Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

Question 1

Define natural vegetation.

Answer 1

Plant life that grows naturally in an area without human intervention.

Question 2

Define wildlife.

Answer 2

Animal life in an area which has not been tamed by humans.

Question 3

Mention 6 ways in which natural vegetation is useful.

Answer 3

• Products like timber, lac, resin, herbs, fuel wood
• Trees produce oxygen-all living beings need for breathing
• Trees prevent soil erosion+conserve soil which is essential for growing crops
• Trees act as shelter belts
• Roots of trees enable percolation of water+help conserve soil (essential for growing crops)
• Forests moderate temperature+provide moisture through transpiration.

Question 4

What are the main factors that affect growth of vegetation?

Answer 4

temperature or moisture

Question 5

What are the different types of vegetation?

Answer 5

forests, grasslands, scrubs, taiga and tundra

Question 6

Define deforestation.

Answer 6

Deforestation is the cutting down of trees.

Question 7

Why are trees cut down?

Answer 7

to clear land for agriculture, putting up industries, laying roads and railway lines, firewood and the manufacture of paper/synthetic fibres.

Question 8

What are the effects of deforestation.

Answer 8

• With no trees to hold the soil, rain takes away fertile topsoil leaving it leached and devoid of nutrients.
• Rainwater runs off the surface of the land so rapidly that it is unable to seep into the ground, lowering the water table
• If there are dams in the area, they get silted up easily since there are no roots to hold the soil together
• destroys wildlife-animals are forced out in the open, becoming easy targets for poachers+they also attack human habitations in search of food.

Question 9

Differentiate between protected and reserved forests.

Answer 9

reserved forests - rights to activities like hunting/grazing are banned unless specific orders are issued
protected - rights to activities like hunting/grazing are allowed unless specific orders are issued

Question 10

What are the human and natural factors for the extinction of extinction?

Answer 10

Indiscriminate mining, deforestation, soil erosion, forest fires, failure of rains, earthquakes, tsunami, landslides.

Question 11

Define national park.

Answer 11

Large area of land preserved in its natural state as public property and there are laws that protect the wildlife in such parks.

Question 12

Define wildlife sanctuary.

Answer 12

Vast area set aside by the state to protect characteristic wildlife especially migratory bird communities or to protect threatened animal/plant species. All forms of of hunting, killing/capturing of wildlife are prohibited except for scientific research.

Question 13

Define biosphere reserves.

Answer 13

Specially protected natural areas which are zoned according to intensity of human activity.

Question 14

Define the different zones of biosphere reserves.

Answer 14

core zone - free from human intervention
buffer zone - protect the core zone+used for forest research
transition zone - areas given over to traditional agricultural usage+benchmarked for agricultural research.