Bio-Diversity-1 - UPSC MCQ

Explanation: The Himalayan Range is very rich in species diversity because it is a confluence of different bio-geographical zones.
The Himalaya Hotspot is home to the world's highest mountains, including Mt. Everest. The mountains rise abruptly, resulting in a diversity of ecosystems that range from alluvial grasslands and subtropical broadleaf forests to alpine meadows above the tree line. Vascular plants have even been recorded at more than 6,000 m. The hotspot is home to important populations of numerous large birds and mammals, including vultures, tigers, elephants, rhinos and wild water buffalo.
Educational Objective: To know about the biodiversity, and important places which are in news.

Explanation:
The equatorial, hot, wet climate is found between 5° and 10° north and south of the equator. Its greatest extent is found in the lowlands of the Amazon, the Congo, Malaysia and the East Indies.

• Equatorial rainforests are the typical vegetation type found in this region.
• The region is characterized by broad-leaf trees with a tall and dense canopy.
• The canopy is so dense that very little sunlight reaches the surface of equatorial forests.

Because of abundant sunlight and precipitation, the growing season exists all around the year. There is no distinct drying season where the trees shed leaves. Shedding and blooming of leaves and fruits occur throughout the year.
The vegetation exists in layers with the bottom-most layer comprising of decaying organic matter, which is slow to decompose due to low sunlight. A very dense layer of canopy exists with trees growing as tall as 90 feet - this layers most of the wildlife of these forests. Above this lies the emergent layer of crowns of a few trees which protrude out of the dense canopy. This layer receives maximum sunlight and also has to endure strong winds.

• On the thick trunks of many of the trees, there is a layer of climbers known as the lianas. Epiphytes are small plants which grow on the trunks and branches of these broad-leaf trees.
• The rainforests of Amazon are known as Selvas (forests with a dense canopy)
• The trees of the hardwood variety. Prominent hardwood varieties include -Mahogany, Ebony, dyewoods etc.
• Apart from the dense hardwood forests, mangrove vegetation is also found in the swamps and coastal regions.

Educational Objective: To know about the natural vegetation around the world.

Explanation: To qualify as a hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria: It must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (> 0.5 percent of the world’s total) as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat. So we choose Species richness as well as Endemism. Along with this Threat perception is necessary to take, because it makes the base of this concept. Adaptation of flora is an arbitrary option, Ethnobotanical importance does nothing with the Biodiversity Hotspot selection criteria, vegetation Density is also discarded.
Educational Objective: To know about the hotspots and its criteria to declare.

Explanation: Butterflies pollinate some wild flowers. Since some species of wasps, spiders and birds are predators of butterflies, decline of the latter could lead to a fall in the population of the predators.
Educational Objective: to know about the biodiversity, some of the important role played the species.

Explanation: Some of the major threats The natural habitat of the ecosystem plays a major role in maintaining the ecological balance. Several trees are cut down every year for the construction of industries, highways, settlement and so on to fulfill the human demands. As a result, the species become the target to predation and eventually die.
Hunting of the wild animals for commercialisation of their products has been a major reason for the loss of biodiversity. Since the year 2013, more than 90 rhinos were killed by the poachers for their horns and as per the records of 2016, 9 Indian Rhinos have been killed in Kaziranga National Park of Assam.
The exploitation of the medicinal plants for several laboratory purposes has resulted in the extinction of these species. Also, several animals are sacrificed for the purpose of various research in science and medicine.
Natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, forest fires also lead to the loss of biodiversity.
Air pollution has a major role in the loss of biodiversity. Rapid cutting down of the trees has resulted in the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leading to climate change. As a result, there has been an increase in the land and ocean temperature leaving an inimical impact on species.

Educational Objective: To know about the biodiversity, emerging threats to it.

Explanation: The Holocene extinction, otherwise referred to as the sixth mass extinction or Anthropocene extinction, is an ongoing extinction event of species during the present Holocene epoch (with the more recent time sometimes called Anthropocene) as a result of human activity.

