Environment and Ecology: UPSC Previous Year Questions (Prelims)

Explanation

Desert National Park is one of the biggest national parks in the country. The environment of the Thar Desert is well-illustrated by the Desert National Park. The main landform is made up of permanent dunes, jagged boulders, and compact salt lake bottoms.

Statement 1 is correct: Desert National Park, one of India’s largest, showcases the Thar Desert’s unique environment, featuring permanent dunes, jagged boulders, and salt lake bottoms. Located in Rajasthan, it spans the districts of Jaisalmer and Barmer.

Statement 2 is incorrect: Human activities are not allowed in National Park yet many villagers live inside Desert National park. There are several villages inside and outside the Desert National Park. The primary occupation of the villagers inside the Desert National Park is animal husbandry like goat, sheep, cattle, camel, donkey and followed by agriculture.

Statement 3 is correct: The Thar desert harbours a wide array of flora and faunal species. Desert National Park is one of the primary habitats of the Great Indian Bustard, a critically endangered bird species. The park is an important conservation area for this bird, which is native to the arid regions of Rajasthan.

Explanation

Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam is the largest tiger re-serve in India having a Core/ Critical Tiger Habitat of 2595.72 SqKm. The tiger reserve spans states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The reserve is home to the multifunctional reservoirs Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar. This reserve’s basin is bisected by the Krishna River. In addition to the Bengal Tiger, which serves as the area’s top predator, other species are also present here, including the leopard, rusty-spotted cat, pangolin, mugger crocodiles, Indian rock python, and countless different types of birds. A variety of wood-lands, from southern mixed deciduous tropical forest to southern thorn forest multiple types of hurbs and bamboo thickets also grow in this area.

Explanation

Kanha National Park is located in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandla and Balaghat districts. It officially introduced a mascot, "Bhoorsingh the Barasingha". Kanha National Park (Mandla and Balaghat districts, Madhya Pradesh) is home to the Hard Ground Barasingha, also known as the Swamp Deer(Rucervus duvaucelii). They are exclusively graminivorous, meaning their diet consists solely of grasses. It is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh and is only found in the Kanha Tiger Reserve. Tiger, Leopard, Dhole, Bear, Gaur, and Indian Python are some of the other species discovered. Evergreen Sal forests are the most famous feature (Shorea Robusta) of Kanha National Park’s flora. The Indian Swamp Deer (Rucervus duvaucelii), also known as Barasingha, is a large herbivorous mammal primarily found in India, with some populations in Nepal and Bangladesh. It is known for its distinctive long, branched antlers and yellowish-brown coat. The species is graminivorous, thriving on grasses in wetlands, marshes, and floodplains. The Hard Ground Barasingha, a subspecies, is notably found in Kanha National Park, where successful conservation efforts have helped prevent its extinction. These deer are mostly solitary but gather during the breeding season, and their diet is primarily grass, which they graze in marshy areas. The species faces threats from habitat loss, hunting, and human encroachment, leading to its vulnerable status.

Explanation

Option 1 is correct: To safeguard the critically endangered Musk Deer and its environment, the Askot Musk Deer Sanctuary was established. The refuge is sometimes referred to as "Green Paradise on Earth." It is situated in Askot, a tiny village in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. Snow leopard, Himalayan black bear, Himalayan tahr, blue sheep, musk deer, loong, monal, kalij pheasant, and cheer pheasant are some examples of the local fauna.

Option 2 is correct: Gangotri National Park is located in Uttar-kashi, Uttrakhand, in the Bhagirathi River’s upper watershed. Gangotri Glacier is situated inside the park. The park is completely surrounded by temperate coniferous forests. The typical vegetation includes chirpine, deodar, fir, spruce, oak, and rhododendron. The park is home to a number of rare and endangered animals, including the snow leopard, musk deer, Himalayan monal, Himalayan snowcock, and blue sheep (also known as bharal). Options 3 and 4 are incorrect: Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary is home to Tigers, Leopards, Pythons, Barking Deer, Ghariyal, Wild Boar and Swamp Deers, not musk deer. It lies along the banks of the Sharada river. Manas National Park in Assam is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a Project Tiger Reserve, an Elephant Re-serve as well as a Biosphere Reserve. Manas National Park is home to a varied species of Fauna of the likes of the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros, Asiatic Elephants, Indian Tigers, Clouded Leopards, Hoolock Gibbons, Barking Deer, etc.

