Environment & Biodiversity MCQs

Notes:
The Ganga Action Plan was started in 1986 for the purpose of pollution abatement

Notes:
The organisms which occur primarily or most abundantly in the ecotone are referred to as edge species. In the terrestrial
ecosystems edge effect is especially applicable to the birds.

Notes:
The necessary feature of a pollutant for biomagnification to occur are as follows: the pollutant should be long-lived, mobile, soluble in fats, biologically active. Short-lived pollutants will be broken down before they become dangerous. Immobility ensures that it will stay in one place and is unlikely to be taken up by organisms. If the pollutant is soluble in water, it will be excreted by the organism.

Notes:
Succession is a process of ecological change in which a series of natural communities are established and then replaced over time. It involves an increase in productivity, a shift of nutrients, an increase in diversity of organisms with an increase in the niche development. However, it does not lead to a gradual decline in the complexity of food webs, instead the complexity often increases with progressing succession.

Notes:
Coral reefs are the underwater structures that are formed of coral polyps that are held together by calcium carbonate. The tissues of corals themselves are actually not the beautiful colors of the coral reef but are instead clear (white).

Notes:
An Atoll, sometimes called a coral atoll, is a ring-shaped coral reef. They rise from subsiding seafloor platforms as coral reef-building keeps ahead of subsidence. It is roughly circular and surrounds a large central lagoon.

Notes:
Fin Whales are the second largest mammal in the world. They are found in the Gulf of California, the Coral Triangle and the Arctic. Their IUCN status is endangered.

Notes:
Common batagur or the Northern River Terrapin is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. It is listed as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List and considered extinct in much of its former range.

Notes:
The Table mountain ghost frog belongs to the family Heleophrynidae. It has a very restricted range and it is endemic to the southern, eastern, and marginally western slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town. It is listed as critically endangered by IUCN.

Notes:
Nepenthes attenboroughii which is also called as Attenborough’s pitcher plant is a montane species of carnivorous pitcher plant. It belongs to the genus Nepenthes. The IUCN status is Critically Endangered.