What is the biosphere and how does it differ from other shells of the Earth?

The totality of all biogeocenoses (ecosystems) of the Earth is a large ecological system - the biosphere. Biogeocenosis is elementary structure biosphere. The biosphere consists of living and non-living components. The totality of all living organisms on our planet forms the living substance of the biosphere. The bulk of living organisms is concentrated on the border of the three geological shells of the Earth: gaseous (atmosphere), liquid (hydrosphere) and solid (lithosphere). Non-living components include that part of the atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere, which is connected by complex processes of matter and energy migration with the living matter of the biosphere. The boundaries of life on the planet are at the same time the boundaries of the biosphere. Thus, the biosphere is a part of the geological shells of the Earth, inhabited by living organisms.

The term "biosphere" was introduced in 1875 by the geologist E. Suess. The creator of this doctrine is the domestic naturalist V.I. Vernadsky. He showed that the biosphere differs from other spheres of the Earth in that within its limits the geological activity of all living organisms is manifested. Living organisms, converting solar energy, are a powerful force influencing geological processes. A specific feature of the biosphere as a special shell of the Earth is the cycle of substances continuously occurring in it, regulated by the activity of living organisms. Since the biosphere receives energy from the outside - from the Sun, it is an open system. First stage migration of substances and energy in the biosphere - the transformation of the energy of solar radiation by autotrophic organisms in the process of photosynthesis. Therefore, according to the teachings of V.I. Vernadsky, living organisms living on Earth are complex system conversion of solar energy into energy of geochemical processes. Living organisms, regulating the circulation of substances, serve as a powerful geological factor that transforms the surface of our planet. This definition of the biosphere reflects an important thesis: our planet Earth is the way it is today only because life exists on it.

Thus, the Biosphere is a part of the terrestrial space embraced by life with its active chemical manifestation. In the biosphere, the existence of organisms in any possible concentration is possible - from single bacteria and spores in 1 cm3 of atmospheric air to powerful tropical forests of the equatorial zone and traces of life in the depths of the World Ocean. According to their requirements for environmental conditions, organisms settle in different upper horizons of the Earth: in the lower atmosphere, in the hydrosphere, in soils, in the depths of the lithosphere, saturated with natural waters and oil fields. All living matter in its mass occupies an insignificant fraction compared to any of the upper shells the globe. According to modern probabilistic estimates total the mass of living matter in the modern era is about 2420 billion tons. Thus, all living matter of our planet is ~1/10,000,000 of the mass of the earth's crust. However, in qualitative terms, living matter is the most highly organized part of the Earth's matter. In terms of its active influence on the environment, living matter occupies a special place and qualitatively differs sharply from other shells of the globe, just as living matter differs from dead matter. An estimate of the average chemical composition of living matter was made by A.P. Vinogradov. The main components of living matter are elements that are widespread in nature: in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and space. The average elemental composition of living matter differs from the composition of the earth's crust high content carbon. According to the content of other elements, organisms do not repeat the composition of their environment. They selectively absorb the elements needed to build their tissues. In the process of life, organisms use the most accessible atoms capable of forming stable chemical bonds. Carbon atoms have the ability to create long chains of compounds with other atoms, which leads to the construction of countless polymers and other complex organic high molecular weight compounds.

The living matter of the biosphere, in general, occupies an insignificant space on the scale of the entire globe. The widespread use of the term “living matter” itself is associated with the works of V.I. Vernadsky. He showed that all living organisms of the Earth form a single whole - the living substance of the planet. Life on Earth is the most outstanding process on its surface, receiving the life-giving energy of the Sun and setting in motion almost all the chemical elements of the periodic table.

Vernadsky proved that living organisms play a very important role in the geological processes that shape the face of the Earth. Chemical composition modern atmosphere and hydrosphere due to the vital activity of organisms. Great importance have organisms for the formation of the lithosphere - most rocks, and not only sedimentary, but also such as granites, are somehow connected by their origin with the biosphere.

