Environment & Ecology Mixed Quiz: Set 2

The correct answer is B, Raymond Lindeman, who stated the law in 1942. It says that only about ten per cent of the energy present at one trophic level is passed on to the next, since the rest is used in respiration and other life processes and is lost to the surroundings as heat. It explains why a food chain rarely has more than four or five links.

Option A, A. G. Tansley, coined the term ecosystem in 1935. Option C, Odum, wrote the standard textbooks of ecology and is associated with the study of ecosystem structure and function rather than with this law. Option D, Ernst Haeckel, coined the word ecology itself in the nineteenth century. Learn the three names as a set: Haeckel for ecology, Tansley for ecosystem and Lindeman for the ten per cent law.

The correct answer is A, The International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is one of the expert groups of the IUCN's Species Survival Commission, and it manages the Global Invasive Species Database. The ISSG is a network of scientists and policy experts that gathers information on alien species that spread and harm native wildlife, and it also compiled the well-known list of '100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species'. The IUCN, founded in 1948 and based at Gland in Switzerland, also publishes the Red List of Threatened Species. Invasive plants such as Lantana, water hyacinth and Prosopis juliflora are a major threat to Indian forests and wetlands. Option B is wrong because UNEP runs environmental programmes and conventions but not this specialist group. Option C is wrong because the World Commission on Environment and Development, the Brundtland Commission, is known for its 1987 report 'Our Common Future'. Option D is wrong because WWF is a separate conservation NGO. Exam tip: IUCN means the Red List, the Species Survival Commission and the invasive species database.

The correct answer is D, a - ii, b - i, c - iv, d - iii. Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand is India's oldest national park; it was set up in 1936 as Hailey National Park and in 1973 became the first reserve under Project Tiger. Sundarbans National Park in West Bengal lies in the Ganga–Brahmaputra delta, has the world's largest mangrove forest and is famous for its swimming Royal Bengal tigers; it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bandhavgarh National Park in Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh has one of the highest densities of tigers in India, and the white tigers of Rewa were first found in this region. Sariska in Alwar district of Rajasthan lost all its tigers by 2005, and tigers were brought back from Ranthambore from 2008. Option A is wrong because it puts Corbett in Rajasthan and Sariska in Uttarakhand. Option B is wrong because it places Corbett in Madhya Pradesh and Bandhavgarh in Rajasthan. Option C is wrong because it puts Sundarbans in Madhya Pradesh and Sariska in West Bengal. Exam tip: Corbett Uttarakhand, Sundarbans West Bengal, Bandhavgarh MP, Sariska and Ranthambore Rajasthan.

The correct answer is B, 1973. Project Tiger was launched on 1 April 1973 by the Government of India under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, from Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, to save the Bengal tiger and its habitat. It began with nine tiger reserves, including Corbett, Kanha, Bandipur, Ranthambore, Sundarbans and Manas, and the network has since grown to more than fifty. Each reserve has a core area free of human activity and a buffer zone around it. Since 2005 the project is run by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, a statutory body under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, and the tiger census is done every four years. A, 1985, is not linked to the tiger programme. C, 1972, is the year of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, the law that came a year before the project and is often confused with it. D, 1970, is when India banned tiger hunting. Exam tip: 1970 hunting ban, 1972 Wildlife Act, 1973 Project Tiger, 1992 Project Elephant.

The correct answer is D, Andhra Pradesh. The Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve lies in the Seshachalam hill ranges of the Eastern Ghats in southern Andhra Pradesh, across the old Chittoor and Kadapa districts, and was notified in 2010 as India's 17th biosphere reserve. The Tirumala temple of Lord Venkateswara stands on these very hills, and the reserve includes the Sri Venkateswara National Park. It is famous for red sanders, the valuable red-wood tree found almost nowhere else in the world, and shelters the slender loris, the golden gecko and the Indian giant squirrel. Option A is wrong because Tamil Nadu's biosphere reserves are the Gulf of Mannar and its shares of the Nilgiri and Agasthyamalai reserves. Option B is wrong because Karnataka's only biosphere reserve is its part of the Nilgiri. Option C is wrong because Kerala shares the Nilgiri and Agasthyamalai reserves but has no Seshachalam. Exam tip: Seshachalam = Andhra Pradesh, red sanders, Tirumala hills, notified 2010 as the 17th reserve.

