Biodiversity

Question 1

For many taxonomic groups, species inventories are more complete in……….. than in…….. countries

Answer 1

temperate

tropical

Question 2

Some extreme estimates range from…… to…….. million

Answer 2

20 to 50 million

Question 3

A more conservative and scientifically sound estimate made by Robert May places the global species diversity at about……..

Answer 3

7 million.

Question 4

More than………. per cent of all the species recorded are animals, while plants comprise no more than……..per cent of the total.
Here the plant group includes algae, fungi, bryophytes, gymnosperms and angiosperms

Answer 4

70

22

Question 5

Among animals…….. are the most species-rich taxonomic group, making up more than…… per cent of the total

Answer 5

insects

70

Question 6

Out of every 10 animals on this planet, 7 are insects

Answer 6

True

Question 7

The number of fungi species in the world is more than the combined total of the species of
(4)

Answer 7

Fishes
Amphibians
Reptiles
Mammals

Question 8

Invertebrates order

Answer 8

Insects > others > mollusca > crustacean

Question 9

Vertebrates order

Answer 9

Fishes > birds > reptiles > amphibian > mammals

Question 10

Plants group order

Answer 10

Fungi > angiosperms > algae > moss=ferns > lichens

Question 11

Assertion: Biologists are not sure about how many prokaryotic species there might be.

Answer 11

Reason; The conventional taxonomic methods are not suitable for identifying microbial species and many species are simply not culturable under laboratory conditions.

Question 12

Although India has only…… per cent of the world’s land area, its share of the global species diversity is an impressive…… per cent

Answer 12

2.4

8.1

Question 13

Nearly………. species of plants and twice as many of animals have been recorded from India.

Answer 13

45,000

Question 14

If we accept May’s global estimates, only……. per cent of the total species have been recorded so far

Answer 14

22

Question 15

In India probably more than……… plant species and more than………. animal species yet to be discovered and described

Answer 15

1,00,000

3,00,000

Question 16

In general, species diversity……. as we move away from the equator towards the poles

Answer 16

decreases

Question 17

Colombia located near the equator has nearly………. species of birds while New York at 41° N has……. species

Answer 17

1,400

105

Question 18

Greenland at 71° N only…… species of birds

Answer 18

56

Question 19

India, with much of its land area in the tropical latitudes, has more than……. species of birds.

Answer 19

1,200

Question 20

A forest in a tropical region like Equador has up to…….. times as many species of vascular plants as a forest of equal area in a temperate region like the Midwest of the USA

Answer 20

10

Question 21

The largely tropical Amazonian rain forest in South America has the greatest biodiversity on earth
Give account of species here (7) categories

Answer 21

40,000 species of plants
3,000 of fishes
1,300 of birds
427 of mammals
427 of amphibians
378 of reptiles
more than 1,25,000 invertebrates

Question 22

Scientists estimate that in these rain forests there might be at least…….. insect species waiting to be discovered and named.

Answer 22

two million

Question 23

German naturalist and geographer………… during his exploration of South American jungles observed that within a region species richness increased with increasing explored area, but only up to a limit.

Answer 23

Alexander von Humboldt

Question 24

A stable community should 3 attributes

Answer 24

not show too much variation in productivity from year to year
it must be either resistant or resilient to occasional disturbances (natural or man-made)
it must also be resistant to invasions by alien species.

Question 25

David Tilman found that plots with more species showed less year-to-year variation in total biomass. He also showed that in his experiments, increased diversity contributed to higher productivity.

Answer 25

True

Question 26

The ‘rivet popper hypothesis’ is given by……..

Answer 26

Paul Ehrlich. Ecologist from Stanford

Question 27

The colonisation of tropical Pacific Islands by humans is said to have led to the extinction of more than……. species of native birds.

Answer 27

2,000

Question 28

The IUCN Red List (2004) documents the extinction of………. species in the last 500 years

Answer 28

784 including 338 vertebrates, 359 invertebrates and 87 plants

Question 29

Some examples of recent extinctions include the

Answer 29

dodo (Mauritius) quagga (Africa) thylacine (Australia) Steller’s Sea Cow (Russia) three subspecies (Bali, Javan, Caspian) of tiger.