Mineral inert substance is processed by life, turns into a new quality. Living organisms not only adapt to environmental conditions, but also actively change them. Thus, living and non-living matter on Earth constitute a harmonious whole, which, in fact, is called the biosphere. According to the figurative statement of the Russian geologist M. Vassoevich, "the biosphere is both residents, and a house, and we are in it."

The biosphere is the environment of our life, this is the nature that surrounds us, which we are talking about in spoken language. Man - first of all - with his breath, the manifestation of his functions, is inextricably linked with this "nature", even if he lives in a city or in a secluded house.

V. I. Vernadsky

Biosphere(Greek bios - life, sphere - ball, sphere) - a complex outer shell of the Earth, inhabited by organisms that together make up the living substance of the planet. This is one of the most important geospheres of the Earth, which is the main component natural environment surrounding a person.

The term “biosphere” was first introduced into science by the Austrian geologist Eduard Suess in 1875. He understood the biosphere as a thin film of life on earth's surface. The role and importance of the biosphere for the development of life on our planet turned out to be so great that already in the first third of the 20th century. a new fundamental scientific direction in natural science has arisen - the doctrine of the biosphere , the founder of which is the great Russian scientist V. I. Vernadsky.

The earth and its environment were formed as a result of the natural development of the entire solar system. About 4.7 billion years ago, the planet Earth was formed from the gas and dust dispersed in the protosolar system. Like other planets, the Earth receives energy from the Sun, which reaches the earth's surface in the form of electromagnetic radiation. Solar heat is one of the main components of the Earth's climate, the basis for the development of many geological processes. A huge heat flow comes from the depths of the Earth.

According to the latest data, the mass of the Earth is 6x10 21 tons, volume - 1.083x10 12 km 3, surface area - 510.2 million km 2. Dimensions, and therefore everything Natural resources our planet are limited.

Our planet has a heterogeneous structure and consists of concentric shells (geospheres) - internal and external. The internal ones include the core, the mantle, and the external ones include the lithosphere (the earth's crust), the hydrosphere, the atmosphere and the complex shell of the Earth - the biosphere.

Lithosphere(Greek "lithos" - stone) - the stone shell of the Earth, including the earth's crust thickness (thickness) from b (under the oceans) to 80 km (mountain systems). The earth's crust is composed of rocks. The proportion of various rocks in the earth's crust is not the same - more than 70% are basalts, granites and other igneous rocks, about 17% are rocks transformed by pressure and high temperature, and only a little more than 12% are sedimentary.

The earth's crust is the most important resource for mankind. It contains combustible minerals (coal, oil, oil shale), ore (iron, aluminum, copper, tin, etc.) and non-metallic (phosphorites, apatites, etc.) minerals, natural building materials (limestone, sand, gravel and etc.).

Hydrosphere(Greek "hydra" - water) - the water shell of the Earth. It is divided into surface and underground.

Surface hydrosphere- the water shell of the surface of the Earth. It includes the waters of the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, reservoirs, swamps, glaciers, snow covers, etc. All these waters are permanently or temporarily located on the earth's surface and are called surface waters.

The surface hydrosphere does not form a continuous layer and discontinuously covers the earth's surface by 70.8%.

Underground hydrosphere- includes waters located in the upper part of the earth's crust. They are called underground. From above, the underground hydrosphere is limited by the surface of the earth, its lower boundary cannot be traced, since the hydrosphere penetrates very deeply into the thickness of the earth's crust.

In relation to the volume of the globe, the total volume of the hydrosphere does not exceed 0.13%. The main part of the hydrosphere (96.53%) is the World Ocean. Groundwater accounts for 23.4 million km 2, or 1.69% of the total volume of the hydrosphere, the rest is the water of rivers, lakes and glaciers.

