Ecology & Environment Test 1

Solution: c)

Earth Day

Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22. Worldwide, various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day events in more than 193 countries^[1] are now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network.^[2]

On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by the United States, China, and some 120 other countries. This signing satisfied a key requirement for the entry into force of the historic draft climate protection treatyadopted by consensus of the 195 nations present at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.

Earth Hour

Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The event is held annually encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm on a specific day towards the end of March, as a symbol of commitment to the planet.^[1] It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. Since then, it has grown to engage more than 7,000 cities and towns across 187 countries and territories.^[2]

Occasionally, in years when Holy Saturday falls on the last Saturday of March, Earth Hour is moving a week early rather than its traditional date.

Earth Hour 2018 will be on March 24, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

Solution: c)

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961, working in the field of the wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States. The Living Planet Report is published every two years by WWF since 1998; it is based on a Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculation.

Solution: b)

Global Footprint Network, founded in 2003, is an independent think tank originally based in the United States, Belgium and Switzerland. It was established as a charitable not-for-profit organization in each of those three countries. Global Footprint Network develops and promotes tools for advancing sustainability, including the ecological footprint and biocapacity, which measure the amount of resources we use and how much we have. These tools aim at bringing ecological limits to the center of decision-making.

Global Footprint Network’s goal is to create a future where all humans can live well, within the means of one planet Earth. The organization is headquartered in Oakland, California. The Network brings together over 70 partner organizations,[1] including WWF International, ICLEI, Bank Sarasin, The Pictet Group, the New Economics Foundation, Pronatura México, and the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi.

Solution: d)

Earth Overshoot Day (EOD), previously known as Ecological Debt Day (EDD), is the calculated illustrative calendar date on which humanity’s resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that year. Earth Overshoot Day is calculated by dividing the world biocapacity (the amount of natural resources generated by Earth that year), by the world ecological footprint (humanity’s consumption of Earth’s natural resources for that year), and multiplying by 365, the number of days in one Gregorian common calendar year:

When viewed through an economic perspective, EOD represents the day in which humanity enters an ecological deficit spending. In ecology the term Earth Overshoot Day illustrates the level by which human population overshootsits environment.

Earth Overshoot Day is calculated by Global Footprint Network and is a campaign supported by dozens of other nonprofit organizations.^{[1][not in citation given]} Information about Global Footprint Network’s calculations and national Ecological Footprints are available online

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Overshoot_Day

Solution: a)

The biocapacity or biological capacity of an ecosystem is an estimate of its production of certain biological materials such as natural resources, and its absorption and filtering of other materials such as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.^[1][2] “Useful biological materials” are defined as those demanded by the human economy.

Biocapacity is expressed in terms of global hectares per person, thus is dependent on human population. A global hectare is an adjusted unit that represents the average biological productivity of all productive hectares on Earth in a given year (because not all hectares produce the same amount of ecosystem services). Biocapcity is calculated from United Nations population and land use data, and may be reported at various regional levels, such as a city, a country, or the world as a whole.

For example, there were 12 billion hectares of biologically productive land and water on this planet in 2008. Dividing by the number of people alive in that year, 6.7 billion, gives a biocapacity of 1.8 global hectares per person . This assumes that no land is set aside for other species that consume the same biological material as humans.^[3]

Biocapacity is used together with Ecological Footprint as a method of measuring Human impact on the environment. Biocapacity and Ecological Footprint are tools created by the Global Footprint Network, used in sustainability studies around the world.

Solution: d)

A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance.[1] Such species are described as playing a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community, affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem and helping to determine the types and numbers of various other species in the community. A keystone species is a plant or animal that plays a unique and crucial role in the way an ecosystem functions. Without keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether.

For examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species

Solution: b)

Urban ecosystems are often warmer than other ecosystems that surround them, have less infiltration of rainwater into the local soil, and show higher rates and amounts of surface runoff after rain and storms. Heavy metals, calcium dust, particulates, and human-made organic compounds (e.g., fertilizers, pesticides, and contaminants from pharmaceutical and personal care products) are also concentrated in cities.

Urban animal communities tend to be dominated by medium-size generalists, such as raccoons, coyotes, opossums, skunks, foxes, and other animals capable of surviving across a wide range of environmental conditions. In contrast, nonurban ecosystems tend to contain specialist species and animals that vary across a broader range of sizes. Urban habitats tend to be dominated by introduced plant and animal species that have a long history of association with humans and that show adaptations to urban conditions.