Question 30

The last twenty years alone have witnessed the disappearance of…… species

Answer 30

27

Question 31

The extinctions across taxa are not random; some groups like…. .. appear to be more vulnerable to extinction

Answer 31

amphibians

Question 32

More than…… species world-wide are facing the threat of extinction.

Answer 32

15,500

Question 33

Presently……… per cent of all bird species……per cent of all mammal species……per cent of all amphibian species and………per cent of all gymnosperm species in the world face the threat of extinction.

Answer 33

12 23 32 31

Question 34

The current species extinction rates are estimated to be ……..times faster than in the pre-human times

Answer 34

100 to 1,000

Question 35

Ecologists warn that if the present trends continue, nearly half of all the species on earth might be wiped out within the next……. years

Answer 35

100

Question 36

Once covering more than……… per cent of the earth’s land surface, these rain forests now cover no more than…….per cent

Answer 36

14 6

Question 37

Steller’s sea cow and Passenger pigeon extinct due to

Answer 37

Over exploitation

Question 38

The Nile perch introduced into Lake Victoria in east Africa led eventually to the extinction of an ecologically unique assemblage of more than……… species of cichlid fish in the lake

Answer 38

200

Question 39

Invasive weed species

Answer 39

Carrot grass= Parthenium Lantana water hyacinth= Eicchornia

Question 40

The recent illegal introduction of the African catfish …………. for aquaculture purposes is posing a threat to the indigenous catfishes in our rivers.

Answer 40

Clarias gariepinus

Question 41

More than…… per cent of the drugs currently sold in the market worldwide are derived from plants

Answer 41

25

Question 42

………….. species of plants contribute to the traditional medicines used by native peoples around the world

Answer 42

25,000

Question 43

Bio prospecting refers to:

Answer 43

exploring molecular, genetic and species-level diversity for products of economic importance

Question 44

Amazon forest is estimated to produce, through photosynthesis……… per cent of the total oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere

Answer 44

20

Question 45

Initially…….. biodiversity hotspots were identified but subsequently ……….. more have been added to the list, bringing the total number of biodiversity hotspots in the world to……..

Answer 45

25 9 34

Question 46

Three of these hotspots – ……./……/…….. cover our country’s exceptionally high biodiversity regions

Answer 46

Western Ghats and Sri Lanka Indo-Burma Himalaya

Question 47

Although all the biodiversity hotspots put together cover less than….. per cent of the earth’s land area, the number of species they collectively harbour is extremely high and strict protection of these hotspots could reduce the ongoing mass extinctions by almost…… per cent.

Answer 47

2 30

Question 48

In India, ecologically unique and biodiversity-rich regions are legally protected as (3)

Answer 48

biosphere reserves national parks sanctuaries

Question 49

India now has……. biosphere reserves……. national parks and…… wildlife sanctuaries

Answer 49

14 90 448

Question 50

The sacred groves are found in

Answer 50

Khasi and Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya Aravalli Hills of Rajasthan Western Ghat regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra Sarguja, Chanda and Bastar areas of Madhya Pradesh.

Question 51

Zoological parks, botanical gardens and wildlife safari parks are forms of……….. conservation

Answer 51

Ex situ

Question 52

The historic Convention on Biological Diversity ……………….. held in Rio de Janeiro in………..called upon all nations to take appropriate measures for conservation of biodiversity and sustainable utilisation of its benefits

Answer 52

The Earth Summit 1992

Question 53

In a follow-up, the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in…………. in Johannesburg, South Africa………… countries pledged their commitment to achieve by 2010, a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at global, regional and local levels.

Answer 53

2002 190

Question 54

The species area relations equation given by Humboldt

Answer 54

log S = log c + z log A S= Species richness A= Area z = slope of the line (regression coefficient) c = Y-intercept

Question 55

The z in the equation represents

Answer 55

Regression coefficient