Over 98% of all water resources The lands make up the salt waters of the oceans, seas, etc. The total volume fresh water on Earth is equal to 28.25 million km 3, or about 2% of the total volume of the hydrosphere. The main part of fresh water is concentrated in glaciers, the waters of which are still used very little. The rest of the fresh water suitable for water supply accounts for 4.2 million km3 of water, or only 0.3% of the volume of the hydrosphere.

The hydrosphere plays a huge role in shaping the natural environment of our planet. It also has a very active effect on atmospheric processes (heating and cooling of air masses, their saturation with moisture, etc.).

Atmosphere(Greek "atmos" - steam) - the gaseous shell of the Earth, consisting of a mixture of various gases, water vapor and dust. The total mass of the atmosphere is 5.15-10 15 tons. At an altitude of 10 to 50 km, with a maximum concentration at an altitude of 20-25 km, there is an ozone layer that protects the Earth from excessive ultraviolet radiation, which is fatal to organisms.

The atmosphere physically, chemically and mechanically affects the lithosphere, regulating the distribution of heat and moisture. Weather and climate on Earth depend on the distribution of heat, pressure and water vapor content in the atmosphere. Water vapor absorbs solar radiation, increases air density and is the source of all precipitation. The atmosphere supports various forms of life on Earth.

In the formation of the Earth's natural environment, the role of the troposphere (the lower layer of the atmosphere up to a height of 8-10 km in polar, 10-12 km in temperate and 16-18 km in tropical latitudes) and, to a lesser extent, the stratosphere, a region of cold rarefied dry air with a thickness of about 20 km. Meteoritic dust continuously falls through the stratosphere, volcanic dust is ejected into it, and in the past, products of nuclear explosions in the atmosphere.

In the troposphere, global vertical and horizontal movements of air masses occur, which largely determine the water cycle, heat transfer, transboundary transport of dust particles and pollution.

Atmospheric processes are closely related to the processes occurring in the lithosphere and the water shell.

Atmospheric phenomena include: precipitation, clouds, fog, thunderstorm, ice, dust (sand) storm, squall, snowstorm, frost, dew, hoarfrost, icing, polar lights, etc.

The atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere closely interact with each other. Practically all surface exogenous geological processes are caused by this interaction and take place, as a rule, in the biosphere.

Biosphere- the outer shell of the Earth, which includes part of the atmosphere up to a height of 25-30 km (to the ozone layer), almost the entire hydrosphere and the upper part of the lithosphere to a depth of about 3 km. The peculiarity of these parts is that they are inhabited by living organisms that make up the living substance of the planet. The interaction of the abiotic part of the biosphere - air, water and rocks and organic matter - biota led to the formation of soils and sedimentary rocks. The latter, according to V. I. Vernadsky, bear traces of the activity of ancient biospheres that existed in past geological epochs.

§ 44. What is the biosphere and how it works

Remember

How are living things different from non-living things? How are plants different from animals? What ozone layer? At what height is it?

Our planet is the only one space bodies The solar system is inhabited by living organisms. The area of their settlement forms the biosphere (from the Greek "bios" - life and "sphere" - a ball).

Biosphere - the outer shell of the Earth, inhabited by living organisms and transformed by them.

Now living organisms inhabit the troposphere, the land surface, the upper part of the earth's crust and the hydrosphere (Fig. 156). Therefore, the upper boundary of the biosphere is drawn at the level of the ozone layer, the lower - in the earth's crust at a depth of about 5 km.

However, the boundaries of the biosphere were not always so. They have changed over time. Life on our planet originated in water about 3.5 billion years ago. Approximately 500 million years ago, it spread to the land, and then to the atmosphere. With the development of the Earth, the conditions for the existence of organisms have changed. Some died out, others adapted to new conditions. But the total number of species has steadily increased. An important stage in the development of the biosphere is associated with the appearance and settlement of man on the Earth.

About 2.5 million species of plants and animals, as well as fungi and bacteria, live in the modern biosphere. All of them form living matter planets. By mass, microscopic organisms predominate in it, and among large forms - plants.

