4th October 2020, Static Quiz on Indian Geography

Solution: B
Justification: The Merck has released India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017. Key Findings of ISFR 2017. It has revealed that total forest and tree cover in India has increased of over 8,021 sq. km (about 80.20 million hectare) which is one percent increase from 2015. The total forest and tree cover is 24.39% of geographical area of the country. The increase in forest cover has been observed in Very Dense Forest (VDF) which absorbs maximum carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It is followed by increase in forest cover in open forest. India is ranked 10th in world, with 24.4% of land area under forest and tree cover, even though it accounts for 2.4 % of the world surface area and sustains needs of 17 % of human and 18 % livestock population. India was placed 8th in list of Top Ten nations reporting the greatest annual net gain in forest area. 15 states/UTs have above 33% of geographical area under forest cover. About 40% of country’s forest cover is present in 9 large contiguous patches of the size of 10, 000 sq.km, or more. 7 States/UTs have more than 75% forest cover: Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur

Solution: A
Justification: Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwoods are produced by angiosperm trees that reproduce by flowers, and have broad leaves.
Statement 2: Mahogany is a tropical hardwood species indigenous to the Americas. Ash, Alder, Aspen, Balsa, Beech, Birch, Cherry and Chestnut are some other hardwood trees

Solution: A
Justification: It was in news due to Nepalese constitution issues. The Northern plains can be divided into four regions – two are discussed here. The rivers, after descending from the mountains deposit pebbles in a narrow belt of about 8 to 16 km in width lying parallel to the slopes of the Shiwaliks. It is known as bhabar. All the streams disappear in this bhabar belt. South of this belt, the streams and rivers re-emerge and create a wet, swampy and marshy region known as terai. This was a thickly forested region full of wildlife. The forests have been cleared to create agricultural land and to settle migrants from Pakistan after partition

Solution: D
Justification: The Boreal Forest is the term applied to the huge area of dense coniferous forests of North America, northern Europe and Asia occurring at high latitudes where the climate is characterised by very cold winters, usually about 40cm of rainfall and a short summer growing season. The dominant species are evergreens, such as pine, spruce, fir, whose water loss through transpiration is low in winter at the time when the soils may be permanently frozen. Unlike tropical forests which have a huge range of species, the boreal forest usually have rather few species of trees, shrubs and plants. The species present are able to get their nutrient requirements from the very shallow layer of soil above the permafrost. The trees present have a notable climatic tolerance and survive on rather infertile soils.

Solution: D
Justification: The South Andaman forests have a profuse growth of epiphytic vegetation, mostly ferns and orchids. The Middle Andaman harbours mostly moist deciduous forests. North Andaman is characterized by the wet evergreen type, with plenty of woody climbers. The North Nicobar Islands (including Car Nicobar and Battimalv) are marked by the complete absence of evergreen forests, while such forests form the dominant vegetation in the central and southern islands of the Nicobar group. Statement 2: Grasslands occur only in the Nicobars, and while deciduous forests are common in the Andaman, they are almost absent in the Nicobars. The present forest coverage is claimed to be 86.2% of the total land area.

Solution: D
Justification: Option A: The region is relatively drier and more likely to have deciduous forests.
Option B and C: The Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of northern India. The Lower Gangetic plains moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest eco-region of Bangladesh and eastern India.
Option D: This is a region of high rainfall and thus more likely to hold evergreen forests.

Solution: A
Justification: Tropical moist deciduous forests exist mostly in the eastern part of the country – northeastern states, along the foothills of the Himalayas, Jharkhand, West Orissa and Chhattisgarh, and on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. Teak is the most dominant species of this forest. Bamboos, sal, shisham, sandalwood, khair, kusum, arjun, mulberry are other commercially important species.

Solution: A
Justification: The Boreal Forest is the term applied to the huge area of dense coniferous forests of North America, northern Europe and Asia occurring at high latitudes where the climate is characterised by very cold winters, usually about 40cm of rainfall and a short summer growing season. The dominant species are evergreens, such as pine, spruce, fir, whose water loss through transpiration is low in winter at the time when the soils may be permanently frozen. Unlike tropical forests which have a huge range of species, the boreal forest usually have rather few species of trees, shrubs and plants. In fact the undergrowth of boreal forests is almost non-existent. The species present are able to get their nutrient requirements from the very shallow layer of soil above the permafrost. The trees present have a notable climatic tolerance and survive on rather infertile soils. Pines survive on very sandy soils like those in northern Europe whereas spruce requires more loamy and clayey soils with more nutrients.

Solution: B
Justification: Forests found near the Equator (10° North to 10° South) in Amazon & Zaire Basin and Southeast Asia are major evergreen forests. The thick canopies of the closely spaced trees do not allow the sunlight to penetrate inside the forest even in the day time. Thus, grass is not found in these forests. Maximum varieties of trees are found. Trees are tall with large trunks. Hardwood trees like rosewood, teak, sal, ebony, and mahogany are the common trees found here. Here the population found is very less. Due to dense forests commercial exploitation of these forests has not be possible, making them economically backward.

Solution: B
Justification: The vegetation of Arunachal Pradesh falls under four broad climatic categories and can be classified in five broad forest types with a sixth type of secondary forests. These are tropical forests, subtropical forests, pine forests, temperate forests and alpine forests. Forest Cover Map of Arunachal Pradesh

Vegetation in Assam: may broadly be divided into (I) Evergreen forests, (II) Mixed Deciduous forests, (III) Riverain forests and (IV) Savannah.
Alpine forests: The Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows extend along the north and south faces of the Himalaya Range from the Kali Gandaki Gorge in central Nepal eastwards through Tibet and India’s Sikkim state, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh state, and northernmost Myanmar.