Ecology Notes (NEET-2)

 Some cool facts about Ecology
• 75% of all animals are beetles.
• Cockroaches can live weeks without their head (and their heads can
stay alive without their bodies!).
• 70% of the world’s fresh water is stored in Antarctica’s ice.
• Homeowners use up to 10 times more toxic chemicals per acre than
farmers
• In Peru a single bush may contain more ant species than in the British
Isles.
• A single porcupine is known to kill 100 trees in one winter
• Projections for the 21st century indicate that the earth's average
temperature will rise by anything between 1.4 and 5.8

Ecological pyramids:
(1) The number, biomass and energy of organisms gradually decrease from the producer level to the consumer level. This can be represented in the form of a pyramid called ecological pyramid.

(2) Ecological pyramid is the graphic representation of the number, biomass, and energy of the successive trophic levels of an ecosystem.

(3) The use of ecological pyramid was first described by Charles Elton in 1927.

(4) In the ecological pyramid, the producer forms the base and the final consumer occupies the apex.

(5) There are three types of ecological pyramids, namely:

(i) The pyramid of number:
The number of individuals at the trophic level decreases from the producer level to the consumer level. That is, in an ecosystem the number of producers is far high. The number of herbivores is lesser than the producers. Similarly, the number of carnivores is lesser than the herbivores.

(i) In a cropland ecosystem: In croplands the crops are more in numbers. The grasshoppers feeding on crop plants are lesser in number. The frogs feeding on grasshopper are still lesser in number. The snakes feeding on frogs are fewer in number.

                                    Crop -> Grasshopper -> Frogs -> Snakes -> Hawks

(ii) In a grassland ecosystem: In grassland the grasses are there in large numbers. The consumers decrease in the following order.

                                                Grass -> Grasshopper -> Lizard -> Hawk

                                                            Grass -> Rabbit -> Fox -> Lion

(iii) In a pond ecosystem: The number in a pond ecosystem decreases in the following order.

                                    Phytoplankton -> Zooplankton -> Fishes -> Snakes

(b) The pyramid of biomass:
Biomass refers to the total weight of living matter per unit area. In an ecosystem the biomass decreases from the producer level to the consumer level.

(c) Pyramid of energy:
The energy flows in an ecosystem from the producer level to the consumer level. At each trophic level 80 to 90% of energy is lost. Hence the amount of energy decreases from the producer level to the consumer level. This can be represented in a pyramid of energy level to the consumer level. This can be represented in a pyramid of energy

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इन रोचक तथ्यों की जानकारी क्या आपको पता है ?

1. आजतक इतिहास में एक भी ऐसी घटना नही हुई है कि किसी स्वस्थ भेड़िये ने इंसान पर हमला कर दिया हो।

2. धरती पर कीड़ों की उत्पती मनुष्य से पहली हुई मानी जाती है। पहले तो सभी कीड़े एक जैसे थे मगर भिन्न हालातों में रहने के कारण इन की शारीरीक संरचना में थोड़ा-थोड़ा अंन्तर आ गया और इन की कई प्रजातीयां अस्तितव में आ गई।

Insects Classification

3. मधुमक्खियाँ सिर्फ आधा किलो शहद बनाने के लिए बीस लाख फूलों का उपयोग करती है और 1 लाख किलोमीटर से भी ज्यादा यात्रा करती हैं। इतनी यात्रा धरती के ढाई चक्कर लगाने के बराबर है।


4. ग्रामीण इलाकों के एक वर्ग मील के क्षेत्र में जितने कीड़े पाए जाते हैं उनकी गिणती धरती पर मौजुद सभी मनुष्यों से ज्यादा है।

5. एक बंबर मक्खी 1 सैकेड में 160 बार अपना पंख हिला सकती है।

6. 85% लोग सोने से पहले वो सब सोचते हैं जो वो अपनी जिंदगी में करना चाहते।

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Ecology Notes (NEET)

Definitions

Population - A group of organisms from the same species who are living together at the same time in the same place that if reproducing sexually can interbreed.

Community - All the populations of different species living together in one area at the same time.

Habitat - The place where a organism species, population or community is living.

Ecosystem - All the communities as well as non-living parts of an area together make up an ecosystem.