Rice. 156. Distribution of organisms in the biosphere

Everything that surrounds a living organism is called its habitat. These are bodies of animate and inanimate nature: rocks, water, air and other living organisms. Organisms interact with their environment. They take from there the substances necessary for life, process them, and excrete the unnecessary outside. Consequently, organisms exchange substances with the environment. At the same time, life both adapts to the environment and changes, transforms it.

Questions and tasks

What is the biosphere and how does it differ from other shells of the Earth?
Where are the upper and lower boundaries of the biosphere drawn?
What is living matter and what does it consist of?

What is the biosphere and how does it differ from other shells of the earth?

biosphere natural protection

The Earth has 6 shells: atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, pyrosphere and centrosphere.

The atmosphere is the outer gaseous shell of the Earth. Its lower boundary passes through the lithosphere and hydrosphere, and its upper boundary at an altitude of 1000 km. The atmosphere is divided into the troposphere (the moving layer), the stratosphere (the layer above the troposphere) and the ionosphere (the upper layer). The average height of the troposphere is 10 km. Its mass is 75% of the total mass of the atmosphere. Air in the troposphere moves both horizontally and vertically. The stratosphere rises 80 km above the troposphere. Its air, moving only in a horizontal direction, forms layers. Even higher extends the ionosphere, which got its name due to the fact that its air is constantly ionized under the influence of ultraviolet and cosmic rays.

The hydrosphere covers 71% of the Earth's surface. Its average salinity is 35 g/l. The temperature of the ocean surface is from 3 to 32 ° C, the density is about 1. Sunlight penetrates to a depth of 200 m, and ultraviolet rays to a depth of up to 800 m.

The biosphere, or sphere of life, merges with the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. Its upper boundary reaches the upper layers of the troposphere, while the lower one runs along the bottom of the ocean basins. The biosphere is subdivided into the sphere of plants (over 500,000 species) and the sphere of animals (over 1,000,000 species).

The lithosphere is a stone shell of the Earth with a thickness of 40 to 100 km. It includes continents, islands and the bottom of the oceans. The average height of the continents above ocean level: Antarctica - 2200 m, Asia - 960 m, Africa - 750 m, North America-- 720 m, South America-- 590 m, Europe -- 340 m, Australia -- 340 m.

Under the lithosphere is the pyrosphere - the fiery shell of the Earth. Its temperature rises by about 1°C for every 33 m of depth. Rocks at considerable depths are probably in a molten state due to high temperatures and high pressure.

The centrosphere, or the core of the Earth, is located at a depth of not 1800 km. According to most scientists, it consists of iron and nickel. The pressure here reaches 300000000000 Pa (3,000,000 atmospheres), the temperature is several thousand degrees. The state of the core is still unknown.

The fiery sphere of the Earth continues to cool. The hard shell thickens, the fiery shell thickens. At one time, this led to the formation of solid boulders - continents. However, the influence of the fiery sphere on the life of planet Earth is still very great. The contours of the continents and oceans, the climate, and the composition of the atmosphere have repeatedly changed.

Exogenous and endogenous processes continuously change the solid surface of our planet, which, in turn, actively affects the Earth's biosphere.

In the biosphere, all processes proceed under the direct influence of living organisms. The biosphere is located at the junction of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, ranging from 11 km deep into the Earth to 33 km above the Earth. Living organisms, including all known chemical elements, in the process of life carry out the transformation of energy. All living things are divided into five kingdoms: bacteria, algae, fungi, plants and animals.

Modern science believes that about 1 billion years ago there was a division of living beings into the kingdoms of plants and animals. The differences between them can be divided into three groups: 1) according to the structure of cells and their ability to grow; 2) according to the method of nutrition; 3) by the ability to move. Animal cells have centrioles, but no chlorophyll and no cell wall to prevent shape change. Most plants receive the substances necessary for life as a result of the absorption of mineral compounds. Animals eat ready organic compounds produced by plants during photosynthesis. The classification of plants and animals is built in accordance with their distinctive features. The species was recognized as the main structural unit, and more high levels composed sequentially genus, order, class.

