Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – March 9, 2018

Pairs 2 and 3 are correctly matched.

Pair 1 is incorrectly matched. Deo Bhumi is a term used to refer sacred groves in Uttarakhand.

The sacred groves in West Bengal are called Garamthan, Harithan, Jahera, Sabitrithan, Santalburithan etc.

Pair 1 is correctly matched. Mutualism is the interaction in which both the interacting species benefit, for example, the association between fungi and the roots of higher plants. The fungi help the plant in the absorption of essential nutrients from the soil while the plant in turn provides the fungi with energy-yielding carbohydrates.

Pair 2 is incorrectly matched. Commensalism is the interaction among species in which one species benefits and the other is neither harmed nor benefited, for example, an orchid growing as an epiphyte on a mango branch. In this interaction while orchid benefits, the mango tree remains unaffected.

Pair 3 is correctly matched. Competition is the interaction in which species compete with each other to utilize the limited available resource. In this interaction both the species lose as they try to outdo each other, for example, the herbivores animals compete with each other to access limited grazing resources.

Pair 4 is incorrectly matched.  Amensalism is the interaction in which one species is harmed while the other is unaffected, for example, some higher plants like black walnut secrete substances that inhibit the growth of or kill the nearby competing plants. This pair is not correctly matched.

All of the above pollutants are present in the motor vehicle exhaust emissions.

They are part of exhaust emissions produced by motor vehicles. Passenger vehicles are a major pollution contributor, producing significant amounts of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and other pollution. In 2013, transportation contributed more than half of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, and almost a quarter of the hydrocarbons emitted into our air.

An exhaust gas is a gas emitted through a combustion process. The exhaust gas is actually a combination of many different gases: N2, CO2, H2O and O2. Though some are harmless, there are few that are harmful and are considered major pollutants. One of the most dangerous of these is CO (carbon monoxide).

All the statements are correct. Glaciers modify the landscape in a number of ways. They erode the surface, transport and deposit materials of all sizes –ranging from boulders and sand to fine silt.

A glacier armed with pieces of rocks grinds the valley bottom as well as its sides. As a result a valley occupied by a glacier has flat bottoms and steep or vertical sides. As a glacier melts, it leaves mounds of rock debris at its edge. Such mounds of unsorted rock materials left behind by a glacier is called a moraine.

Statement 1 is incorrect. CMS provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals (terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species) and their habitats. CMS brings together the States through which migratory animals pass, the Range States, and lays the legal foundation for internationally coordinated conservation measures throughout a migratory range.

Statement 2 is correct. Migratory species threatened with extinction are listed on Appendix I of the Convention. CMS Parties strive towards strictly protecting these animals, conserving or restoring the places where they live, mitigating obstacles to migration and controlling other factors that might endanger them. Besides establishing obligations for each State joining the Convention, CMS promotes concerted action among the Range States of many of these species.

Both the statements are correct.

Pyramid of energy is always upright, can never be inverted, because when energy flows from a particular trophic level to the next trophic level, some energy is always lost as heat at each step. Each bar in the energy pyramid indicates the amount of energy present at each trophic level in a given time or annually per unit area.

Ecological Pyramid of number and biomass can be both upright and inverted. For example Pyramid of numbers in forest and parasitic food chain is upright and inverted respectively. Pyramid of biomass is upright in forest ecosystem because the biomass of producer is much more than herbivores or consumer which outweigh the biomass of upcoming tropic level (carnivores). However in pond ecosystem, pyramid of biomass is inverted since the producer biomass is less than primary and secondary consumer (biomass of large fish is more than phytoplankton or small producers).

The ‘Aichi Targets’ are associated with Convention on Biological Diversity.

The Aichi Targets are a set of 20, time-bound, measureable targets for the conservation of biodiversity. The Strategic Plan is comprised of a shared vision, a mission, strategic goals and 20 ambitious yet achievable targets, collectively known as the Aichi Targets.