Biosphere - All of earth’s ecosystems together make one large ecosystem known as the biosphere.

Producers - Plants and some photosynthetic bacteria who transfer energy from the sunlight into organic compounds which in most cases take the form of carbohydrates.

Consumers - All organisms who consume the energy created by the producers either directly or indirectly.

Productivity - The amount of energy in each organism in each trophic level over a set period of time.

Energy flow:

(1) The transfer of energy from one trophic level to another trophic level is called energy flow.

(2) The flow of energy in an ecosystem is unidirectional. That is, it flows from the producer level to the consumer level and never in the reverse direction. Hence energy can be used only once in the ecosystem.

(3) But the minerals circulate and recirculate many times in the ecosystem.

(4) A large amount of energy is lost at each trophic level.

(5) It is estimated that 90% of the energy is lost when it is transferred from one trophic level to another.

(6) Only about 10% of the biomass is transferred from one trophic level to the next one is a food chain. And only about 10% of chemical energy is retained at each trophic level. This is called 10% law of Lindeman (1942).

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कुछ रोचक 07 Animal Facts जो आपको किताबों में नही मिलेगें

कुछ रोचक 07 Animal Facts जो आपको किताबों में नही मिलेगें
 
1. बाघ का वैज्ञानिक नाम पेंथेरा टिग्रिस है। यह भारत का राष्ट्रीय पशु भी है। बाघ शब्द संस्कृत के व्याघ्र का तदभव रूप है।



2. भारत के बाघ को एक अलग प्रजाति माना जाता है, जिसका वैज्ञानिक नाम है पेंथेरा टाइग्रिस टाइग्रिस।


3. बाघ की नौ प्रजातियों में से तीन अब विलुप्त हो चुकी हैं।

4. एक आंकड़े के अनुसार 1800 से लेकर 2009 तक बाघों ने 3,73,000 मनुष्यों की जान ली है |

5. विश्व का सबसे छोटा साँप थ्रेड स्नेक होता है। जो कैरेबियन सागर के सेट लुसिया माटिनिक तथा वारवडोस आदि द्वीपों में पाया जाता है वह केवल 10-12 सेंटीमीटर लंबा होता है।


6. कुछ प्रागैतिहासिक प्रजातियां आकार में व्यस्क मानव जितनी उंची तथा वजनी थीं (अधिक जानकारी के लिए नीचे देखें). ये प्रजाति अंटार्कटिक क्षेत्रों तक ही सीमित नहीं थी; बल्कि इसके विपरीत, अंटार्कटिक उपमहाद्वीप के क्षेत्रों में ज्यादा विविधता मिलती थी और कम से कम एक विशाल पेंगुइन उस क्षेत्र में मिला है जो भूमध्य रेखा के 35 से 2000 किमी दक्षिण से ज्यादा दूर नहीं था तथा जहां का वातावरण आज के अपेक्षाकृत ज्यादा गरम था।

7. पेंगुइन को इंसानों से कोई विशेष डर नहीं लगता है और वे बिना हिचकिचाहट के खोजकर्ताओं के समूहों के पास आते हैं। ऐसा शायद इसलिए है क्योंकि जमीन पर पेंगुइन का अंटार्कटिक या पास के अपतटीय टापुओं पर कोई शिकारी नहीं है।

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कुछ रोचक 08 Animal Facts जो आपको किताबों में नही मिलेगें

कुछ रोचक 08 Animal Facts जो आपको किताबों में नही मिलेगें

1. बंदरों को दो वर्गो में बांटा गया है – पहले प्राचीन दुनिया के बंदर जो ऐशिया और अफ्रीका में पाए जाते है और दूसरे नवीन दुनिया के बंदर जो दक्षिणी अमेरिका में पाए जाते हैं।

2. मनुष्यों के सिवाए केवल बंदर ही एकलौते ऐसे प्राणी है जो केलों के छिलके उतार कर खाते हैं।

3. 'छिपकली', रैपटाइल परिवार का सबसे बड़ा प्रजाति समूह है। छिपकली के आलावा रैपटाइल परिवार में सांप, घड़ियाल, मगरमच्छ, मेढक, और कछुआ जैसी अन्य प्रजातियाँ भी शामिल हैं।

