It took scientists many hundreds of years to explain the processes taking place within our planet. Knowledge gradually accumulated, theoretical and factual material grew. Today, people manage to find an explanation for many natural phenomena, intervene in their course, change or direct.
What role the living world plays in all the mechanisms of nature was also not immediately clear. However, the Russian philosopher, biogeochemist V. I. Vernadsky managed to create a theory that became the basis and remains so to this day. It is she who explains what our entire planet is, what are the relationships between all the participants in it. And most importantly, it is this theory that answers the question about the role of living beings on planet Earth. It was called the theory of the structure of the Earth's biosphere.
The biosphere and its structure
The scientist proposed to call the biosphere the whole area of living and non-living, which is in close contact and as a result of jointactivity contributes to the formation of certain geochemical components of nature.
That is, the biosphere includes the following structural parts of the Earth:
- lower part of the atmosphere to the ozone layer;
- the entire hydrosphere;
- the upper level of the lithosphere - the soil and the layers below, up to and including groundwater.
That is, these are all those areas that are capable of being populated by living organisms. All of them, in turn, represent the total biomass, which is called the living matter of the biosphere. This includes representatives of all the kingdoms of nature, as well as man. The properties and functions of living matter are decisive in characterizing the biosphere as a whole, since it is it that is its main component.
However, in addition to the living, there are several more types of substances that make up the shell of the Earth we are considering. These are like:
- biogenic;
- inert;
- biocoke;
- radioactive;
- cosmic;
- free atoms and elements.
All together, these types of compounds form the environment for biomass, the living conditions for it. At the same time, representatives of the kingdoms of nature themselves have a considerable influence on the formation of many types of these substances.
In general, all the indicated components of the biosphere are the total mass of elements that add up the nature. It is they who enter into close interactions, carrying out the cycle of energy, substances, accumulating and processing many compounds. The basic unit is living matter. The functions of living matter are different,but all are very important and necessary to maintain the natural state of the planet.
Founder of the doctrine of the biosphere
The one who created the concept of "biosphere", developed it, structured it and fully revealed it, possessed extraordinary thinking, the ability to analyze and compare facts and data and make logical conclusions. In his time, V. I. Vernadsky became such a person. Great man, naturalist, academician and scientist, founder of many schools. His works have become the basic foundation on which all theories are built until now.
He is the creator of all biogeochemistry. His merit is the creation of the mineral resource base of Russia (then the USSR). His students were famous future scientists from Russia and Ukraine.
Vernadsky's predictions about the dominant position of people in the system of the organic world and that the biosphere is evolving into the noosphere have every reason to come true.
Living substance. Functions of the living matter of the biosphere
As we have already indicated above, the living matter of the considered shell of the Earth is considered to be the totality of organisms belonging to all kingdoms of nature. Human beings occupy a special position among all. The reasons for this were:
- consumer position, not production;
- development of mind and consciousness.
All other representatives are living matter. The functions of living matter were developed and indicated by Vernadsky. He assigned the following role to organisms:
- Redox.
- Destructive.
- Transport.
- Environment-forming.
- Gas.
- Energy.
- Informational.
- Concentration.
The most basic functions of the living matter of the biosphere are gas, energy and redox. However, the rest are also important, providing complex processes of interaction between all parts and elements of the living shell of the planet.
Let's look at each of the functions in more detail to understand what exactly is meant and what is the essence.
The redox function of living matter
Manifested in numerous biochemical transformations of substances within each living organism. After all, in everyone, from bacteria to large mammals, there are every second reactions. As a result, some substances turn into others, some break down into components.
The result of such processes for the biosphere is the formation of biogenic matter. What compounds can be cited as an example?
- Carbonate rocks (chalk, marble, limestone) - a product of the vital activity of mollusks, many other marine and terrestrial inhabitants.
- Silicon deposits are the result of centuries of reactions in the shells and shells of animals on the ocean floor.
- Coal and peat are the result of biochemical transformations that occur with plants.
