[Mission 2022] QUIZ – 2020: INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ , 11 October 2021 – Environment

Solution: d)

A number of wild animal and bird species have been listed in various schedules of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Similarly, these species are also categorized under IUCN Red List, CITES and Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). The categories of species under these legal instruments:

• Insects
• Reptiles
• Fishes
• Birds
• Mammals

Source

Solution: b)

A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high amount of biodiversity that experiences habitat loss by human activity. In order to qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, according to Conservation International, “a region must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (>0.5% of the world’s total) as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70% of its original habitat.” 

Solution: b)

Many of the biodiversity hotspots exceed the two criteria. For example, both the Sundaland Hotspot in Southeast Asia and the Tropical Andes Hotspot in South America have about 15,000 endemic plant species. The loss of vegetation in some hotspots has reached a startling 95 percent.

Coined by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000 to denote the present geological time interval, Anthropocene has been used to describe humanity’s large impact on the environment.

Solution: c)

• Gaur (Bos Gaurus) also called the Indian bison, have not only returned to Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), but are also breeding there due to an increase in grassland cover.
• Gaur is the largest extant bovine in the world.
• Gaur are grassland specialists and their main food is grass.
• Native to south and southeast Asia.
• Distribution: In India, the population was estimated to be 12,000–22,000 in the mid-1990s. The Western Ghats and their outflanking hills in southern India constitute one of the most extensive extant strongholds of gaur, in particular in the Wayanad – Nagarhole – Mudumalai – Bandipur complex.

Solution: d)

Pusa Decomposer is a mix of seven fungi that produce enzymes to digest cellulose, lignin and pectin in paddy straw.

The fungi thrive at 30-32 degree Celsius, which is the temperature prevailing when paddy is harvested and wheat is sown.