4. छिपकली का वैज्ञानिक नाम 'लाकेर्टिलिआ' (Lacertilia) है।


5. हैरानी की बात है कि छिपकली की पूंछ कई बार उसकी सुरक्षा करती है जब भी कोई दुश्मन छिपकली को उसकी पूंछ से पकड़ता है तो छिपकली अपनी पूंछ का वह हिस्सा अपने शरीर से अलग कर देती है।

6. कोमोडो ड्रागन प्रजाति की छिपकली दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी और खतरनाक छिपकली है। यह 10 फुट लम्बी और 300 पौंड भारी होती है। ऐसा कहा जाता है कि कोमोडो ड्रागन इंसानों को भी नहीं छोड़ती है

7. दुनियाभर में छिपकलियों की 5,600 प्रजातियां हैं वैज्ञानिकों के अनुसार छिपकलियों का अस्तित्व धरती पर 200 मिलियन साल पुराना है

8. ‘कुत्ते से सावधान’ यह चेतावनी प्राचीन रोम के एक शहर के घर के दरवाजे पर लिखी पायी गयी हैं. (करीब 2761 साल पहले).

9. FIDO नाम के, अब्राहिम लिंकन के कुत्ते का भी कत्ल किया गया था.


10. ग्रीक और बुलगारिया में एक युद्ध सिर्फ इसलिए लड़ा गया था क्योंकि ग्रीक का एक कुत्ता बुलगारिया का border पार कर गया था.

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List of All revolution in India

List of All Revolutions:

• Black Revolution – Petroleum Production

• Blue Revolution – Fish Production

    Dr Hiralal Chaudhary is also considered as the Father of Blue revolution in India.

• Brown Revolution – Leather/non-conventional(India)/Cocoa production

• Golden Fibre Revolution – Jute Production

• Golden Revolution – Fruits/Overall Horticulture development/Honey Production

                 Father Of Golden Revolution : Nirpakh Tutej

• Green Revolution – Food grains

   MSSwaminathan is known as the "Father of Indian Green Revolution" for his leadership       and success in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in India.

   Norman Ernest Borlaug is known as the father of the green revolution.

• Grey Revolution – Fertilizer

• Pink Revolution – Onion production/Pharmaceutical (India) /Prawn production

            Father Of Pink Revolution : Durgesh Patel

• Red Revolution – Meat & Tomato Production -VISHAL TEWARI

• Round Revolution – Potato

• Silver Fiber Revolution – Cotton

• White Revolution (In India: Operation Flood) – Milk/Dairy production

         Father Of White Revolution : Verghese Kurien

• Yellow Revolution – Oil Seeds production

• Evergreen Revolution – Overall development of Agriculture

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The Living World Notes

The Living World 

           

Life is the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.

Life is a characteristics quality that differentiates an inanimate(non_livings)objects from the animate(living) forms.

CHARACTERISTICS EXHIBITED BY LIVING ORGANISMS –

Growth,
Reproduction,
Ability to sense environment and mount a suitable response,
Metabolism,
Ability to self-replicate,
Self-organise,
Interact and
Emergence.

1. Reproduction process of producing young ones by living things.

                     Asexual Reproduction  do  not  invovle the fusion of gametes or sex cells , e.g, Amoeba
                     Sexual Reproduction  Invovles the fusion of gametes, e.g.,humans

2. Consciousness​   the state of being aware of and responsive to one's surroundings & ability of an organism to sense their environment.

3. Adaptation   Adaptation, in biology, process by which an animal or plant species becomes fitted to its environment.
                            Short Term Adaptation   Temporary changes to responds to changing environment.                                                                       e.g, hibernation and aestivation
                            Long Term adaptation permanent changes in response to changing environment,                                                                          e.g., humming birds

4. Metabolism the chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life.

                                 Catabolism involves all of the metabolic processes that tear down biomolecules,
                                 Anabolism is all of the metabolic processes that build biomolecules

5. Thermoregulation Process of regulation body temperature.
                                                       Heat stroke  Increase in body temperature above normal level
                                                       Hypothermia  decrease in body temperature below normal level

​BIODIVERSITY   

Biodiversity the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable. Biological diversity encompasses microorganism, plants, animals and ecosystems such as coral reefs, forests, rainforests, deserts etc

SYSTEMATICS

In biology, systematics is the study and classification of living things; in other words, grouping organisms based on a set of rules (or system).