- Oil and others.
Therefore, chemical reactions are the basis for the creation of many substances useful to man and nature. This is the function of living matter in the biosphere.
Concentration function
If we talk about the disclosure of the concept of this role of a substance, then we should point out its close relationship with the previous one. Simply put, the concentration function of living matter is the accumulation inside the body of certain elements, atoms, compounds. As a result, the very rocks, minerals and minerals mentioned above are formed.
Each creature is capable of accumulating some compounds in itself. However, the severity of this is different for everyone. For example, everyone accumulates carbon in themselves. But not every organism is able to concentrate about 20% of iron, as iron bacteria do.
Several more examples can be given that clearly illustrate this function of living matter.
- Diatoms, radiolarians - silicon.
- Rust mushrooms - manganese.
- Swollen lobelia plant - chrome.
- Solyanka plant - boron.
In addition to elements, many representatives of living beings are capable of forming whole complexes of substances after dying off.
Gas function of matter
This role is one of the main ones. After all, gas exchange is a life-forming process for all beings. If we talk about the biosphere as a whole, then the gas function of living matter begins with the activity of plants, which, in the process of photosynthesis, capture carbon dioxide and release a sufficient amount of oxygen.
Enough for what? For the life of all thosecreatures that are not capable of producing it on their own. And these are all animals, fungi, most bacteria. If we talk about the gas function of animals, then it consists in the consumption of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide into the environment during respiration.
This creates a general cycle that underlies life. Scientists have proven that over many millennia, plants and other living beings have managed to completely modernize and adjust the atmosphere of the planet for themselves. The following happened:
- oxygen concentration has become sufficient for life;
- the ozone layer has formed, which protects all life from harmful cosmic and ultraviolet radiation;
- the composition of the air has become what most creatures need.
Therefore, the gas function of the living matter of the biosphere is considered one of the most important.
Transport function
Implies the reproduction and settlement of organisms in different territories. There are certain ecological laws that govern the distribution and transport of creatures. According to them, each individual occupies its own habitat. There are also competitive relationships that lead to the settlement and development of new territories.
Thus, the functions of living matter in the biosphere are reproduction and settlement with the subsequent formation of new features.
Destructive role
This is another important function that is characteristic of living creatures of the biosphere. It consists in the ability to decompose into simple substances after dying off, that is, stopping the life cycle. While the organism lives, complex molecules are active in it. When death occurs, processes of destructuring begin, disintegration into simple constituent parts.
This is carried out by a special group of creatures called detritivores or decomposers. These include:
- some worms;
- bacteria;
- fungi;
- protozoa and others.
Environment-forming function
The main functions of living matter would be incomplete if we did not indicate the formation of environments. What does it mean? We have already pointed out that living beings in the process of evolution have created an atmosphere for themselves. They did the same with the environment.
Loosening and saturating the earth with mineral compounds, organic matter, they created a fertile layer suitable for life - the soil. The same can be said about the chemical composition of the water of the oceans and seas. That is, living beings independently form the environment of life for themselves. This is where their environment-forming function in the biosphere is manifested.
Informational role of living matter
This role is typical for living organisms, and the more highly developed it is, the greater the role it plays as a carrier and processor of information. Not a single inanimate object is capable of remembering, "recording" on the subconscious and subsequently reproducing information of any kind. Only sentient beings can do this.
This is notonly the ability to speak and think. The information function implies the phenomenon of preserving and transmitting certain sets of knowledge and traits by inheritance.
Energy function
Energy is the most important source of power, due to which living matter exists. The functions of living matter are manifested primarily in the ability to process the energy of the biosphere into various forms, from solar to thermal and electrical.
No one else can accumulate and change the radiation from the Sun like that. The first link here is, of course, plants. It is they who absorb sunlight directly on the entire surface of the green parts of the body. Then they convert it into the energy of chemical bonds available to animals. The latter translate it into different forms:
- thermal;
- electric;
- mechanical and others.