• More than 30% of animals with a backbone — fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals — are declining in both range and population.
• The mammal species that were monitored have lost at least a third of their original habitat. 40% of them — including rhinos, orangutans, gorillas and many big cats — are surviving on 20% or less of the land they once roamed. The loss of biodiversity has recently accelerated.
• Several species of mammals that were relatively safe one or two decades ago are now endangered, including cheetahs, lions and giraffes. There are as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild, less than 7,000 cheetahs, 500 to 1,000 giant pandas, and about 250 Sumatran rhinoceros.
• Tropical regions have seen the highest number of declining species. In South and Southeast Asia, large-bodied species of mammals have lost more than four-fifths of their historical ranges.

Factors behind the loss?
The main drivers of wildlife decline are habitat loss, overconsumption, pollution, invasive species, disease, as well as poaching in the case of tigers, elephants, rhinos and other large animals prized for their body parts. Climate change is poised to become a major threat in the coming decades.
Educational Objective: To know about the biodiversity, emerging threats to it.and some of the terms associated with it which are in news.

Explanation:
Plants that have new genes inserted into them are called transgenic or genetically engineered / modified plants Prospects:
Enhanced taste and quality.
Reduced maturation time.
Increased nutrients, yields, and stress tolerance.
Improved resistance to disease, pests, and herbicides.
Educational Objective: To learn about prospects of genetically engineered plants.

Explanation:
Biodiversity plays a major role in maintaining the ecological balance of the ecosystem. It refers to the number of different species belonging to a particular region. In biodiversity, each individual species has a major role to play in the ecosystem.
Ecological Role of Biodiversity Apart from providing ecological balance to the environment, each individual species of biodiversity has a major function to play in the ecosystem. They play a major role in the production and decomposition of organic wastes, fixing atmospheric gases and regulation of water and nutrients throughout the ecosystem. The stability of the ecosystem increases with the diversity of the species.
Economical Role of Biodiversity Biodiversity acts as a source of energy and has a major role in providing raw materials for industrial products such as oils, lubricants, perfumes, dyes, paper, waxes, rubber, etc.
Importance of plant species for various medicinal use has been known since ages. According to reports, more than 70 % of the anti-cancer drugs are derived from plants in the tropical rainforests.
Scientific Role of Biodiversity
Each species of the ecosystem contributes to providing enough evidence as to how life evolved on this planet and the role of each species in maintaining the sustainability of the ecosystem.
Educational Objective: To know about the biodiversity, emerging threats to it and its importance.

Explanation: Biodiversity is higher in the low latitudes as compared to the higher latitudes as the habitat tolerance level is very narrow at greater latitude. Mountains have high range of species at the low latitude as they can support larger number of species due to climatic condition.
Educational Objective: to know about the biodiversity, different regions of the world, and characteristics.

Explanation: One of the functions of The World Heritage Convention is to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
Created in 1972, the primary mission of the Convention is to identify and protect the world's natural and cultural heritage considered to be of Outstanding Universal Value.
Established in 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semiarid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture aims at

• Recognizing the enormous contribution of farmers to the diversity of crops that feed the world. Hence, statement 1 is correct
• Access and benefit sharing

Educational Objective: To know about The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, The World Heritage Convention etc.,

Explanation: KeibulLamjao National Park, Manipur is the only floating national park in the world. Its a swamp, provides refuge to Eld's deer or Manipuri Deer, listed as an endangered species by IUCN.
Educational Objective: To know about the National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves classification. And to know major national parks which are in news.

Explanation: In national parks, local people arenot allowed to collect and use the biomassavailable in the areas.
Educational Objective: To know about the National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves classification.

Explanation: The Valley of Flowers national park located in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand and is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the variety of flora.Situated approximately 3255m above sea level, this splendid park is spread across 87.5 sq km of land.The valley has three sub-alpine between 3,200m and 3,500m which is the limit for trees, lower alpine between 3,500m and 3,700m, and higher alpine above 3,700m.
The rich diversity of species reflects the valley's location within a transition zone between the Zanskar and Great Himalayas ranges to the north and south, respectively, and between the Eastern Himalaya and Western Himalaya flora.
Educational Objective: To know about the National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves classification and their locations.

Explanation: Namdapha National Park is the largest protected area in the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot and is located in Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. The area is also known for extensive Dipterocarp forests, comprising the northwestern parts of the ecoregion of Mizoram-Manipur-Kachinrain forests. The habitat changes with increasing altitude from tropical moist forests to Montane forests, temperate forests and at the higher elevations, to Alpine meadows and perennial snow. The park has extensive bamboo forests and secondary forests in addition to the primary forests.
Educational Objective: To know about the National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves classification and climatic characteristics of the regions.

