Static Quiz 10 February 2024 (Environment)   

Genetic diversity is defined as genetic variability present within species.
• Genetic diversity is the product of recombination of genetic material in the process of inheritance. It changes with time and space.
• Sexual reproduction is important in maintaining genetic diversity as it gives unique offspring by combining genes of parents.
• Mutation of genes, genetic drift and gene flow are also responsible for genetic diversity.

Importance of Genetic Diversity
• Genetic diversity gives rise to different physical attributes to the individual and capacity to adapt to stress, diseases and unfavourable environmental conditions.
• Environmental changes that are natural or due to human intervention, lead to the natural selection and survival of the fittest. Hence, due to genetic diversity, the varieties that are susceptible, die and the ones who can adapt to changes will survive.
• Genetic diversity is important for a healthy population by maintaining different varieties of genes that might be resistant to pests, diseases or other conditions.
• New varieties of plants can be grown by cross-breeding different genetic variants and produce plants with desirable traits like disease resistance, increased tolerance to stress.
• Genetic diversity reduces the recurrence of undesirable inherited traits.
• Genetic diversity ensures that at least there are some survivors of a species left.

Eutrophication:
• When a body of water gets highly supplied with minerals and nutrients, plants and algae grow excessively, it is known as eutrophication or hypertrophication.
• Many lakes are naturally eutrophic, and in some situations, eutrophication progresses as the lake ages.
• Eutrophication is a term that is more commonly associated with human actions, such as the artificial introduction of plant fertilizers, which has resulted in community changes and deterioration of water quality in many freshwater systems.
• With increased human population and more extensive agricultural development, eutrophication now ranks alongside other major anthropogenic effects such as deforestation, global warming, ozone layer depletion, and large-scale environmental disturbance in terms of its potentially harmful effect on the natural ecosystem.

Sources of Eutrophication:
Point sources
• Direct releases of nutrients into streams and lakes, such as wastewater from municipal and industrial facilities, are examples of point sources of nutrients.
• Point-sources of nutrients in surface water and groundwater are typically found in a plume with the highest pollutant concentrations closest to the source and diminishing concentrations further away.
• The different forms of point-source nutrients present in water are as diverse as the businesses, industries, agricultural, and urban sources that produce them.
Non-point sources
• Nonpoint-source is the release of nutrients from a variety of sources, including human activities, which does not originate from a single source or point.
• Leaching of nitrogen molecules from fertilized agricultural soils and losses due to air deposition are two examples.

Snow Leopard
– Scientific Name: Panthera uncia.
– Habitat: Cold High Mountains.
A. These are found in 12 countries including China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia & Mongolia.
B. China has the world’s largest snow leopard population.
– Diet:
A. Carnivore & hunt blue sheep, Argali wild sheep, ibex, marmots, pikas, hares, etc.
– Features:
A. One of the world’s most elusive cats & are perfectly equipped to thrive in extreme, high-elevation habitats.
B. Insulated with thick white-grey coats spotted with large black rosettes & wide, fur-covered feet act as natural snowshoes. The tail helps in balancing and also covers the body while sleeping.
– Threats:
A. Increased conflict due to expansion of human settlement & livestock grazing.
B. Poaching for trade in body parts and fur.
C. Climate change & shrinkage in habitat.
– Conservation Status:
A. IUCN: Vulnerable
B. Schedule I: Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
– Significance:
A. The snow leopard plays a crucial role in maintaining the delicate balance of high-mountain ecosystems.

In terms of protection, National Parks > Wildlife Sanctuary > Reserved forests > Protected forests

The speciation occurring when the population becomes separated by geographical barriers is called allopatric speciation. When a population is geographically continuous, the allele frequencies among its members are similar; however, when a population becomes separated, the allele frequencies between the two groups can begin to vary. Hence statement 1 is correct

Thus the chance of interbreeding between these populations is reduced. If the separation between groups continues for a long period of time, the differences between their alleles can become more and more pronounced due to differences in climate, predation, food sources, and other factors, eventually leading to the formation of a new species. Each separated population acquires mutations by natural selection to adapt to the new environment. A long time, reproductive isolation sets in separating two populations into two species. Allopatric speciation events can occur either by dispersal, when a few members of a species move to a new geographical area, or by vicariance, when a natural situation, such as the formation of a river or valley, physically divide organisms. Hence statement 2 is incorrect