Environment Quiz : Environment & Ecology | Nov 16,2020

The environment is not static. Both biotic and abiotic factors are in a flux and keep changing continuously.

Source: Shankar

Consumers – Heterotrophs or phagotrophs (other nourishing): Consumers are incapable of producing their own food (photosynthesis). They depend on organic food derived from plants, animals or both.
Source: NCERT

Ecosystems are capable of maintaining their state of equilibrium. They can regulate their own species structure and functional processes. This capacity of ecosystem of self regulation is known as homeostasis.
Source: NCERT

Ecotone is a zone of junction between two or more diverse ecosystems. For e.g. the mangrove forests represent an ecotone between marine and terrestrial ecosystem. Other examples are – grassland, estuary and river bank.
Source: Shankar

A niche is the unique functional role or place of a species in an ecosystem.
It is a description of all the biological, physical and chemical factors that a species needs to survive, stay healthy and reproduce.
A niche is unique for a species, which means no two species have exact identical niches.
Niche plays an important role in conservation of organisms.
Source: NCERT

The major seagrass meadows in India exist along the southeast coast (Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay) and in the lagoons of islands from Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea to Andaman and Nicobar in the Bay of Bengal.
The Tamil Nadu (southeast) coast harbours all 14 species, while 8 and 9 species have been reported from Lakshadweep and Andaman-Nicobar groups of islands, respectively.  The mainland east coast supports more species than the west coast of India. 
Dense seagrass growth traps flowing sediment and nutrients, and creates a world where life can thrive.
Seagrasses form the basis of one of the most productive ecosystems of the world, providing food and shelter to a diverse community of animals.
The leafy canopies support a bewildering diversity of tiny plants that grow as epiphytes (like moss on trees) and small marine invertebrates, which in turn attract sea anemones and fish, and mega herbivores like green sea turtles and dugongs.
The seagrass meadows with their extensive rhizome and root systems, and leaf growth and epiphytic growth together accumulate a huge amount of biomass.
Source: The Hindu

Carnivorous plants are usually categorized based on the way they catch the insects. There are wide varieties of common predator plants — pitcher plants, sundews, sarracenia, Venus fly trap and butterworts.
Source: The Hindu

Archaea.
Archaea (singular archaeon) are a primitive group of microorganisms that thrive in extreme habitats such as hot springs, cold deserts and hyper-saline lakes.
These slow-growing organisms are also present in the human gut, and have a potential relationship with human health.
They are known for producing antimicrobial molecules, and for anti-oxidant activity with applications in eco-friendly waste-water treatment.
Source: Indian Express

The dominating vegetation of taiga is coniferous evergreen mostly spruce, with some pine and firs. The fauna consists of birds, hawks, fur bearing carnivores, little mink, elks, puma, Siberian tiger, wolverine, wolves etc.
Source: NCERT

The function of an ecosystem is a broad, vast and complete dynamic system. It can be studied under the following three heads.
Energy flow
Nutrient cycling (biogeochemical cycles)
Ecological succession or ecosystem development
Source: Shankar