Insights Mock Environment 1 Flashcards
This was the first paper on Environment which was taken by me, therefore most questions are covered here itself. Score- 54
homeostasis
constancy of its internal environment (a process called homeostasis) despite varying external environmental conditions that tend to upset its homeostasis.
Plants, _______have mechanisms to maintain internal temperatures.
do not
majority (99 per cent) of animals and nearly all plants _____maintain a constant internal environment. Their body temperature changes with the ambient temperatur
cannot
main reason why very small animals are rarely found in polar regions.
Since small animals have a larger surface area relative to their volume, they tend to lose body heat very fast when it is cold outside; then they have to expend much energy to generate body heat through metabolism. This is the main reason why very small animals are rarely found in polar regions.
aestivation
prolonged torpor or dormancy
desiccation
removal of moisture from something
Some snails and fish go into aestivation to avoid
summer–related problems-heat and dessication
Under unfavourable conditions many zooplankton species in lakes and ponds are known to enter
diapause, a stage of suspended development.
special photosynthetic pathway (CAM) t
enables the (of desert) stomata to remain closed during day time
Allen’s rule
animals adapted to cold climates have shorter limbs and bodily appendages than animals adapted to warm climates.
Bergmann’s rule
ecogeographical rule that states that within a broadly distributed taxonomic clade, populations and species of larger size are found in colder environments, while populations and species of smaller size are found in warmer regions.
Gloger’s rule
within a species of endotherms, more heavily pigmented forms tend to be found in more humid environments, e.g. near the equator
Gause’s law
Georgy Gause that two species competing for the same limited resource cannot coexist at constant population values.
Amensalism
one species is harmed whereas the other is unaffected.
interaction where one species is benefitted and the other is neither benefitted nor harmed
commensalism
\+ + - - \+ - \+ - \+ 0 - 0
Mutualism Competition Predation Parasitisim Commensalism Amensalism
Secondary productivity
Secondary productivity is defined as the rate of formation of new organic matter by consumers.
Primary production
Primary production is defined as the amount of biomass or organic matter produced per unit area over a time period by plants during photosynthesis.
detritus
waste or debris of any kind
fragmentation.
Detritivores (e.g., earthworm) break down detritus into smaller particles. This process is called fragmentation.
catabolism.
Bacterial and fungal enzymes degrade detritus into simpler inorganic substances.
Humification
leads to accumulation of a dark coloured amorphous substance called humus that is highly resistant to microbial action and undergoes decomposition at an extremely slow rate
Being colloidal in nature it serves as a reservoir of nutrients
Hummus
The humus is further degraded by some microbes and release of inorganic nutrients occur by the process known as
mineralisation
detritus food chain (DFC)
detritus food chain (DFC) begins with dead organic matter
In an aquatic ecosystem, is the major conduit for energy flow
GFC
in a terrestrial ecosystem, a much larger fraction of energy flows through the _________ than through the GFC
detritus food chain
Pyramid of energy is always
upright
The entire sequence of communities that successively change in a given area are called .
sere(s)
The gradual and fairly predictable change in the species composition of a given area is called
ecological succession
mesic conditions
containing a moderate amount of moisture
The species that invade a bare area are called
pioneer species
The term Biodiversity was popularized by the socio-biologist
Edward Wilson.
Biodiversity
Genetic diversity: Species diversity
Ecological diversity:
The Kuttanad Below Sea-level Farming System (KBSFS) is being practiced in the Indian state of:
Kerala
Karadpadnams, Kayla and Kari?
The rice fields in Kuttanad which are popularly known as “Puncha Vayals” exist in three landscape elements: Karapadam (upland rice fields), Kayal (wetland rice fields) and Kari (land buried with black coal like materials).
The __________ has been considered as a Globally Important Agriculture Heritage System (GIAHS) by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
ecology of Kuttanad
Population is a
group of organisms usually of the same species, occupying a defined area during a specific time
__________ zone of junction between two or more diverse ecosystems.
Ecotone
grassland, estuary and river bank
edge effect.
Sometimes the number of species and the population density of some of the species is much greater in this zone than either community. This is called edge effect.
In order for biomagnification to occur, the
pollutant must be: long-lived, mobile, soluble in fats, biologically active.
boreal forest?
evergreen plant species such as Spruce, fir and pine trees.
These soils are acidic
percentage of forest cover to the total area of State
Mizoram (85.41%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.63%), Meghalaya (76.33%), Manipur (75.46%) and Nagaland (75.31%).
ISFR 2019 is the ________ report in the series.
16th
In terms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area,
Madhya Pradesh
The extent of bamboo bearing area of the country has been estimated
16.00 million hectare.
According to India State of Forest Report 2019, an increase of _________ in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the previous assessment of 2017.
54 sq Km
Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are
Gujarat (37 sq km) followed by Maharashtra (16 sq km) and Odisha (8 sq km)
Neuston
unattached organisms which live at the air-water interface
Periphyton
organisms which remain attached to stems and leaves of rooted plants.
Plankton i
group which includes both microscopic plants (phytoplankton) and animals
(zooplankton) found in all aquatic ecosystems, except certain swift moving waters.
Nekton:
This group contains animals which are swimmers.
• The nektons are relatively large and powerful as they have to overcome the water currents.
• The animals range in size from the swimming insects (about 2 mm long) to the largest animals, the blue whale.
Benthos
he benthic organisms are those found living in the bottom of the water mass. • Practically every aquatic ecosystem contains well developed benthos.
In fresh water the average concentration of dissolved oxygen is _________ than the concentration of oxygen in an equivalent volume of air.
150 times lower
The amount of dissolved oxygen retained in water is also influenced by
temperature.
