[Mission 2022] QUIZ – 2022: INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ, 13 December 2021 – Environment

Solution: c)

Biosphere is that part of the earth in which living organisms exist or which supports life. Please note we are not talking about the “biosphere reserve”.

Protected areas, just like any large ecosystem, are a significant part of our biosphere that is established to protect our flora, fauna and their habitats.  So, the most appropriate analogy is option C where a tree is one among many species (both plant and animals) in a forest.

Solution: d)

• The Shola vegetation are tropical montane forests found in the Western Ghats separated by rolling grasslands in high altitudes.
• These patches of shola forest are found mainly in the valleys and are usually separated from one another by undulating montane grassland.
• Shola forests are found in the higher elevation hill regions of the Nilgiris, Anaimalai, Munnar, Palni hills, Meghamalai, Agasthyamalai to the south and the Malnad and associated ranges in parts of Wayanad, Coorg, Baba Budangiri and Kudremukh up the north, in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• They have high concentration of lichen, mosses, ferns and orchids.

Solution: a)

The soil is poor in nutrients and acidic due to frequent leaching by heavy rains.

Frequent rains wash away the top soil leaving only certain mineral and organic remains. So, if these forests are cleared, it will not yield tremendous vegetation growth as seen in tropical forests for a long time.

However, rainforests are also notable for replenishing the soil quickly with dead organic matter (e.g. leafs that fall from trees).

Solution: a)

To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria:

• It must have at least 1,500 vascular plants as endemics— which is to say, it must have a high percentage of plant life found nowhere else on the planet. A hotspot, in other words, is irreplaceable.
• It must have 30% or less of its original natural vegetation. In other words, it must be threatened.

Solution: d)

Diet varies with species. Sea turtles may be carnivorous (meat eating), herbivorous (plant eating), or omnivorous (eating both meat and plants). The jaw structure of many species indicates their diet.

For instance, Green sea turtles have finely serrated jaws adapted for a mostly vegetarian diet of sea grasses and algae. As adults, these are the only predominantly herbivorous sea turtles; although some occasionally also dine on jellyfish and sponges.

Some species change eating habits as they age. For example, green sea turtles are mainly carnivorous from hatching until juvenile size; they then progressively shift to an herbivorous diet.