Fundamentals of Ecosystem Health and assessment

By Prof. Surjya Kumar Saikia | Visva-Bharati

Learners enrolled: 1761 | Exam registration: 628

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Ecosystem is the basic structure that connects and defined balanced biotic and abiotic components in nature. As a result of recent advancements and technological developments, ecosystem processes are being interrupted by humans. Ecosystem health describes the preferred state of the ecosystem modified by human activity without challenging the vigor, structure and resilience of the ecosystem.

This is a new discipline in Ecology, Management studies and applied branches of Sciences.

The present course is designed for 8 weeks (20 hrs), covering 15 wide topics. The course is relevant for students of Undergraduates (of NEP 2020) and Postgraduates. Researchers (Ph.D.) may take it as bridge course. This course is also useful for trainees of early career entrepreneurship to understand how their initiatives have to address human-environment conflict.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: All UG, PG students

PREREQUISITES: A basic knowledge on Ecology, Experience of handling computer

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Most of the Industries that require to conduct Green audits. Some of such industries are- 1) Chemical Industries 2) Planning and Engineering 3) Sustainable division of any industry

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	8 weeks
Category :	Environmental Sciences Civil Engineering
Credit Points :	2
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	16 Feb 2026
End Date :	10 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	16 Feb 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	27 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	24 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Introduction to Ecosystem, How ecosystem regulates biological world

Week 2: Ecosystem degradation, Concept of Ecosystem Health, Indicators, Ecosystem Distress Syndrome

Week 3: Ecosystem Services

Week 4: Models of Ecosystem services, EcoService Model Library (ESML)

Week 5: Ecosystem Health Assessment, Aquatic Ecosystem Assessment Models, Millennium Assessment Model

Week 6: Risk, Ecological Risk analysis

Week 7: Ecological Risk analysis (contd.), NET Zero, Green initiaitives

Week 8: Human impacts on Ecosystem, IPAT, GLOBIO Model

Books and references

Ecosystem Health: Principles and Practice, By DJ Rapport et al (Edited), Wiley-Blackwell, 1998
Ecosystem Health: New Goals for Environmental Management, By Robert Costanza et al. Island Press, 1992
Ecosystem Services-from concept to practice, JA Bouma and PJH van Beukering, Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Ecosystem Services-Concept, Methods and Case studies by K Grunewald & O Bastian, Springer, 2015.
Ecosystem Services- key concepts and applications, National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry, 2009. (Freely downloadable)
Ecosystem Health and Human Health. (https://www.nrs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/jrnl/2002/ne_2002_ vasseur_001.pdf )
Handbook of Ecological Indicators for Assessment of Ecosystem Health. By SE Jorgensen et al. (Edited), Taylor & Francis, 2005. (https://archive.epa.gov/solec/web/pdf/ecological_indicators.pdf)
A guide to Ecosystem Services Model for Decision making-Lessons from Sub-Sahara Africa, by JM Bullock & H Ding, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, 2018.
General Principles of Ecological Risk Assessment-Protecting ecosystems in the third Millenium, Marco Vighi, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024. (https://www.cambridgescholars.com/resources/pdfs/978-1-0364-0421-5-sample.pdf )

Instructor bio

Prof. Surjya Kumar Saikia

Visva-Bharati

Dr. Surjya Kumar Saikia is currently working as Associate Professor in the Department of Zoology, Visva-Bharati. He has a proven track record of teaching Ecology to both UG and PG students for last 15 years and also successfully guided several Ph.D students during his tenure till date. His main teaching areas cover Ecology, Conservation and Wild life management and Aquatic Biology.

Dr. Saikia’s has gathered experiences in delivering talks to national and international communities. He has presented several research papers in Biology and Ecology. More than 60 national and international research publications can be credited to his laboratory.

Presently he is trying to develop an Eco-sociological interface through understanding ecosystem services and social responses.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 24, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 6 assignments out of the total 8 assignments given in the course.

Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kharagpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team