NEET Biology Biodiversity and Conservation MCQs Set 17

Answer: (c) 2.4%, 8.1%

Explanation:
1. India has only 2.4 percent of the world's land area.
2. Yet it holds about 8.1 percent of the global biodiversity.
3. So India is one of the 12 mega-diversity countries.

Teacher's Note:
1. Remember the pair 2.4 and 8.1 together.
2. It shows how species-rich India is for its size.

Answer: (d) Only (A) is correct

Explanation:
1. Statement A is correct: India has many more ecosystem types (desert, rain forest, mangroves, coral reefs, alpine meadows) than Norway.
2. Statement B is wrong: the IUCN figure is slightly more than 1.5 million species described, not 15 million.
3. So only A is correct.

Teacher's Note:
1. Check numbers in statements carefully.
2. 1.5 million described species is the figure to remember.

Answer: (a) Mountain peaks are more diverse than foot hills

Explanation:
1. Diversity is greater at lower altitudes and in warmer, moist valleys than on cold, exposed peaks.
2. Mountain peaks are therefore less diverse than the foot hills.
3. So the statement that peaks are more diverse is incorrect.

Teacher's Note:
1. Species richness falls with altitude.
2. Western Ghats are richer than the Eastern Ghats.

Answer: (d) Only (C) is incorrect

Explanation:
1. Statements A and B are correct: tropics have more species, and Colombia has about 1400 bird species.
2. Statement C is wrong, because India has more than 1200 bird species.
3. So only C is incorrect.

Teacher's Note:
1. Tropical regions are rich in species.
2. Colombia (1400) and India (1200 and more) are the bird examples in NCERT.

Answer: (c) A – 40,000, B – 3,000

Explanation:
1. The Amazon rain forest is the richest region on earth.
2. It has more than 40,000 plant species and about 3,000 fish species.
3. It also has 1,300 birds, 427 mammals and 378 reptiles.

Teacher's Note:
1. Learn the Amazon figures as one set.
2. Do not confuse 378 (reptiles) with the fishes.

Answer: (b) Inability to switch over to alternate food source

Explanation:
1. A species that cannot switch to another food source is highly vulnerable when its main food becomes scarce.
2. Low trophic level, wide distribution and high biotic potential make a species safer.

Teacher's Note:
1. Specialists are more prone to extinction than generalists.
2. Narrow range and fixed diet increase the risk.

Answer: (a) Rare plants and animals

Explanation:
1. Silent Valley in Kerala is a tropical evergreen forest rich in rare plants and animals, including the lion-tailed macaque.
2. It was saved from a hydroelectric project for this reason.

Teacher's Note:
1. Silent Valley is a famous conservation success.
2. Link it with Kerala and the lion-tailed macaque.

Answer: (a) Gir National Park

Explanation:
1. The Gir National Park in Gujarat is the last home of the Asiatic (Indian) lion.
2. Bandipur, Corbett and Kaziranga protect other species.

Teacher's Note:
1. Gir means lion.
2. Corbett means tiger and Kaziranga means one-horned rhino.

Answer: (b) A sanctuary

Explanation:
1. In a sanctuary, limited human activity and private ownership of land are allowed.
2. National parks and biosphere reserve core zones allow no private rights.

Teacher's Note:
1. Sanctuary rules are less strict than those of a national park.
2. Grazing and private land rights can exist in a sanctuary.

Answer: (a) Biosphere reserve

Explanation:
1. A biosphere reserve protects wild populations, plants and animals, and also the traditional lifestyle of the tribal people living there.
2. Sanctuaries and national parks protect only wildlife.

Teacher's Note:
1. Biosphere reserves have core, buffer and transition zones.
2. They conserve both nature and local culture.

Answer: (c) Having traditional strategy for protection of biodiversity

Explanation:
1. Hot spots are chosen on the basis of the number of endemic species, the degree of habitat loss and the degree of exploitation.
2. A traditional protection strategy is not a criterion.

Teacher's Note:
1. Hot spots are rich in endemics but under threat.
2. India has three: Western Ghats-Sri Lanka, Himalaya and Indo-Burma.

Answer: (c) a(iv), b(i), c(ii), d(iii)

Explanation:
1. Artemisia annua gives the antimalarial drug artemisinin.
2. Lawsonia inermis is henna.
3. Vinca rosea gives the anticancer drugs vincristine and vinblastine.
4. Acacia catechu gives kattha.

