📜 The Forest Conservation Act :-
India we have the Forest (Conservation) Act This act is aimed at preservation and conservation of natural forests and meeting the basic needs of the people living in or near the forests.