The correct answer is B, greenhouse gases emission. The Kyoto Protocol, adopted at Kyoto, Japan on 11 December 1997 under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, was the first treaty to set binding targets for cutting emissions. It came into force on 16 February 2005 and asked industrialised countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by an average of about 5 per cent below 1990 levels during 2008 to 2012. It covered six gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, and created market tools such as the Clean Development Mechanism, which let projects in countries like India earn carbon credits. India ratified it in 2002 but, as a developing country, had no binding target. A is wrong, because cutting poverty is the aim of goals such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, not Kyoto. C is wrong, because nuclear arms are dealt with by treaties like the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968. D is wrong, because farm subsidies fall under the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture. Exam tip: Kyoto 1997, in force 2005, binding cuts for rich nations; Paris 2015, pledges from all nations.

The correct answer is D, More than one of the above. Carbon dioxide, water vapour and CFCs are all greenhouse gases, because each of them traps the heat that the Earth gives off and warms the lower atmosphere. Water vapour is the most plentiful greenhouse gas in the air, while carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil and gas is the main one that human activity keeps adding. CFCs, once used in refrigerators and aerosol sprays, do double damage: they trap heat and they also destroy the ozone layer, which is why the Montreal Protocol of 1987 phased them out. Methane and nitrous oxide are other important greenhouse gases. Option A is incomplete because carbon dioxide is only one of the gases listed that trap heat. Option B is incomplete because water vapour also traps heat but is not the only such gas here. Option C is incomplete because CFCs are greenhouse gases too, but so are the other two. Exam tip: the main greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and CFCs.

The correct answer is D, Forest Act 1878. The Indian Forest Act of 1878 created the three classes of reserved, protected and village forests. British interest in Indian forests grew as the railways and shipbuilding needed huge amounts of timber. The Imperial Forest Department was set up in 1864 with Dietrich Brandis as the first Inspector General of Forests, and the first Indian Forest Act followed in 1865. That Act was soon found too weak, so the 1878 Act replaced it, giving the state firm control over forest land and sharply cutting down villagers' customary rights, above all in reserved forests. Its successor, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, kept the same three classes and is still the main forest law. Option A is wrong because 1864 is the year the Forest Department was created, not a classification law. Option B is wrong because the 1865 Act only began state control and did not create the three classes. Option C is wrong because 1866 is not linked with this classification at all. Exam tip: 1864 department, 1865 first Act, 1878 three classes, 1927 Act still in use.

The correct answer is B, By increasing the efficiency of the combustion process. When coal, petrol or diesel burn with too little oxygen, the burning is incomplete and gives out carbon monoxide, soot and unburnt hydrocarbons, the worst pollutants from vehicles and power plants. Efficient, complete combustion turns more of the fuel into carbon dioxide and water and also gets more energy from each litre or kilogram, so less fuel has to be burnt. Catalytic converters in vehicles, which change carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides into less harmful gases, and cleaner fuels such as CNG work on the same idea. A is wrong because lowering the burning temperature leads to incomplete combustion and more smoke and carbon monoxide. C is wrong because adding more carbon only means more carbon dioxide and more soot. D is wrong because latent heat is the heat needed to change the state of a substance, such as ice to water, and has nothing to do with pollution from burning. Exam tip: complete combustion gives CO2 and water; incomplete combustion gives carbon monoxide and soot.

The correct answer is D, air pollution. Lichens are used as bio-indicators of air quality because they are extremely sensitive to sulphur dioxide and other gases in the air. A lichen is a partnership of a fungus and an alga (or cyanobacterium) living together; it has no roots and takes water and minerals straight from the air, so pollutants build up in it quickly. That is why lichens grow well on trees and rocks in clean hill areas but disappear from the centres of polluted cities, and scientists map their presence to judge how clean the air is. A is wrong because gas pollution is not a separate category; the gases concerned are part of air pollution. B is wrong because water pollution is judged with indicators such as coliform bacteria, BOD and algal blooms. C is wrong because soil pollution is tracked through earthworms and soil tests, not lichens. Exam tip: lichen equals sulphur dioxide equals air pollution indicator.

