[Mission 2023] STATIC QUIZ, 4 May 2023 – Environment

Solution: b)

Corals that inhabit the colder deep waters of continental shelves and offshore canyons, ranging from 50 to over 1000m depths lack zooxanthellae and may build reef-like structures or occur solitarily.

Cold-water corals are different from their warm-water counterparts because they do not contain symbiotic algae for photosynthesis and grow more slowly. Cold-water corals obtain all their energy from organic matter and zooplankton, which they catch from the currents drifting past

Cold-water corals can be found over a wide range of latitudes, from tropical to Polar Regions, and from the shallow to the deep seas.

Solution: c)

Zooxanthellae is what gives colour to corals and provide them food.

• Bleaching, or the paling of coral colour occurs; when (i) the densities of zooxanthellae decline and (ii) the concentration of photosynthetic pigments within the zooxanthellae fall.
• There are many causes of coral bleaching.
• Major Temperature changes, extreme low tides, tectonic uplift etc. can potentially induce bleaching.
• Moreover, Sedimentation, Fresh Water Dilution, inflow of Inorganic Nutrients (e.g. ammonia and nitrate) etc. too cause the same.

Solution: d)

All the above organisms are involved in nitrogen cycle.

Solution: b)

There are many plants in which parts like the root, stem and leaves develop into new plants under appropriate conditions. This property of vegetative propagation is used in methods such as layering or grafting to grow many plants like sugarcane, roses, or grapes for agricultural purposes. Plants raised by vegetative propagation can bear flowers and fruits earlier than those produced from seeds. Such methods

also make possible the propagation of plants such as banana, orange, rose and jasmine that have lost the capacity to produce seeds. Another advantage of vegetative propagation is that all plants produced are

genetically similar enough to the parent plant to have all its characteristics.

Solution: b)

Ecological pyramid doesn’t give evidence on introduction of new species.