Explanation: Through Corbett National Park Ramganga flows (not Ganga) which is a tributary of Ganges. Through Silent Valley National Park riverBhavani flows which is a tributary of kaveri.
Educational Objective: To know about the major national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves.

Explanation: Bhiterkanika, Orissa is a protected area for salt water crocodile, where breeding is the main purpose of that protected 
area.

• Great Indian Bustard is protected in desert area of Rajasthan.
• The Eravikulam National Park was established to protect the Niligiritahir species.

Educational Objective: to know about the major national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves.

Explanation: Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park is also known as Top Slip. It is located in Annamalai hills of Tamil Nadu.
Aanaimalai Tiger Reserve, earlier known as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park (IGWLS&NP) and previously as Aanaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary, is a protected area located in the Anaimalai Hills Tamil Nadu, India. The Tamil Nadu Environment and Forests Department by a notification dated 27 June 2007, [3] declared an extent of 958.59 km² that encompassed the erstwhile IGWLS&NP or Aanaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary, as Aanaimalai Tiger Reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the Reserve presently includes a core area of 958.59 km² and buffer/peripheral area of 521.28 km² forming a total area of 1479.87 km².
Educational Objective: to know about the major national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves.

Explanation: Indravati National Park is a national park located in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh, state of India. It derives its name from the nearby Indravati River. It is home to one of the last populations of rare wild buffalo.
Educational Objective: To know about the major national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves.

Explanation: Andaman and Nicobar Islands has the maximum number of National Parks. Total number of National Parks in Andaman and Nicobar Islands is Nine.
Educational Objective: to know about the major national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves.

Explanation: Silent Valley National Park is situated in Nilgiri Hills of Western Ghats. The park is bound by Attappadi reserved forest to the east and vested forest of Palaghat division and Nilamber division to the south-west respectively.
Educational Objective: To know about the National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves classification and climatic characteristics of the regions, location etc.

Explanation: In order to conserve the single isolated population of Asiatic Lions, the Ministry of Environment and Forests had initiated habitat feasibility study through the Wildlife Institute of India, which inter alia has identified KunoPalpur Wildlife Sanctuary inMadhya Pradesh as an alternate home for the Gir Lions and for the release of wild lions from Gujarat. While State Government of Madhya Pradesh is agreeable for translocation of Gir Asiatic Lions in KunoPalpur, State Government of Gujarat has so far not agreed to part with Gir Asiatic Lions.
Educational Objective: To know about Asiatic Lion and its habitat in India.

Explanation: Sathyamangalam forest range is a significant wildlife corridor in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve between the Western Ghats and the rest of the Eastern Ghats and a genetic link between the four other protected areas which it adjoins, including the Billigiriranga Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, Sigur Plateau, Mudumalai National Park and Bandipur National Park.

Educational Objective: To know about the major national parks and sanctuaries and their strategic locations.

Explanation: Bandipur National Park, a tiger reserve is located in the south Indian state of Karnataka. Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is a National Park, UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger Reserve, an Elephant Reserve and a Biosphere Reserve in Assam. The Sundarban National Park is a National Park, Tiger Reserve, and a Biosphere Reserve in India. It is a part of the Sundarbans on the Ganges Delta of India and Bangladesh. Bhitarkanika National Park is a national park located in the Kendrapara District Odisha, which is not specifically for Tiger reserve.
Educational Objective: To know about the National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves classification and climatic characteristics of the regions.

Explanation: Spread over an area of 862 sq. km. at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh, Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary is also known as Pakke Wildlife Sanctuary and more popularly as Pakke Tiger Reserve. Earlier a game sanctuary, it became a wildlife sanctuary in 2001 and a part of Project Tiger in 2002. The sanctuary is well-known for being home to tigers and many amazing species of hornbill.
Educational Objective: To know about the National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves classification, climatic characteristics of the regions and the location.

Explanation: Chilka Lake first marine sanctuary in India, having within its bounds coral reefs, mollusca, dolphins, tortoises and various kinds of sea birds,
Educational Objective: To know about the National parks, wildlife sanctuaries and biosphere reserves classification, and their ecological importance.