Biodiversity Flashcards
Biodiversity is the term popularised by the sociobiologist:
Edward Wilson
An active hormone secreted by Rauwolfia Vomitoria is:
reserpine
A single species might high diversity at the ______ level over its distributional range
genetic
Availability of 1000 varieties of mango varieties show diversity at the _____ level
genetic
Western ghats have a greater ____ species diversity than Eastern ghats
amphibian
Western ghats have more diversity of amphibians than the Eastern ghats. This is an example of ______ diversity
species
Diversity at the ecosystem level is known as:
Ecological diversity
IUCN stands for
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
According to IUCN, the total number of plant and animal species described so far is slightly more than ______ million
1.5
Large proportion of the species waiting to be discovered are in the ______ regions
tropical
According to Robert May, the global species diversity is estimated to be ____ million
7 million
More than 70% of all the species recorded belongs to kingdom:
Animalia
Plant kingdom accounts for ____% of the total living species
22
The most species-rich taxonomic group making up mor than 70% of the total species are:
insects
Although India has only 2.4 per cent of the world’s land area. It’s share of the global species diversity is an impressive _____ per cent
8.1
The most well known pattern of diversity is:
Latitudinal gradients
In general, species diversity ______ as we move away from the equator towards the pole
decreases
Colombia located near the equator has nearly ______ species of birds
1400
Newyork at _____ N has 105 species of birds
41
Greenland has approximately ____ species of birds
56
India has more than _____ species of birds
1200
Amazonian rainforest is home to more than _____ species of plants
40,000
In terms of speciation, ______ have remained undisturbed for millions of years
Tropical latitudes
Constant environment of tropical regions promote _____ specialisation and thus, greater species diversity
niche
There is more _____ energy available in the tropics, which contributes to higher productivity
solar
The greater German naturalist and geographer _______ observed that within a region species richness increased with increasing explored area
Alexander von Humboldt
The relation between species richness and area for a wide variety of taxa turns out to be a:
Rectangular hyperbola
The equation for species area relationship is:
log S = log C + Z log A
Ecologists have discovered that the value of Z lies in the range of _____ regardless of the taxonomic group or the region
0.1 to 0.2
Slope value (Z) of frugivorous birds and mammals in the tropical forests is:
1.15
Ecologists believed that communities with more species, generally, tend to be more ______ than those with less species
Stable
David Tilman found that high _______ contributes to higher productivity
Species diversity
The ‘Rivet popper hypothesis’ was proposed by Stanford ecologist:
Paul Ehrlich
According to rivet popper hypothesis, _____ of key species that drive major ecosystem functions is a threat to ecosystem
Extinction
The IUCN Red List (2004) documents the extinction of _____ species in the last 500 years
784
Dodo got extinct from:
Mauritius
A native of Africa that got extinct is:
Quagga
Thylacine got extinct from:
Australia
Stellar’s Sea Cow got extinct from:
Russia
Subspecies of tiger that recently got extinct are:
Bali, Javan, Caspian
______ per cent of all bird species and _____ per cent of all mammals species in the world face the threat of extinction
12; 23
______ per cent of all amphibian species and _____ per cent of all gymnosperm species in the world face the threat of extinction
32; 31
Before the appearance of human species on earth, there were ____ episodes of mass extinction of species
five
Loss of biodiversity in a region may lead to decline in:
Plant production
Loss of biodiversity in a region may lead to lowered resistance to environmental perturbations such as ____
drought
The sobriquet used to describe four major causes of biodiversity loss is:
The evil quartet
The most important cause driving plants and animals to extinction is _____ and ____
Habitat loss and fragmentation
Tropical rainforests now cover only ______% of the earth’s land surface
6
The rainforest called the ‘lungs of the planet’ is :
The Amazon rain forest
The Amazon rain forest is being cut and cleared for cultivating _________
Soya beans
Amazon rain forest is being cut and cleared for conversion to ______ for raising beef cattle
grasslands
Fragmentation affects certain animals with ______ habitats, leading to population declines
migratory
When ‘need’ turns to ‘greed’, it leads to _____ of natural resources
over-exploitation
Name two species which got extinct due to over-exploitation of natural resources
Steller’s sea cow and passenger pigeon
When alien species are introduced unintentionally or deliberately for whatever purpose, some of them turn invasive, and cause decline or extinction of ______ species
indigenous
Introduction of which species into Lake Victoria in East Africa led to extinction of cichlid fish?
Nile perch
Name three invasive weed species
Parthenium, Lantana, Eicchornia
Carrot grass is common name of:
Parthenium
Water hyacinth is common name of:
Eicchornia
Illegal introduction of which African catfish is posing a threat to indigenous catfishes in rivers?
Clarias gariepinus
When a species become extinct, plant or animal species associated with it in an obligatory way also become extinct, this is called:
co-extincton
Extinction of host fish along with its parasite is an example of:
co-extinction
Name some industrial products we get from plants
Tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes
More than ______% of drugs in use are derived from plants
25
Conserving biodiversity for economic benefits is related to which argument?
Narrowly utilitarian
The argument for biodiversity conservation that says biodiversity plays a major role in many ecosystem services that nature provides is:
Broadly utilitarian
Amazon rain forest produces approximately ______% of total oxygen on earth’s atmosphere
20
The service of nature without which plants cannot propagate is:
pollination
Name some pollinating agents
Bees, bumblebees, birds and bats
Which argument for conserving biodiversity relates to intrinsic value of every species?
Ethical argument
The on-site conservation of biodiversity is called:
In situ conservation
Desirable approach for conserving endangered or threatened species is:
Ex situ conservation
Species that are confined to a particular region and not found anywhere else are called:
Endemic species
Total number of biodiversity hotspots in the world stands at:
34
The regions which face accelerated habitat loss are:
Biodiversity hotspots
The three hotspots that cover India’s high biodiversity regions are:
Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma and Himalaya
Biodiversity hotspots account for less than _____% of the total earth’s land area
2
In India, ecologically unique and biodiversity rich regions are legally protected as:
Biosphere reserves, national parks and sanctuaries
Total number of biosphere reserves in India stands at
14
Total number of national parks in India stands at:
90
The number of wildlife sanctuaries in India stands at:
448
The forests which are venerated and protected due to cultural practices are called:
Sacred groves
Sacred groves in Meghalaya are found in:
Khasi and Jaintia Hills
Sacred groves of Rajasthan are found in:
Aravali Hills
Western Ghats regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra are an example of:
Sacred groves
Sacred groves are found in ______ areas of Madhya Pradesh?
Sarguja, Chanda, Bastar
Sacred groves of ______ regions are the last refuge for a large number of rare and threatened plants?
Meghalaya
The type of conservation in which threatened plants and animals are taken out from their natural habitat and placed in a protective setting is:
Ex situ conservation
Off-site conservation of threatened species is done by protecting them in _______, _______ and ________
Zoological parks, botanical gardens and wildlife safari parks
Gametes of threatened species are preserved in viable and fertile condition using _____ techniques
cryopreservation
Seeds of different genetic strains of commercially important plants is kept for preservation in:
Seed banks
The Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in year:
1992
World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in 2002 in:
Johannesburg, South Africa
How many countries pledged their commitment during World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002?
190 countries
Mark A, B and C in the following figure
A) S = CA^Z
B) species richness
C) log S = log C + Z log A
S in species area relationship equation is:
Species richness