Solution: b)

All are INCORRECT (Question is asking which statements are incorrect)

All biological communities have a basic structure of interaction that forms a trophic pyramid. The trophic pyramid is made up of trophic levels, and food energy is passed from one level to the next along the food chain (see below Food chains and food webs). The base of the pyramid is composed of species called autotrophs, the primary producers of the ecosystem. They do not obtain energy and nutrients by eating other organisms. Instead, they harness solar energy by photosynthesis (photoautotrophs) or, more rarely, chemical energy by oxidation (chemoautotrophs) to make organic substances from inorganic ones. All other organisms in the ecosystem are consumers called heterotrophs, which either directly or indirectly depend on the producers for food energy.

Within all biological communities, energy at each trophic level is lost in the form of heat (as much as 80 to 90 percent), as organisms expend energy for metabolic processes such as staying warm and digesting food (see biosphere: The flow of energy). The higher the organism is on the trophic pyramid, the less energy is available to it; herbivores and detritivores (primary consumers) have less available energy than plants, and the carnivores that feed on herbivores and detritivores (secondary consumers) and those that eat other carnivores (tertiary consumers) have the least amount of available energy.

Solution: d)

The cells of all organisms are made up primarily of six major elements that occur in similar proportions in all life-forms. These elements—hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur—form the core protoplasm of organisms, and the first four of these elements make up about 99 percent of the mass of most cells.

Comes under Nutrient Cycling, under ecology

Solution: a)

Krill are considered an important trophic level connection – near the bottom of the food chain – because they feed on phytoplankton and (to a lesser extent) zooplankton, converting these into a form suitable for many larger animals for which krill make up the largest part of their diets. In the Southern Ocean, one species, the Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, makes up an estimated biomass of around 379,000,000 tonnes,[2] making it among the species with the largest total biomass. Of this, over half is eaten by whales, seals, penguins, squid, and fish each year, and is replaced by growth and reproduction. Most krill species display large daily vertical migrations, thus providing food for predators near the surface at night and in deeper waters during the day.

Solution: a)

Permafrost forms and exists in a climate where the mean annual air temperature is 0 °C or colder. Such a climate is generally characterized by long, cold winters with little snow and short, relatively dry, cool summers. Permafrost, therefore, is widespread in the Arctic, sub-Arctic, and Antarctica. It is estimated to underlie 20 percent of the world’s land surface.

Permafrost soils store vast quantities of organic matter that are vulnerable to decomposition under a warming climate. Recent research finds that methane release from thawing permafrost may outpace carbon dioxide as a major contributor to global warming over the next century.

Statement 3 is wrong as it says ‘COOLING’ instead of THAWING.

Solution: d)

Two different types of succession, primary and secondary, have been distinguished. Primary succession occurs in essentially lifeless areas—regions in which the soil is incapable of sustaining life as a result of such factors as lava flows, newly formed sand dunes, or rocks left from a retreating glacier. Secondary succession occurs in areas where a community that previously existed has been removed; it is typified by smaller-scale disturbances that do not eliminate all life and nutrients from the environment. Events such as a fire that sweeps across a grassland or a storm that uproots trees within a forest create patches of habitat that are colonized by early successional species. Depending on the extent of the disturbance, some species may survive, other species may be recolonized from nearby habitats, and others may actually be released from a dormant condition by the disturbance. For example, many plant species in fire-prone environments have seeds that remain dormant within the soil until the heat of a fire stimulates them to germinate.

Solution: d)

Question is asked to introduce you to Climate sensitivity concept. Both statements are wrong.

Climate sensitivity can be defined as the amount of surface warming resulting from each additional watt per square metre of radiative forcing. Alternatively, it is sometimes defined as the warming that would result from a doubling of CO2 concentrations and the associated addition of 4 watts per square metre of radiative forcing. In the absence of any additional feedbacks, climate sensitivity would be approximately 0.25 °C (0.45 °F) for each additional watt per square metre of radiative forcing. Stated alternatively, if the CO2 concentration of the atmosphere present at the start of the industrial age (280 ppm) were doubled (to 560 ppm), the resulting additional 4 watts per square metre of radiative forcing would translate into a 1 °C (1.8 °F) increase in air temperature.

