Natural Ecosystems

Question 1

Reptiles & amphibians are present in Tundra Biome (T/F)

Answer 1

False. Absent

Question 2

Most animals in tundra biome have short life span (T/F)

Answer 2

False. Long life

Question 3

Podzols are very poor because?

Answer 3

1. The weathering of rocks proceeds slowly in cold climates.
2. The litter derived from conifer leaves decomposes very slowly. It is not rich in nutrients (humus content
   is low, and the soils are mostly acidic due to the slow decomposition of organic matter).
3. Conifers do not shed their leaves frequently

Question 4

Egs of evergreen coniferous trees in Taiga

Answer 4

spruce, fir, and pine

Question 5

Trees in temperate deciduous biome

Answer 5

oak, elm, ash, birch, beech, and poplar

Question 6

Vegetation in temperate rainforest biome

Answer 6

Large coniferous trees dominate the habitat, including Douglas fir, Western red cedar, Mountain hemlock, Western hemlock, Sitka spruce and Lodgepole pine. In addition to the trees, mosses and lichens are
very common, often growing as epiphytes

Question 7

They are, in short xerophytic (drought tolerant). Trees with small broad leaves are widely spaced and never very tall. Regions with adequate rainfall are inhabited by low, broad-leafed evergreen trees (mostly evergreen oaks). Fire is an important hazardous factor in this ecosystem, and the adaptation of the plants enables them to regenerate quickly after being burnt. Which ecosystem?

Answer 7

Temperate Deciduous Biome (Mediterranean)

Question 8

Important trees in tropical deciduous biome

Answer 8

Teak, neem, bamboos, sal, shisham, sandalwood, khair, mulberry

Question 9

Cattle farmers and authorities
usually light fires to stimulate the growth of fresh, nutritious grass for their animals. Others are used to
control the numbers of parasitic ticks or manage the growth of thorny scrub. Which ecosystem?

Answer 9

Savanna

Question 10

Fires is Savannah are carbon neutral. (T/F)

Answer 10

True

Question 11

Vegetation in tropical rainforest biome.

Answer 11

High temperatures and abundant rainfall support luxuriant evergreen rainforests. The vegetation comprises many evergreen trees, e.g. mahogany, ebony, dyewoods, etc. In brackish waters, mangrove forests thrive. All plants, including epiphytes, struggle upwards for sunlight resulting in a peculiar layer arrangement (canopy).

Question 12

Carbon sink capacity of Amazon forests

Answer 12

5% of current emissions

Question 13

Forest fires are essential for which Ecosystems

Answer 13

1.taiga (extremely fire-prone in the dry season),
2.African savannahs, the South Asian monsoon forests,
3.Californian coniferous forests (extremely fire-prone in the dry season),
4.Australian eucalyptus forests and the Mediterranean region (extremely fire-prone in the dry season)

Question 14

Neuston?

Answer 14

These organisms live at the air-water interface, e.g. floating plants

Question 15

Periphyton?

Answer 15

These are organisms that remain attached to stems and leaves of rooted plants or substances
emerging above the bottom mud, such as sessile algae.

Question 16

Plankton?

Answer 16

Microscopic floating organisms such as algae (plant-like protists), diatoms, protozoans, larval forms, etc., are called plankton. This group includes microscopic plants like algae (phytoplankton –primary producers or autotrophs) and animals like crustaceans and protozoans (zooplankton – heterotrophs). The locomotory power of the planktons is limited so that their distribution is controlled, essentially, by currents in the aquatic ecosystems

Question 17

Nekton?

Answer 17

This group contains powerful swimmers that can overcome water currents.

Question 18

Benthos?

Answer 18

The benthic organisms are those found living at the bottom of the water mass.

Question 19

Photic zone?

Answer 19

Photic (euphotic) zone is the portion that extends from the water surface down to where the light level is 1% of that at the surface. Photosynthetic activity is confined to the photic zone.

Question 20

winterkill?

Answer 20

An ice layer on the top of a water body can effectively cut off the light. Photosynthesis stops, but respiration continues in such a water body. If the water body is shallow, the dissolved oxygen gets depleted, and the fish die. This condition is known as winterkill.,

Question 21

Ecosystem services classification

Answer 21

1. Cultural: tourism, recreation, etc.
2. Provisioning: food, drinking water, genetic resources, medicinal herbs, energy from biomass, etc.
3. Economic: crops, raw materials, etc.
4. Regulating: carbon sequestration, decomposition, detoxification, healthy biodiversity, climate stabilisation,
   reducing the risk of extreme weather events, etc.
5. Ecological: nutrient cycling, breakdown of pollutants, flood protection, generation and renewal of soils etc.)

Question 22

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) was hosted by ___________ & done by environmentalist ____________

Answer 22

UNEP, Pavan Sukhdev

Question 23

The Tyler Prize is an annual award administered by the ___________

Answer 23

University of Southern California

Question 24

environmental goods as part of the national accounts (monetary value of ecological services) was accepted in?

Answer 24

In 2010, the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Nagoya.

Question 25

There is a billion-dollar Amazon Fund backed by ________ (a petroleum exporter) and __________ to save the Amazon forests

Answer 25

Norway & Germany

Question 26

Amazon fund is a UN-REDD mechanism. (T/F)

Answer 26

False. REDD+

Question 27

__________ manages the Amazon Fund

Answer 27

Brazilian Development Bank

Question 28

What is Gross Envt Product?

Answer 28

Assessment system that measures ecosystem services of any area
in terms of biophysical value and monetary value

Question 29

Green Gross Domestic Product (GGDP)?

Answer 29

Index of economic growth with environmental consequences of that growth factored into conventional GDP
Green GDP = GDP – Net natural capital consumption (resource depletion + environmental degradation
and protective and restorative environmental initiatives)

Question 30

Seagrass is found in salty & brackish waters (T/F)

Answer 30

True

Question 31

In India seagrasses are found in abundance near Palk Strait & Gulf of Mannar (T/F)

Answer 31

True

Question 32

Seagrass are considered ecosystem engineers why?

Answer 32

Alter the ecosystem around them and adapt rapidly to changing environmental connditions

Question 33

An acre of seagrass can store about three times as much carbon as an acre of rainforest. (T/F)

Answer 33

True. Globally, seagrass meadows are responsible for more than 10% of carbon buried in the ocean, even though they occupy just 0.2% of the area.

Question 34

Seagrass can prevent harmful algal blooms (eutrophication) (T/F)

Answer 34

True. They can trap fine sediment on the seabed

Question 35

Seagrass are used as fertilizer for ________soil

Answer 35

Sandy

Question 36

__________ is a herbivorous marine mammal that relies on seagrass for food.

Answer 36

Dugong or Sea Cow (VU)