Teacher's Note:
1. Link each plant to its product.
2. Vinca rosea (Catharanthus roseus) is the anticancer plant.

Answer: (c) Transition zone is legally protected undisturbed ecosystem

Explanation:
1. The core zone is the legally protected, undisturbed area.
2. The transition zone is the outer zone, where cropping, forestry and other human activities are allowed.
3. So the statement that the transition zone is legally protected is incorrect.

Teacher's Note:
1. Core is strictly protected, buffer allows limited use, transition allows human activity.
2. Biosphere reserves conserve genetic diversity.

Answer: (c) Genetic necessity

Explanation:
1. Plant diversity is the source of genes for new crop varieties and medicines.
2. Its conservation is therefore mainly a genetic necessity.

Teacher's Note:
1. Genetic diversity gives raw material for breeding.
2. Loss of a species also loses its genes.

Answer: (a) Kaziranga National Park

Explanation:
1. Kaziranga National Park in Assam protects the Indian one-horned rhinoceros.
2. Kanha protects the barasingha and tiger, and Gir protects the lion.

Teacher's Note:
1. Kaziranga means rhino and elephant.
2. It is an in-situ conservation site.

Answer: (a) Wildlife Safari parks

Explanation:
1. Ex-situ conservation means protecting species outside their natural habitat, in zoos, botanical gardens, safari parks and seed banks.
2. Hot spots, the Amazon forest and the Himalaya are in-situ regions.

Teacher's Note:
1. Ex-situ means off-site.
2. Wildlife safari parks are an ex-situ method.

Answer: (c) Species area relationships

Explanation:
1. Alexander von Humboldt observed that within a region, species richness increases with the area explored, but only up to a limit.
2. This is the species-area relationship.

Teacher's Note:
1. Humboldt gave the species-area relationship.
2. It is drawn as a rectangular hyperbola.

Answer: (b) IUCN

Explanation:
1. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) maintains the Red List.
2. It lists species by the degree of threat they face.

Teacher's Note:
1. Red List means threatened species list.
2. WWF is a conservation organisation, not the publisher.

Answer: (b) Fungi

Explanation:
1. Among the major groups of organisms, fungi are the most species-rich.
2. Lichens, mosses, ferns, and algae have fewer species.

Teacher's Note:
1. In plants, fungi lead in number of species in the NCERT chart.
2. Insects lead in the whole animal kingdom.

Answer: (c) Western Ghats have a very high degree of species richness and endemism

Explanation:
1. The Western Ghats have a high degree of species richness and endemism.
2. Large-scale Bt cotton can affect biodiversity, and conservation is a global concern, so the other options are wrong.

Teacher's Note:
1. Western Ghats are a global hot spot.
2. Many amphibians and plants occur only there.

Answer: (d) The diversity in the organisms living in the region

Explanation:
1. Biodiversity of a region is the variety of organisms living in that region at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels.
2. It is not limited to dominant, endemic or endangered species.

Teacher's Note:
1. Biodiversity covers all organisms of an area.
2. It has three levels.

Answer: (c) Insects

Explanation:
1. Insects are the most species-rich group on earth, with more than 70 percent of all animal species.
2. Angiosperms, fungi and birds are all less numerous.

Teacher's Note:
1. Insects form the largest class of animals.
2. Ecologists estimate millions of species still unnamed.

Answer: (a) Forest

Explanation:
1. A resource that can be replaced by natural processes is renewable, but it can be depleted if over-used (exhaustible).
2. Forests are renewable and exhaustible, while coal, petroleum and minerals are non-renewable.

Teacher's Note:
1. Forests regrow if used wisely.
2. Fossil fuels cannot be renewed in human time.

Answer: (b) Gir

Explanation:
1. The Gir National Park is meant for lions and does not have tigers.
2. Sunderbans, Corbett and Ranthambhor are tiger habitats.

Teacher's Note:
1. Gir lion, Corbett tiger.
2. Tigers and lions share only a few forests in India.

Answer: (b) Dachigam National Park – Snow Leopard

Explanation:
1. Rann of Kutch is the home of the wild ass.
2. Sunderbans is home to the Bengal tiger and Periyar protects elephants.
3. Dachigam protects the hangul (Kashmir stag), not the snow leopard, so this pair is odd.

Teacher's Note:
1. Dachigam is famous for the hangul.
2. Snow leopard is a high-altitude Himalayan cat.