There are 500,000 species of plants and 1.5 million species of animals on Earth, including 70,000 vertebrates, about 16,000 birds, and 12,540 mammals. Such systematization various forms life created the prerequisites for the study of living matter as a whole, which was first carried out by the outstanding Russian scientist Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky in his theory of the biosphere. The main conclusions of Vernadsky's theory of the biosphere are as follows:

1. The principle of integrity states that the biosphere, life exist as a whole. Life is a necessary and natural part of a harmonious cosmic mechanism.
2. The principle of harmony of the biosphere lies in its organization, harmony, inseparable connection in it of living and non-living components.
3. The principle of the significance of the role of living things in the evolution of the Earth states that there is no chemical force on the earth's surface that is more constantly acting and more powerful in its final consequences than organisms taken as a whole. The face of the earth as celestial body actually shaped by life.
4. The main role of the biosphere is to transform solar energy into effective energy of the Earth. Cosmic energy causes the development of life, which is achieved by reproduction.
5. The rule of inertia is the spread of life over the earth's surface due to the manifestation of its geochemical energy. Small organisms reproduce much faster than large ones.
6. The law of frugality in the use of simple chemical bodies by living matter states that once an element enters an organism, it goes through a long series of states and at the same time the organism enters into itself only required amount elements.
7. The limits of life are determined by the physicochemical properties of the compounds that build the body, their indestructibility under certain environmental conditions. The maximum field of life is determined by the extreme limits of the survival of organisms. The upper limit of life is determined by radiant energy, the presence of which excludes life and from which the ozone shield protects. The lower limit is associated with reaching a high temperature. For example, the life temperature range of 430° (from -250°C to +180°C) is the limiting thermal field.
8. Life gradually, slowly adapting, captured the biosphere, and this capture did not end. The field of stability of life is the result of adaptation in the course of time.

Biosphere, according to V.I. Vernadsky, is an organized, definite shell of the earth's crust, associated with life. The limits of the biosphere are limited, first of all, by the field of existence of life. The biosphere is not just one of the existing shells of the Earth, like the lithosphere, hydrosphere or atmosphere. The main difference of the biosphere is that it is an organized shell. To be alive means to be organized, noted V.I. Vernadsky, and this is the essence of the concept of the biosphere as an organized shell of the Earth.

According to V.I. Vernadsky, the substance of the biosphere is heterogeneous in its physical and chemical composition, namely:

- living matter - the totality of living organisms;
- biogenic matter - a continuous biogenic flow of atoms from living matter to the indirect substance of the biosphere and vice versa;
- inert matter (atmosphere, gases, rocks, etc.);
- bio-inert matter, e.g. soils, silts, surface water, the biosphere itself, i.e., complex, regular, inert-living structures;
- radioactive substance;
- scattered atoms;
- a substance of cosmic origin.

Although the boundaries of the biosphere are rather narrow, living organisms are distributed very unevenly within them. At high altitudes and in the depths of the hydrosphere and lithosphere, organisms are relatively rare. Life is concentrated mainly on the surface of the Earth, in the soil and in the near-surface layer of the ocean. The total mass of living organisms is estimated at 2.43 * 1012 tons. The biomass of organisms living on land is 99.2% represented by green plants and 0.8% by animals and microorganisms. In contrast, in the ocean, plants account for 6.3%, while animals and microorganisms account for 93.7% of the total biomass. Life is concentrated mainly on land. The total biomass of the ocean is only 0.03 1012, or 0.13% of the biomass of all creatures living on Earth. An important regularity is observed in the distribution of living organisms by species composition. From total number 21% of species are plants, but their contribution to the total biomass is 99%. Among animals, 96% of species are invertebrates and only 4% are vertebrates, of which a tenth are mammals. The mass of living matter is only 0.01-0.02% of the inert matter of the biosphere, but it plays a leading role in geochemical processes. Substances and energy necessary for metabolism, organisms draw from environment. Limited amounts of living matter are recreated, transformed and decomposed. Every year, thanks to the vital activity of plants and animals, about 10% of the biomass is reproduced. In addition to plants and animals, V.I. Vernadsky includes in the concept of "living matter" and humanity, whose influence on geochemical processes differs from the influence of other living beings, firstly, by its intensity, which increases with the course of geological time; secondly, by the impact that human activity has on other living beings.