Two Kinds of Systematics :-Systematics can be divided into two closely related and overlapping levels of classification:

taxonomic (known as the Linnaean System) and phylogenetic.

Taxonomic classifications group living things together based on shared traits - usually what they look like or what their bodies do. For example, animals that lay eggs and have scales we call reptiles, and animals that have live births and have fur or hair we call mammals.
Phylogenetic classifications use the taxonomic names, but further group organisms by how evolutionary related they are to one another.
It is study of the units of the biodiversity, It attempts to classify the diversity of organisms on the basis of following four fields viz,
identification. classification, nomenclature and taxonomy.

​Identification It aims to  identify the correct name and position of an organism in the already established classification system It is done with the help of Keys. Key is a list of alternate characters. An organism can be identified easily  by selecting and eliminating the characters present in the key.

Classification  It involves the scientific grouping of identified organism into convenient categories or taxa based  on some easily observable and fundamental characters.

The various categories are kingdom, phylum,class, order, family, genus and species.

Nomenclature After classification, organism are subjected to a format of two-word naming system called binomial nomenclature. It consists of two components, i.e., generic name and specific epithet 

• For example,  in Mangifera indica, 'Mangifera' is the generic name and 'indica'  is the specific name of mango. This system was proposed by C Linnaeus (a Swedish Botanist) in (1753) in his book Species Plantarum.
• An organism is known by different names in different languages. It would be impossible for any person to remember the names of an organism in all the languages. Hence, there is need for a uniform system of nomenclature of organisms. A uniform system of nomenclature and identification helps the scientists in systematic study of living beings. ICBN (International Code for Botanical Nomenclature) applies to the plants and ICZN (International Code for Zoological Nomenclature) applies to the animals.

• General Rules for Nomenclature:

• Biological names are usually written in Latin. They are written in italics.
• A biological name usually contains two terms. The first term shows the genus, while the second term shows the species.
• Biological name is underlined, when it is handwritten.
• The first term of the biological name begins with a capital letter. The second and the subsequent terms begin with the small letter.                  

           Codes for Biological Nomenclature    

      
             5 codes of nomenclature which helps to avoid errors, duplication and ambiguity in scientific names.

                                      These codes are as follows

                   ICBN    INTERNATIONAL CODE OF BOTANICAL NOMENCLATURE
      ICZN    INTERNATIONAL CODE OF ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE
      ICVN    INTERNATIONAL CODE OF VIRAL NOMENCLATURE
      ICBN    INTERNATIONAL CODE OF BACTERIOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE
      ICNCP INTERNATIONAL CODE OF NOMENCLATURE FOR CULTIVATED

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Commonly used modern drugs derived from plant sources: (Biodiversity Notes)

Modern drugs & their plant source

Commonly used modern drugs derived from plant sources:

 DRUG                        PLANT SOURCE                                   USE

1. Atropine                       Belladonna                  Anticholinergic: reduces intestinal pain in diarrhoe

2. Bromelain                    Pineapple                        Controls tissue inflammation due to infection.

3. Caffeine                       Tea, Coffee                     Stimulant of the central nervous system         

4. Camphor                      Camphor tree                  Rebefacient: increases local blood supply.

5. Cocaine                        Cocoa                             Analgesic and local anesthetic: reduces pain

6. Codeine                        Opium poppy                 Analgesic: reduces pain.

7.  Morphine                    Opium poppy                 Analgesic: controls pain.

8. Colchicine                   Autumn crocus               Anticancer agent.

9. Digitoxin                     Common foxglove         Cardiac stimulant used in heart diseases. 

10. Diosgenin                   Wild yams                     Source of female contraceptive: prevents pregnancy

11. Monocrotaline           Cotolaria sessiliflora      Anticancer agent.

12. Papain                        Papaya                           Dissolves excess protein and mucus, during                                                                                              digestion. 
13. Penicillin                   Penicillium fungi           General antibiotic, skills bacteria and controls                                                                                           infection by various micro-organisms.