The correct answer is D, Turbidity of water. NTU stands for Nephelometric Turbidity Unit. A nephelometer shines a beam of light through a water sample and measures how much of it is scattered sideways by suspended particles such as clay, silt, algae and microbes; the more the scattering, the more turbid, or cloudy, the water is. Turbidity is a key test for drinking water because the particles can shield germs from chlorine and other disinfectants, so water supply agencies try to keep it very low before the water reaches homes. High turbidity in a river or lake also cuts off sunlight for aquatic plants. Option A is wrong because water pressure is measured in units such as the pascal or the bar. Option B is wrong because temperature is measured in degrees Celsius or in kelvin. Option C is wrong because acidity is shown on the pH scale, where 7 is neutral and values below 7 are acidic. Exam tip: NTU = turbidity (cloudiness); pH = acidity; BOD = organic pollution, in milligrams per litre.

The correct answer is B, Cadmium pollution. Itai-itai disease is long-term cadmium poisoning, first noticed around 1912 in the Toyama region of Japan, where mines upstream released cadmium into the Jinzu river and it built up in the rice and water used by villagers. Cadmium damages the kidneys and makes bones soft and brittle, so patients suffered repeated fractures and severe pain in the spine and joints; the name means it hurts, it hurts in Japanese. It became one of the four big pollution diseases of Japan. Option A is wrong because mercury pollution causes Minamata disease, also from Japan, which spread through eating fish from a bay polluted with methylmercury. Option C is wrong because arsenic in groundwater causes arsenicosis, with skin lesions and cancers, as seen in West Bengal and Bangladesh. Option D is wrong because too much nitrate in drinking water causes blue baby syndrome, or methaemoglobinaemia, in infants. Exam tip: cadmium–itai-itai, mercury–Minamata, nitrate–blue baby, fluoride–fluorosis.

The correct answer is C, Protection of ozone layer. Both treaties were made to save the ozone layer in the stratosphere, which screens out harmful ultraviolet rays. The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was adopted in 1985 as a framework agreement. The Montreal Protocol of 1987 put it into action by fixing deadlines to phase out ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons. In 2009 these became the first UN treaties ratified by every country, and 16 September, the day the Protocol was signed, is observed as World Ozone Day. The Kigali Amendment of 2016 extended the Protocol to hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Option A is wrong because desertification is handled by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification of 1994. Option B is wrong because the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 as part of Agenda 2030. Option D is wrong because climate change falls under the UNFCCC of 1992, with its Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. Exam tip: Vienna 1985 and Montreal 1987 for ozone; Kigali 2016 added HFCs.

The correct answer is A, (d) and (e). Sulphur dioxide and nitric oxide are the gases behind acid rain. When coal, petrol and diesel are burnt in power plants, factories and vehicles, they release sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen such as nitric oxide. These gases dissolve in the water droplets of clouds and form sulphuric acid and nitric acid, which then come down with the rain. Acid rain harms crops, soil, lakes and forests, and it eats into buildings and monuments. NCERT's Class 8 science book describes how acid rain corrodes the white marble of the Taj Mahal at Agra, a damage called marble cancer, with industries around Agra and the Mathura refinery among the sources. B is wrong because nitrogen and oxygen are the main, harmless gases of the air. C is wrong because oxygen and ozone do not form the acids that fall as acid rain. D is wrong because it pairs sulphur dioxide with ozone, which is not a cause of acid rain. Exam tip: acid rain, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides; marble cancer, the Taj Mahal.

The correct answer is B, 5th June. The United Nations General Assembly named 5 June as World Environment Day in 1972, and the day has been observed every year since 1974. The date recalls the opening day of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm from 5 to 16 June 1972, the first big world meeting on the environment. The same conference led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme, or UNEP, which leads the celebrations each year. Every year the day has a new theme and a host country; India hosted it in 2018 with the theme 'Beat Plastic Pollution'. A is wrong because May's main environment date is 22 May, the International Day for Biological Diversity. C is wrong because July has World Population Day on 11 July, not World Environment Day. D is wrong because 5 August is not linked with this day at all. Exam tip: 22 April, Earth Day; 22 May, Biodiversity Day; 5 June, World Environment Day; 16 September, World Ozone Day.