Solution: b)

Marine organisms of all sizes are influenced by ocean currents, which can determine the range of a species. For example, krill (Euphausia superba) are restricted to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Distribution patterns of both large and small pelagic organisms are affected as well. Mainstream currents such as the Gulf Stream and East Australian Current transport larvae great distances. As a result cold temperate coral reefs receive a tropical infusion when fish and invertebrate larvae from the tropics are relocated to high latitudes by these currents. The successful recruitment of eels to Europe depends on the strength of the Gulf Stream to transport them from spawning sites in the Caribbean. Areas where the ocean is affected by nearshore features, such as estuaries, or areas in which there is a vertical salinity gradient (halocline) often exhibit intense biological activity. In these environments, small organisms can become concentrated, providing a rich supply of food for other animals.

Solution: b)

Recent Sudan, the last male northern white male died. However, his daughter and granddaughter still live (only two individuals of its species)

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/science/rhino-sudan-extinct.html

Whereas, other species are all extinct.

See slide show here: https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/11-extinct-animals_n_4078988#gallery/317674/9

Solution: a)

Greenhouse gases are those that absorb and emit infrared radiation in the wavelength range emitted by Earth.^[1]In order, the most abundant greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere are:

• Water vapor (H2O)
• Carbon dioxide (CO2)
• Methane (CH4)
• Nitrous oxide (N2O)
• Ozone (O3)
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
• Hydrofluorocarbons (incl. HCFCs and HFCs)

Nitrogen dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula NO 2. It is one of several nitrogen oxides. NO 2 is an intermediate in the industrial synthesis of nitric acid, millions of tons of which are produced each year. At higher temperatures it is a reddish-brown gas that has a characteristic sharp, biting odor and is a prominent air pollutant. (not proven as GHG)

Solution: d)

The major atmospheric constituents, nitrogen (N 2), oxygen (O2), and argon (Ar), are not greenhouse gases because molecules containing two atoms of the same element such as N 2 and O 2 and monatomic molecules such as argon (Ar) have no net change in the distribution of their electrical charges when they vibrate. Hence they are almost totally unaffected by infrared radiation. Although molecules containing two atoms of different elements such as carbon monoxide (CO) or hydrogen chloride (HCl) absorb infrared radiation, these molecules are short-lived in the atmosphere owing to their reactivity and solubility. Therefore, they do not contribute significantly to the greenhouse effect and often are omitted when discussing greenhouse gases.

Although option (c)  seems right, it doesn’t full explain the question. These confusing type of questions are asked by UPSC.

Solution: a)

The solar irradiance is the output of light energy from the entire disk of the Sun, measured at the Earth. It is looking at the Sun as we would a star rather than as a image.

The solar spectral irradiance is a measure of the brightness of the entire Sun at a wavelength of light. Important spectral irradiance variations are seen in many wavelengths, from the visible and IR, through the UV, to EUV and X-ray. As we look at the solar irradiance we should remember that space weather is related to ionization, while climate is related to absorption of heat.

Solution: c)

UPSC asks similar questions (about unheard species sometimes)

The jerboa forms the bulk of the membership of the family Dipodidae. Jerboas are hopping desert rodents found throughout Northern Africa and Asia east to northern China and Manchuria.[1] They tend to live in hot deserts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerboa)

A kangaroo mouse is either one of the two species of jumping mouse (genus Microdipodops) native to the deserts of the southwestern United States, predominantly found in the state of Nevada. The name “kangaroo mouse” refers to the species’ extraordinary jumping ability, as well as its habit of bipedal locomotion. (https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2486/10-interesting-things-about-ecosystems/)

Kangaroos live in Eastern Australia, not in deserts. They live in varied habitats, from forests and woodland areas to grassy plains and savannas.

Solution: c)

Alpine tundra occurs at high enough altitude at any latitude. Portions of montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregions worldwide include alpine tundra. Large regions of alpine tundra occur in the Himalayas in Asia, American Cordillera in North and South America, the Alps, the Scandinavian mountains, Pyrenees and Carpathian Mountains of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains, the Rift Mountains of Africa, and a large portion of the Tibetan Plateau.