Life on Earth is now completely dependent on photosynthesis. Fixing energy sunlight in the products of photosynthesis, plants perform the cosmic role of an energy focus on Earth. Photosynthesis is understood as the transformation by green plants and photosynthetic microorganisms with the participation of light energy and light-absorbing pigments (chlorophyll, etc.) of the simplest compounds (water, carbon dioxide and mineral elements) into complex organic substances necessary for the life of all organisms. Every year, plants form up to 100 billion tons of organic matter and fix

9 * 1020 J of energy solar radiation. At the same time, plants absorb up to 170 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and decompose up to 130 billion tons of water, releasing up to 115 billion tons of free oxygen.

Thus, all biotic components of the ecosystem are divided into three main groups: producers (green plants and organisms that can use chemical energy, - chemosynthetics), consumers, or consumers (there may be several trophic levels), and decomposers, or destroyers (organisms that transform, mineralize organic matter and thereby close the biological cycle). All living organisms, using each other in one way or another, form a gigantic biological cycle of the biosphere. This cycle is not completely closed: in addition to the energy input (solar energy), it also has an output - part of the dying organic matter after decomposition by microorganisms-mineralizers, it can enter aqueous solutions and deposited in the form of sedimentary rocks, and the other part forms deposits of such biogenic rocks as coal, peat, sapropel, etc.

In this large biogeochemical cycle of matter and energy, a number of more particular cycles of substances are released - water, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, etc., during which the exchange occurs chemical elements between living organisms and the inorganic environment. The existence of these biogeochemical cycles determines the appearance of modern ecosystems, the stability and self-regulation of the biosphere as a whole. Therefore, no matter how complex and diverse the manifestations of life on Earth are, all forms of life are interconnected through the circulation of matter and energy.

In this regard, three stages in the evolution of the biosphere can be distinguished. The first stage is the emergence of the biotic cycle, which meant the formation of the biosphere. The second stage is the complication of life on the planet, due to the appearance of multicellular organisms. The third stage is the formation human society, which exerts an increasing influence on the evolution of the biosphere (noosphere) with its economic and economic activities. Attempts to single out the main stages in the evolution of the biosphere deserve attention by the fact that they pose this problem as one of the important tasks of modern evolutionary theory.

Planet Earth is amazing and unique. It consists of several shells: atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, pyrosphere and centrosphere. Unlike other planets, the Earth is inhabited by plants, animals, people, microorganisms, etc. All living organisms form the biosphere. This shell includes part of the atmosphere and lithosphere, as well as the entire hydrosphere. In this article, we will consider what the biosphere is, what are its components and functions.

Concept definition

Despite the fact that today almost everyone knows what the biosphere is, the definition of this concept was introduced into scientific circulation only in 1875 by the Austrian geologist Eduard Suess (work “The Face of the Earth”). However, for the next half century, the term was used only in narrow circles.

In 1926, the famous Russian scientist V. I. Vernadsky published the book "Biosphere". In this work, he substantiated the role of living organisms in geological processes. It was V. I. Vernadsky who first determined what the biosphere is and how it differs from other shells of the Earth. He showed it as a dynamic active system inhabited and controlled by living beings.

