Environment & Biodiversity MCQs

Notes:
The most potent greenhouse gas is water vapour, which causes about 36-70% of the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide (9-26%), methane (4- 9%) and Ozone (3-7%) are other major greenhouse gases.

Notes:
Biomass is the amount of living material in an organism. The pyramids of biomass represent the relationship between different trophic levels in terms of biomass. In grassland and forest ecosystems, there is generally a gradual decrease in biomass of organisms at successive trophic levels from the producers to the consumers. Their pyramid of biomass is upright. In aquatic ecosystem the producers are small organisms with least biomass and the biomass gradually increase towards the apex of the pyramid. Thus the pyramid of biomass of aquatic ecosystems is inverted in shape.

Notes:
The Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) is located inside the Buxa National Park in Alipurduar district of West Bengal and covers an area of 760-square-kilometre. It is home to tiger, civet, elephant, gaur (Indian bison), Indian boar, red jungle fowl, etc. The Endangered species found in the reserve are Indian tiger, Asian elephant, leopard cat, Bengal florican, regal python, Chinese pangolin, hispid hare, etc.

Notes:
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) is also known as the Rio Summit, which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. After its creation, others including NGOs in the field of sustainability showed a similar development regarding the issues discussed in these conferences.

Notes:
Chilika Lake is a brackish water lagoon, which is situated in Odisha state at the mouth of the Daya River, covering an area of over 1,100 km. It is the largest wintering ground for migratory birds (Indian sub-continent). It is one of the hotspots of biodiversity in India. Some species of IUCN Red List of threatened animals inhabit the Chilika lake for at least part of their life cycle.

Notes:
CITES, also known as Washington Convention, is a multilateral treaty to protect the endangered plants and animals. It was drafted in 1963 at a meeting of members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The convention was opened for signature in 1973 and came into force in 1975.

Notes:
Due to the sensitivity of Lichens to sulphur dioxide, it is very useful as a biological indicator of Sulphur-dioxide pollution. The efficient absorption systems of Lichens result in rapid accumulation of sulphur during high levels of sulphur dioxide pollution.

Notes:
Helmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in south of the country. Helmand is believed to be one of the world’s largest opium-producing regions, responsible for around 75% of the world’s total production. This is believed to be more than the whole of Burma, which is the second largest producing nation after Afghanistan.

Notes:
An extremely cold region that lacks trees and has a permanently frozen subsurface soil. The permanently frozen soil layer is called permafrost.

Notes:
Water pollution in river or any other water body is measured by amount of dissolved oxygen. Water pollution can be measured on the basis of parameters like dirtyness, change in texture, total suspended solid and other important factors like,
1. Decrease in dissolved oxygen (DO) (concentration of dissolved oxygen in water samples).
2. Increase in BOD, (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) it is a chemical procedure for determining the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period.
3. Increase in COD, (Chemical Oxygen Demand) test is commonly used to indirectly measure the amount of organic compounds in water.