Static Quiz 22 January 2024 (Environment) 

There are two types of bacteria which helps to fix Nitrogen:
(i) Symbiotic bacteria, e.g., Rhizobium in the root nodules of leguminous plants.
(ii) Free living or Non-symbiotic, e.g., Nostoc, Azobacter, and Cyanobacteria can combine atmospheric or dissolved Nitrogen with hydrogen to form ammonia.

Boreal or North Coniferous Forests „
Distribution : Latitude: 50-60°North z It does not occur in the southern hemisphere as there is no land at this latitude. These are also known as ‘Taiga’ and extend as a continuous belt across North America and North Eurasia below the Arctic tundra. „
Temperature: The climate is cold with long, harsh winter, with a mean annual temperature below 0°C. „
Precipitation: Primarily in the form of snow, 40-100 cm annually. „

Conventions for Protection of Ozone layer
• Vienna Convention: First convention for the protection of the Ozone layer.
o To promote cooperation among nations by exchanging information on the effects of human activities.
• Montreal Protocol: Adopted in 1987, on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The landmark multilateral environmental agreement regulates the production and consumption of nearly 100 man-made chemicals referred to as ozone depleting substances (ODS).
• Kigali Agreement: Around 197 countries, including India, China and the USA, agreed at Kigali to reduce the use of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by roughly 85% of their baselines by 2045, by amending the 1987 Montreal Protocol.

Simlipal National Park
• About:
o It is one of the largest biospheres in India. It is a national park and a tiger reserve (designated under project Tiger in 1973).
o It derives its name from ‘Simul’ (silk cotton) tree.
o It was declared a biosphere reserve by the Government of India in June 1994.
o UNESCO added this National Park to its list of Biosphere Reserves in May 2009.
o Simlipal has the world’s highest rate of black tiger sightings in the world.
• Location:
o Northern part of Orissa’s Mayurbhanj district.
o It lies within two biogeographical regions: the Mahanadian east coastal region of the Oriental realm and the Chhotanagpur biotic province of the Deccan peninsular zone.
o Geographically, it lies in the eastern end of the eastern ghat.

Bioaccumulation
• The progressive buildup of contaminants, poisons (chronic poisoning), or other compounds in an organism is known as bioaccumulation.
• Chemicals can be absorbed by an organism through breathing, skin absorption, or ingesting.
• When the rate of removal of a substance from the body of an organism through catabolism (the breakdown of complex molecules in living organisms) or excretion is greater than the rate of accumulation of the substance, bioaccumulation occurs.
• Since persistent organic pollutants like DDT have a long life, the danger of bioaccumulation is significant, even if the pollutant’s environmental levels are low.

Biomagnification
• With the passage of time, biomagnification refers to the increasing bioaccumulation (increase in concentration) at each tropical level.
• The pollutant must have a lengthy biological half-life (long-lived) and be soluble in fats rather than water in order for biomagnification to occur. DDT, for example.
• The organism will excrete the contaminant if it is soluble in water.
• Pollutants that dissolve in lipids are held for a long time in the body. As a result, measuring the amount of contaminants in fatty tissues of species like fish is a common practise.
• As milk produced by female mammals has a lot of fat, it is examined for contaminants.