Today in science there is the only generally accepted definition of the concept of "biosphere". This is the shell of the planet Earth, which is inhabited by living organisms. The biosphere occupies a special place in relation to other geospheres. This is due to the fact that the geological activity of all living beings is manifested only within the boundaries of this shell.

The boundaries of the biosphere

The biosphere covers the upper region (about 7.5 km) of the lithosphere, the lower boundary of the atmosphere (15-20 km) and the entire hydrosphere.

The lithosphere is the hard shell of our planet. It covers the entire earth's crust and part of the upper mantle. Most living organisms are found in the soil at a depth of up to 1 m. However, some bacteria can penetrate deep into the lithosphere (up to 4 km).

The hydrosphere is the water shell of the planet Earth. It is a collection of all oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. This shell is completely mastered and inhabited by living organisms. Most of them live at a depth of up to 200 m. However, some species even live at the bottom of the oceans (about 12 km).

The atmosphere is the gaseous envelope of our planet. It consists of nitrogen, oxygen, ozone and carbon dioxide. The composition of the biosphere includes only the lowest layers of the atmosphere. This is due to the fact that certain types insects and birds can rise to a height of up to 5 km above the ground.

Components of the biosphere

There are 4 components in the composition of the biosphere (the classification was proposed by V. I. Vernadsky):

Living substance. Its amount is approximately 0.25% of the mass of the biosphere. This substance is the totality of all living organisms on the planet. They are combined into 4 kingdoms: bacteria, plants, fungi and animals. Living matter is characterized by significant energy, it is characterized by mobility and continuous alternation of generations, due to which all its components are constantly updated.
biogenic substance. This is everything that is formed during the life of organisms and consists of animal and plant residues (limestone, oil, atmospheric gases, peat, etc.). All biogenic components serve as a powerful source of energy.
Inert substance. These are elements in the formation of which living beings and microorganisms do not take part (rocks, lava, etc.).
Bioactive substance. These are the components of the biosphere, which are created in the course of the joint activity of living organisms and abiogenic processes (soil, clay, sedimentary rocks, weathering bark, water, etc.).

Features and functions of the biosphere

the biosphere, as well as other important natural systems, has a number of functions. Let's consider the most important of them.

Integrity. The biosphere is a centralized system, the main element of which is living matter. All its components are closely interconnected and constantly interact. As a result, a change in one element leads to a restructuring of the entire system.
Self-regulation. The biosphere is characterized by such a process as homeostasis. It allows the system to independently maintain and regulate its state.
Sustainability. The ability of the biosphere under the influence of external factors to maintain its properties and characteristics. This feature allows the system to maintain its Current state and return to its original position after shocks.

One of the main features and characteristics of the biosphere is diversity. Due to the existence of different biological species, there is always an atmosphere of competition in the system, which provides protection from outside influences.

Functions of living matter

Today, science knows for certain what the biosphere is. In biology, its main component - living matter - is the most important category. Let us consider the functions of this backbone element of the biosphere.

Gas. This function is closely related to the process of metabolism and respiration. These gas reactions take in and release oxygen. carbon dioxide etc. Thanks to this function, the modern composition of the air was formed.
Energy. This function is based on the process of photosynthesis - the assimilation of solar energy by living matter and its transfer.
Redox. This function is to change chemical properties substances that contain atoms different levels oxidation. Such reactions are the basis of biological metabolism.
destruction function. This is the process of decomposition of organisms to minerals after they die.
concentration. This is the process of accumulation and movement of atoms.

The meaning of living matter

Accumulation of solar energy and its transformation (into chemical, mechanical, thermal, electrical, etc.).
The formation of most minerals and rocks is the result of the vital activity of living organisms.
Accumulation of chemical elements. Living organisms accumulate important components (iron, magnesium, copper, sodium) in their body tissues and in the environment.
Most of the chemical elements are cycled through the biosphere.
Huge impact on the composition of the soil, atmosphere, hydrosphere.
Some chemical components and compounds can exist only in the composition of living organisms.