Static Quiz 09 June 2023 (Environment)

Correct Answer : D
Answer Justification :
Justification: Wetlands play an integral role in the ecology of the watershed. The combination of shallow water, high levels of nutrients and primary productivity is ideal for the development of organisms that form the base of the food web and feed many species of fish, amphibians, shellfish and insects.

Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world, comparable to rain forests and coral reefs. An immense variety of species of microbes, plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish and mammals can be part of a wetland ecosystem. Wetlands are a critical part of our natural environment. They protect our shores from wave action (because they form a critical link between land and water), reduce the impacts of floods, absorb pollutants and improve water quality.

They provide habitat for animals and plants and many contain a wide diversity of life, supporting plants and animals that are found nowhere else. Wetlands provide an important range of environmental, social and economic services. Many wetlands are areas of great natural beauty and many are important to Aboriginal people.

Wetlands function as natural sponges that trap and slowly release surface water, rain, snowmelt, groundwater, and floodwaters. Wetlands also provide important benefits for the industry. For example, they form nurseries for fish and other freshwater and marine life and are critical to Australia’s commercial and recreational fishing industries.

Correct Answer: A
Answer Justification :

Learning: Apart from the above food web, Krills are considered an important trophic level connection – near the bottom of the food chain – because they feed on phytoplankton and to lesser extent zooplankton, converting these into a form suitable for many larger animals for whom krill makes up the largest part of their diet.

Correct Answer : D
Answer Justification :
Justification: Healthy coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse and economically valuable ecosystems on earth, providing valuable and vital ecosystem services.
Coral ecosystems are a source of food for millions; protect coastlines from storms and erosion; provide habitat, spawning and nursery grounds for economically important fish species; provide jobs and income to local economies from fishing, recreation, and tourism; are a source of new medicines, and are hotspots of marine biodiversity.

Statement 1: By helping to prevent coastal erosion, flooding, and loss of property on the shore, the reefs save billions of dollars each year in terms of reduced insurance and reconstruction costs and reduced need to build costly coastal defences.
Statement 2: They form the nurseries for about a quarter of the ocean’s fish, and thus provide revenue for local communities as well as national and international fishing fleets.
Statement 3: A new class of proteins capable of blocking the HIV virus from penetrating T-cells has been discovered. The proteins have been found in a coral from Australia’s northern coast. Coral reefs are also being used in the treatment of cancer.

Correct Answer : D
Answer Justification :
Option D talks about hill tracts in NE India. They aren’t wetlands. Learning: A wetland is a body that is saturated with water. The country’s wetlands have been grouped into eight categories, viz. the reservoirs of the Deccan Plateau in the south together with the lagoons and other wetlands of the south west coast; the vast saline expanses of Rajasthan, Gujarat and the Gulf of Kachchh; freshwater lakes and reservoirs from Gujarat eastwards through Rajasthan (Keoladeo National Park) and Madhya Pradesh; the delta wetlands and lagoons of India’s east coast (Chilika Lake); (v) the freshwater marshes of the Gangetic Plain; the floodplains of the Brahmaputra; the marshes and swamps in the hills of northeast India and the Himalayan foothills; the lakes and rivers of the montane region of Kashmir and Ladakh; and the mangrove forest and other wetlands of the island arcs of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Correct Answer: B
Justification: Statement 1: It affects the spawning ground of fisheries and their egg-laying patterns. As bed gravel becomes compacted, space for eggs is taken up by silt that considerably affects egg survival rates in the water.
Statement 2: Hard bottom communities like corals and mussel banks (including oysters) are more sensitive to siltation. Siltation adversely
affects the coral population.
Statement 3: For e.g. in rural areas the erosion source is typically soil degradation due to intensive or inadequate agricultural practices, leading to soil erosion, especially in fine-grained soils such as loess. The result will be an increased amount of silt and clay in the water bodies that drain the area often adding unwanted fertilizers to these bodies.