14. Quinine                    Yellow cinochona            Antimalarial.

15. Reserpine                 Indian snakeroot              Reduces high blood pressure.

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Quiz on Environmental Issues

Environmental science

Multiple Choice Questions on Environmental Issues;Questions on Environmental Issues: MCQs ( Multiple Choice Questions) in Quiz Format

1. Harmful trace metals in fly ash

antimony
cadmium
arsenic
all of the above


2. The range of normal human hearing is in the range of

10 Hz to 80 Hz
50 Hz to 80 Hz
50Hz to 15000 Hz
15000 Hz and above


3. Algal bloom results in

Biomagnification
Global warming
Salination
Eutrophication


4. The main atmospheric layer near the surface of earth is

stratospere
mesophere
ionosphere
troposphere


5. Chipco movement is a public agitation that occurred in

Mansbal area in Kashmir
Silent valley in Kerala
Sundarban area in Bengal
Tehri Garhwal area of Uttar Pradesh


6. High biological oxygen demand indicates

absence of microbial pollution
intense level of microbial pollution
moderate microbial pollution
All of these


7. Example of primary pollutant

hydrocarbon
CO
NO2
SO2


8. Drinking of fluoride containing water results

fluorosis
chlorosis
minemata
methaemoglobinema


9. Which metal is the main air pollutant in metro cities?

Lead
Copper
Magnesium
Iron


10. Carbon mono oxide is a pollutant because

it reacts with O2
reacts with haemoglobin
makes nervous system inactive
It inhibits glycolysis

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10 True/False Questions on Ecology

Ecology T/F

True- False types of questions on the topic of ecology.

1. Darwin’s concept about evolution occurring by natural selection is a law in ecology and evolutiona

True
False


2. Statistics are used by scientists to prove hypotheses.

True
False


3. Epistomology is the ecology of ecosystems and communities

True
False


4. The ecology of a single species is called autotrophy.

True
False


5. There are two important processes in an ecosystem; energy flows and nutrient cycles.

False
True


6. Ecosystems vary in size.

True
False


7. The birth rate of a population of lions is 0.5 and the growth rate is 0.2. What is the death rate?

True
False


8. If one part of an ecosystem is altered then the whole ecosystem will be affected.

True
False


9. Nutrients can be lost from an ecosystem through leaching.

False
True


10. Where is most of the phosphorous stored in an ecosystem? -> In the ground

True
False

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Biodiversity Quiz 3

Biodiversity

TEN QUESTIONS ABOUT NATIONAL PARKS OF INDIA

1. National Wildlife Protection Act was formulated during the year

1972
1976
1978
1974


2. Kanha National Park is famous For

Birds
Tigers
Crocodiles
Rhino


3. Bandipur in Karnataka is the site for

Project elephant
Project Tiger
Project Hangul
None of these


4. Periyar sanctuary is famous for

Wild bears
Wild Buffaloes
Elephants
Swamp deers


5. In Which States is the Kanha National Park

Rajasthan
Madhya pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Assam


6. First National Park of India

Jim corbett
Periyar
Palamau
Kaziranga


7. Jim National Corbett National Park is famous for.

Tigers
Rhino
Lions
Black Bucks


8. The species of animal protected in Kaziranga sanctuary is

Panthera leo
Macaca mulatta
Panthera tigris
Rhinoceros unicornis


9. Asiatic Lion is Found in

Gir Forest
Jim Corbett
Kaziranga
Sunderban


10. Which one of the following bird is endangered

Kite
Parrot
Horn bill
Pigeons

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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPECIES DIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPECIES DIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM

Most of the ecologists believe that

·         The communities with more species are more stable than those with lesser species.

·         The stable community means lesser variations in productivity from year to year.

·         The community with more species, is more resistant to occasional (natural or man-made) disturbances.

·         Such communities are resistant to invasions by alien or exotic species.

David Tilman, in his long-term ecosystem experiments, found that plots with more species showed less - year to year variation in   total biomass   and the increased diversity contributed to higher productivity.                                                                                                                          Thus the rich biodiversity is not only essential for the health of the ecosystem but also for the survival of human race on this planet.

