Environment & Biodiversity MCQs

Notes:
The Melkote Temple Wildlife Sanctuary (MTWS) is located in Mandya district of Karnataka and is spread over 45.82 square kilometres. This sanctuary is primarily to house wolves. Other mammals found in this sanctuary include the jungle cat, leopard, bonnet macaque, langur and pangolin. Around 230 species of birds have been observed here over the years. The Sanctuary has been known for its once abundant Cycas circinalis species, which in the recent time has been over exploited by the flower decorators and local doctors.

Notes:
The Chandoli National Park (CNP) is a natural World Heritage Site and is spread over Satara, Kolhapur and Sangli Districts of Maharashtra. It covers an area of 317.67 square kilometres. The historical places of the park include the 17th century Shivaji’s Forts, Prachitgad and Bhairavgad, of the Maratha kings Shivaji and his son Sambhaji. It is home to Bengal tigers, Indian leopards, Indian bison, leopard cats, sloth bears, etc.

Notes:
Sunhemp is used as Green Manure. Sunhemp as a green manure is needed be ploughed in 2 months after sowing when the plants begin to flower as it decomposes more rapidly and it will have a positive N balance at this stage.

Notes:
Cerbera odollam, commonly known as the Suicide tree, Pong-pong, and Othalanga. It is a species of tree native to India and other parts of southern Asia. It grows wild along the coast in many parts of Kerala. It yields a potent poison, often used for suicide or murder. The kernels of C. Odollam contain cerberin, a potent cardenolide glycoside belonging to the cardiac glycoside family of toxins that includes digoxin. The poison blocks the calcium ion channels in heart muscle, causing disruption of the heart beat. This is most often fatal. Cerberin is difficult to detect in autopsies and its taste can be masked with strong spices. Therefore it is often used in homicide and suicide in India.

Notes:
Nacre also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some mollusks as an inner shell layer; it is also what makes up the outer coating of pearls. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent.

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Bhadra Wildlife Santuary is situated inthe state of Karnataka (Chikamagaluru district). It was formerly known as Jagara Valley Wildlife Sanctuary’ in 1951. In 1974, it was renamed as Bhadra Wildlife Santuary.

Notes:
The Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known simply as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs). It does not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste.

Notes:
The taiga is the largest terrestrial biome and covers much of the northern regions of the world. It is dominated by conifers, and the landscape is dotted with lakes, ponds, and bogs. The taiga is characterized by heavy snow fall with large mammals like moose and elk and lots of insects and birds in the summer.

Notes:
The United Kingdom Parliament has become the first national legislative body in the world to pass national declaration (or motion) of an Environment and climate emergency. The move comes a week after 16-year-old Swedish student Greta Thunberg addressed UK lawmakers to demand more climate action, and in the wake of protests by climate action group Extinction Rebellion, who blocked major landmarks in London. Thus, the symbolic move recognizes the urgency needed to combat the climate crisis. The move will increase pressure on the government and is demanding that the country takes action to help avoid more than 1.5 degrees centigrade of warming, requiring global emissions to be cut by almost half of 2010 levels by 2030. It also calls for the government to work towards carbon neutrality before 2050 and for ministers to draft proposals within the next six months to restore the country’s environment and create a “zero waste economy”.

Notes:
An ecosystem is formed by the interaction of biotic and abiotic factors. Niche is formed in an ecosystem. An ecologoical niche is the role and responsibility of an organism in its environment formed due to its interaction with biotic and abiotic factors of an ecosystem. It includes things like food habit, habitat, functional interaction etc. No two species can have exactly same niche in an ecosystem. They can have overlapping niches to some extant but not the same.
A ecotone is formed with the interaction of two different biological community thus forming a transitional area having its own ecosystem. Example- Mangroves.