[Mission 2022] QUIZ – 2022: INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ, 22 December 2021 – Environment – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: a)

The Formation of Smog

• Photochemical smog (smog) is a term used to describe air pollution that is a result of the interaction of sunlight with certain chemicals in the atmosphere.
• One of the primary components of photochemical smog is ozone.
• While ozone in the stratosphere protects earth from harmful UV radiation, ozone on the ground is hazardous to human health.
• Ground-level ozone is formed when vehicle emissions containing nitrogen oxides (primarily from vehicle exhaust) and volatile organic compounds (from paints, solvents, printing inks, petroleum products, vehicles, etc.) interact in the presence of sunlight.

Solution: b)

The rate of biomass production is called productivity. It can be divided into gross primary productivity (GPP) and net primary productivity (NPP).  Gross primary productivity of an ecosystem is the rate of production of organic matter during photosynthesis. A considerable amount of GPP is utilized by plants in respiration. Gross primary productivity minus respiration losses (R), is the net primary productivity (NPP).

GPP – R = NPP

Net primary productivity is the available biomass for the consumption to heterotrophs (herbiviores and decomposers).

Secondary productivity is defined as the rate of formation of new organic matter by consumers.

Solution: c)

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is a statutory multi-disciplinary body established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, to combat organized wildlife crime in the country. Under Section 38 (Z) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, it is mandated to collect and collate intelligence related to organized wildlife crime activities and to disseminate the same to State and other enforcement agencies for immediate action so as to apprehend the criminals; to establish a centralized wildlife crime data bank; co-ordinate actions by various agencies in connection with the enforcement of the provisions of the Act;

Solution: b)

Both the species benefit in mutualism and both lose in competition in their interactions with each other. In both parasitism and predation only one species benefit (parasite and predator, respectively) and the interaction is detrimental to the other species (host and prey, respectively).

The interaction where one species is benefitted and the other is neither benefitted nor harmed is called

commensalism. In amensalism on the other hand one species is harmed whereas the other is unaffected. Predation, parasitism and commensalism share a common characteristic– the interacting species live closely together.

Example of commensalism is the interaction between sea anemone that has stinging tentacles and the

clown fish that lives among them. The fish gets protection from predators which stay away from the stinging tentacles. The anemone does not appear to derive any benefit by hosting the clown fish.

Solution: d)

• The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, is one of the oldest of the big cat species, with ancestors that can be traced back more than five million years to the Miocene era.
• The cheetah is also the world’s fastest land mammal.
• The country’s last spotted feline died in Chhattisgarh in 1947. Later, the cheetah — was declared extinct in India in 1952.

The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a “critically endangered” species by the IUCN Red List, and is believed to survive only in Iran.