Loss of Biodiversity

There is continuous loss of the earth' treasure of species. For example, the colonization of tropical pacific Islands by human has led to extinction of more than 2000 species of native birds.

The Red list of lUCN documented the extinction of 784 species in last 500 years. The last 20 years witnessed the disappearance of 27 species.

Some important examples of recent extinctions are

    Dodu (Mauritius), Quagga (Africa), Thylacine (Australia). Steller Sea-cow (Russia), and  subspecies of Tiger, like bali, javan and caspian.

·         Presently, more than 15,500 species world-wide are facing the threat of extinction.

·         This includes 32% of amphibian species, 23% of mammalian species and l2% of birds’ species.

·         About 31% of the gymnosperms species are also facing the extinction. The amphibians are however,more vulnerable in such cases.

From origin to evolution of life on earth, i.e. duration about 3 billion yrs., there have been 5-episodes of mass extinction, but the present, the 6‘*‘, mass extinction is 100 to l000 times fasterthan the pre-human extinctions.

The ecologists now warn that-in next l00 years about 50% of all the species on earth will be wiped out. The loss in biodiversity of a region leads to

1. Lowered resistance to environmental changes

2. Decline in the plant production

3, Increased variability in certain ecosystem, pest disease cycles and water use etc.

Causes of loss of Biodiversity

The accelerated rate of species-extinction is largely due to human activities. There are 4-major causes, called ‘The Evil Quartet’, for the loss of biodiversity -

l. Habitat loss and fragmentation

2. Overexploitation

3. Invasion of Alien or exotic species

4. Co-extinctions

·         Habitat loss and fragmentation

The cutting trees and burning of forest destroys the natural habitat of a species. The construction of mines, dams, harbors, industries and buildings for human settlement has also affected the biodiversity. The Habitat destruction is the primary and major reason for the loss of biodiversity.

The tropical rain forest is the example of the habitat loss where forest covering has been reduced from 14% of land surface to 6%.

The Amazon rain forest, called ‘The Lungs of the Planet ', which harbors millions of species, is being cleared for cultivating soybean or developing grasslands for raising cattle. The pollution is also the factor for degradation of habitat.

When large habitats are broken into small fragments due to various human activities, the population of migratory animals, mammals and birds, that require a large territory, are adversely affected.

·         Overexploitation

In ecology, overexploitation describes one of the five main activities threatening global biodiversity. Overexploitation can lead to resource destruction, including extinctions. Many marine fishes are also being over harvested. Over fishing from a water body, or over harvesting a product is

just like ‘killing a goose laying golden eggs '.

.

·         Invasion of Alien or exotic species

When alien species are introduced into an explored area, some of the species turn invasive and cause decline or extinction of indigenous species.

For example –

                       Introduction of Nile perch into lake Victoria (E. Africa) led to the extinction of more than 200 species of Cichlid fish in the lake

Introduction of weed species, like Carrot grass (Parrhenium), Lantana and water hyacinth (Eicchornia) has posed threat to the native species  and   damage to environment.

 The illegal introduction of African cat fish (Clarias gariepinus) for aquaculture purposes into the river has threatened indigenous cat fishes.

·         Co-extinctions

Whenever a plant or animal species becomes extinct, its obligatory-associated species also becomes extinct. For example, when a host species becomes extinct, the parasite also meets the same fate. In case of ‘plant pollinator mutualism ' the extinction of one species leads to the extinction of the other.

Process of extinction of biodiversity

1. Natural extinction -

With the change of environmental conditions some species have disappeared and the more adaptive species have appeared. This  extinction is slow and is called ‘Background extinction’.

2. Mass extinction –

lt is extinction of large number of species due to natural calamities/catastrophes. The extinction of Dinosaurs is one such example.

3. Anthropogenic extinction -

It is the disappearance of species due to human activities. This man-made extinction represents a severe depletion of biodiversity in terms of time. The current rate of extinction is thousand times higher than the background extinction.

If the current rate of losses continues the earth may lose up to 50% of the species by the end of 2 l “Century.