Explanation

Asian Elephants come in three sub-species i.e. Indian, Sumatran, and Sri Lankan. The majority of the continent’s remaining elephants belong to the Indian subspecies, which has the largest range.

Statement 1 is correct: The leader of a group is the oldest female. She guides the herd in their search for food and water sources. These matriarchal units can occasionally divide into smaller, temporary groups.

Statement 2 is correct: The gestation period lasts for 22 months, yielding a single baby.

Statement 3 is incorrect: Although sexually mature in their early teens, elephants generally only start to mate at about 20 years and stop bearing calves at about 50.

Statement 4 is incorrect: Recent census showed Kerala as having 5,706 elephants, while Karnataka has 6049 elephants.

Explanation

The Ceylon frogmouth (Batrachostomus monilig-er), Coppersmith barbet (Megalaima haemacephala), Gray-chinned minivet (Pericrocotus solaris), and White-throated redstart (Myioborus albogularis) are all species of birds found in India. These birds are known for their unique characteristics and are an important part of India’s rich avifauna. The Ceylon frogmouth is a nocturnal bird, while the Coppersmith barbet is known for its distinctive call that sounds like a coppersmith at work.

Explanation

In India, pesticides must be registered with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare’s Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine & Storage before they can be used. A 2015 report by the Anupam Verma Committee recommended banning 27 pesticides, including some commonly used chemicals mentioned above:

Carcinogenic: Oxyfluorfen, Pendimethalin (causes Thyroid follicular cell adenoma) Endocrine disruptor: Dicofol, Carbofuran, Oxyfluorfen Eco-toxic: Carbofuran, Monocrotophos, Carbofuran, Oxyfluorfen.

Explanation

Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technologies consist of any waste treatment process that creates energy in the form of electricity or heat from several types of waste: from the semi-sol-id (e.g. thickened sludge from effluent treatment plants) to liquid (e.g. domestic sewage) waste. Landfill gas recovery, Gasification, Pyrolisis, Thermal Depolymerisation are examples of Waste-to-Energy (WTE) technologies.

Option (d) is correct: Pyrolysis is a process of chemical de-composition of organic matter brought about by heat. In this process, the organic material is heated in the absence of air until the molecules thermally break down to become a gas comprising smaller molecules (known collectively as syngas). Gasification can also take place as a result of partial combustion of organic matter in the presence of a restricted quantity of oxygen or air. The gas, so produced, is known as producer gas. The gases produced by pyrolysis mainly comprise carbon monoxide (25%), hydrogen and hydrocarbons (15%), and carbon dioxide and nitrogen (60%). It is used commercially as a waste to energy system that converts municipal solid waste into synthesis gas (syngas) containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide that can be used to generate power.

Explanation

Microbeads are manufactured solid plastic particles of less than one millimetre in their largest dimension. They are most frequently made of polyethene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene. They are used in exfoliating personal care products, toothpaste and in biomedical and health-science research.

Option (a) is correct: Microbeads can cause plastic particle water pollution and pose an environmental hazard for aquatic animals in freshwater and ocean water. NGT had earlier directed the GoI to test cosmetic products containing microbeads after a plea sought a ban on their use on the ground they are extremely dangerous for aquatic life and the environment.

Explanation

Methane hydrate is an ice-like substance formed when CH₄ and water combine at low temperature (up to 250C) and moderate pressure (greater than 3-5 MPa, which corresponds to combined water and sediment depths of 300 to 500 m).

Statement 1 is correct: Owing to the melting of ice, global warming might trigger the release of methane gas from these deposits hence having a significant impact on climate change.

Statement 2 is correct: Sediment and sedimentary rock units below Arctic permafrost have the temperature and pressure conditions suitable for the formation and stability of methane hydrate.

Statement 3 is correct: Methane is relatively short-lived in the atmosphere; a molecule of methane is oxidised to water and carbon dioxide within a decade or so, mainly by reaction with other trace gases.