The correct answer is A, Carbon captured by oceans and coastal ecosystems. Blue carbon is the carbon stored by marine and coastal ecosystems, especially mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows. These plants take in carbon dioxide, and because their waterlogged soils have little oxygen, dead matter decays slowly and the carbon stays locked in the sediment for hundreds or even thousands of years. Area for area, they can store several times more carbon than tropical forests, which is why protecting the Sundarbans and India's seagrass beds counts as climate action. When these habitats are cleared, the stored carbon goes back into the air. Option B is wrong because carbon held in forest biomass and farm soils is called green carbon. Option C is wrong because carbon in petroleum and natural gas is fossil carbon, which is released as carbon dioxide when burnt. Option D is wrong because carbon dioxide in the air is simply atmospheric carbon, not stored carbon. Exam tip: blue carbon means coasts and oceans, green carbon means forests and soils.

The correct answer is C, Polythene bag. Polythene is a synthetic plastic that bacteria and fungi cannot break down, so it is non-biodegradable. A plastic bag can stay in soil or water for hundreds of years. Biodegradable waste is anything that decomposers can break down into simple, harmless substances, and it usually comes from plants or animals. Plastic bags choke drains and cause waterlogging, are swallowed by cattle and sea animals, and give off toxic gases when burnt, which is why their use must be reduced and the bags reused and recycled rather than thrown away. Waste is best kept in two bins: wet (biodegradable) and dry (non-biodegradable). A is wrong because vegetable peels rot within days and make good compost. B is wrong because dead leaves decay into humus that enriches the soil. D is wrong because a rotting fruit is already being broken down by microbes. Exam tip: if microbes can eat it, it is biodegradable; plastic, glass, metal cans and DDT are not.

The correct answer is C, It is a community based rain water harvesting system. A johad is a small crescent-shaped earthen dam that villagers build together to catch and store rainwater. It is used mainly in Rajasthan and Haryana, where rain is scarce and falls in only a few months of the year. The water held behind the bund is used for cattle and farming, and much of it soaks into the ground, refilling wells and raising the water table. In Alwar district of Rajasthan, villagers working with the Tarun Bharat Sangh built many johads, and the Arvari river, which had dried up, began to flow again. A is wrong because a johad does not pump groundwater; it helps to recharge it. B is wrong because it collects rainwater running off the land, not water drawn from rivers. D is wrong because a johad is a storage structure, not a water filter. Exam tip: johad, Rajasthan and Haryana; kul, western Himalayas; bamboo drip irrigation, Meghalaya; zing, Ladakh.

The correct answer is C, the pyramid of energy. Energy is lost as heat at every transfer from one trophic level to the next, so a higher level can never hold more energy than the level below it. For that reason the energy pyramid is upright in every ecosystem without exception.

Option A, the pyramid of numbers, is inverted in a single tree ecosystem, where one large tree supports thousands of insects and those insects support many birds. Option B, the pyramid of biomass, is inverted in a pond or in the sea, because the phytoplankton present at any moment weigh far less than the fish they support, though they multiply fast enough to feed them. Option D is therefore wrong. This is the most frequently asked point in the chapter.

The correct answer is C, Jim Corbett National Park. It is India's first national park, set up in 1936 as Hailey National Park, in the Nainital area of present-day Uttarakhand. It was later called Ramganga National Park and was renamed in the 1950s in honour of Jim Corbett, the famous hunter who turned into a naturalist and wrote 'Man-Eaters of Kumaon'. Project Tiger was launched here in 1973, and the park lies along the Ramganga river in the foothills of the Himalayas. Option A is wrong because Gir in Gujarat, the last home of the Asiatic lion, became a national park only in 1975. Option B is wrong because Kaziranga in Assam, famous for the one-horned rhinoceros, became a national park in 1974. Option D is wrong because Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand was formed in 1983 by joining three sanctuaries. Exam tip: the first national park went from Hailey (1936) to Ramganga to Jim Corbett, and Project Tiger began here in 1973.