   

Susceptilibility to extinction -

The species with the following features are more susceptible (vulnerable) to extinction than the other species.

l. Larger body size (eg. Elephant, Bengal Tiger and Lion etc.)

2. Smaller population with low reproductive rate (eg. Blue whale and Giant panda)

3. Fixed habitat or migratory routes (eg. Whooping cranes and Blue whales).

4. Feeding at higher trophic level in the food chain, (eg. Bengal tiger and Bald Eagle).

5. Narrow range of distribution (eg. Island species and woodland caribou).

https://mcqbiologyeasy.blogspot.com/2018/06/pattern-of-biodiversity-biodiversity.html

https://mcqbiologyeasy.blogspot.com/2018/05/biodiversity-its-conservation-p-2.html

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Biodiversity Quiz 2

Biodiversity Quiz

1. What is Biodiversity ?

A type of coconut
A brand of oil
The spread of all living things
A plant species


2. How many bio-geographical regions are present in India?

3
6
7
10


3. Lime is added to the soil which is too

Sandy
Salty
Acidic
Basic


4. Biodiversity can be broadly classified into how many types?

2
3
4
1


5. Biodiversity is of importance as it offers:

Stability of ecosystems
Stability of species
Stability of research
Stability of atmosphere


6. Causes of extinction of species:

Introduction of exotic species
Habitat destruction
Over exploitation
All of these


7. Which is an extinct species?

Dodo of Mauritius
Kiwi from New Zealand
Cheetah from India
Both b and c


8. Biodiversity has an aesthetic value to it.

True
False


9. The area of National Parks range between:

0.61 to 7818 kms
0.04 to 3162 kms
0.14 to 3612 kms
0.16 to 8718 kms


10. Which group of vertebrates comprises the highest number of endangered species?

Fishes
Mammals
Birds
Reptile

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Pattern of Biodiversity

Pattern of Biodiversity

Biodiversity varies with the change of altitude and latitude.

·         The species diversity Is maximum in plants (low altitude) and equator (low latitude).

As we move from lower to Higher latitude (from equator to poles) or from lower to higher altitude, the biological diversity Decrease. The diversity also depends upon seasonal variability and physical environment like temperature, humidity etc.

Thus the diversity of animals and plants is not uniform throughout the world and shows uneven patterns.

 There 2 specific patterns of biodiversity

1.       Latitudinal pattern  The species diversity is the maximum at equator and decrease as move towards poles.

The tropical diversity is highest between latitudinal ranges of 23.5°N to 23.5"S.

For Example

·         Columbia near) equator, has about 1400 species of birds,

·         while New York (41◦N) and Greenland (71°N) have 105 and 56 species only.

·         A forest of tropical regions, like Ecuador, has ten times more species of vascular plants as in the forest of temperate region, like mid-west USA.

·         Amazon rain forest of, S. America, has tl1e greatest biodiversity on earth, And has about 30.000 species of fishes, 1300 species of birds, about 400 each of amphibians,

Reptiles and mammals, and 1,25,000 species of invertebrates. There are about 2 million species of insects and about 40,000 species of plants.

 2.       Altitudinal Gradient The impact of altitude is significant on type of biodiversity. Mostly the increasing altitude leads to decrease in only biodiversity as only some species can adapt the conditions prevailing at high altitude.

 Following graph gives the clear idea this relationship

3.        Species -Area relationship

The German naturalist and geographer, Alexander Von Humboldt, while exploring SouthAmerican jungles, observed that species - richness increased with increasing explored area, but only up to a limit.

This relationship between species richness and explored area is a rectangular hyperbola described by the equation - S = C Az

       Where  

             S             is    species richness                                  

                 C            is     Y-intercept                                                                                                                              A             is     area and                                                                                                                                     z    is the slope to the line ( regression coefficient). .                                                                                                                                                                         

On logarithmic scale, the relationship is a straight line, described by the equation -    Log S=Log C+Z log A

Ecologist have discovered that value of ‘Z’ always lies in the range of 0.1 to 0.2, irrespective of the taxonomic group (angiosperms, fish or bird), or the region /geographical area.  

But if we consider a large area (i.e., whole continent) , the Z-value in the range of 0.6 to 1.2)

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