Past Entrance Paper

Hint

Answer (1)
Sol. Totipotency is defined as the capacity to generate a whole plant from any cell of the plant.

Hint

Answer (2)
Sol. The type of conservation in which threatened species are taken out from their natural habitat and placed in special setting where they can be protected and given special care is called ex-situ conservation which is a type of biodiversity conservation.

Hint

Answer (3)
Sol. Protoplast of two varieties of plants are fused in somatic hybridization.

Hint

Answer (1)
Sol. Habitat loss and fragmentation is the most important cause driving animals and plants to extinction.

Hint

Answer (2)
Sol. In-situ conservation means on site conservation i.e. when we conserve and protect the whole ecosystem, its biodiversity at all levels is protected.
National parks are type of in-situ conservation.
Whereas, micropropagation, cryopreservation and in-vitro fertilisation are methods of ex-situ conservation.

Hint

(d) : Ex situ conservation is conservation of selected rare or threatened animals and plants in places outside their natural homes. It includes offsite collections like botanical gardens, zoological parks, wildlife safari parks, cte., and gene banks.

Hint

(b) : Alexander von Humboldt described species area relationship for the first time. He observed that within a region, species richness increases with increasing explored area, but only upto a limit.

Hint

(d) : Core zone or Natural zone area of a biosphere reserve is undisturbed and legally protected ecosystem. No human activity is allowed in this zone. Little human activity is allowed in the buffer zone whereas in transition zone, an active cooperation is present between reserve management and local people for activities like settlements, cropping, etc. Restoration region is degraded area which is selected for restoration to near natural form.

Hint

(c) : Biodiversity hotspots are a method to identify those regions of the world where attention is needed to address biodiversity loss and to guide investments in conservation. The idea was first developed by Norman Myers in 1988 to identify tropical forests hotspots characterised both by exceptional levels of plant endemism and serious habitat loss which he then expanded to a more global scope. Currently 34 biodiversity hotspots have been identified most of which occur in tropical forests.

Hint

(c) : Parthenium hysterophorus is commonly known as congress grass or carrot weed. It is herbaceous annual plant of Family Asteraceae. It is a deadly invasive, noxious weed infesting cropped and non-cropped areas. It rapidly colonises area replacing the native vegetation and causes a number of human health related problems such as skin allergy, rhinitis and eye irritations. Also, being toxic and unpalatable it causes fodder scarcity. Hence, it is considered a threat to the biodiversity.

Hint

(c) : A red data book or red list is a catalogue of taxa facing risk of extinction. Red data book or red list was initiated in 1963.

Hint

(d)

Hint

(d) : River dolphin found in holy river Ganga, Brahmaputra, Indus and its tributaries is the National aquatic animal of India. Presence of river dolphin in Ganga indicates pure and freshwater.

Hint

(a) : Destruction of natural habitat causes the most serious threat to the biodiversity. Overpopulation, urbanisation and industrialisation lead to the destruction or fragmentation of natural habitats to fulfill the requirement of additional land. Loss of habitat results in annihilation of plants, microorganisms and forcing out of animals which in alien lands die out after some time. Fragmentation of habitats results in disruption of complex interactions amongst species, destruction of species in the cleared regions, annihilation of species restricted to deeper undisturbed parts of forests and decreased biodiversity in the habitat fragments.

Hint

(a)

Hint

(c): In situ (on site) conservation is conservation and protection of the whole ecosystem and its biodiversity at all levels, in order to protect the threatened species. Two in situ methods are being used to save biodiversity viz., hotspots and protected areas. Protected areas include national parks, sanctuaries, biosphere reserves and sacred groves. Ex situ (off site) conservation is conservation of selected rare plants/animals in places outside their natural homes. Ex situ conservation includes offsite collections, seed banks, gene banks, in vitro fertilization, cryopreservation techniques and tissue culture.

Hint

(d) : Cryopreservation is an advanced method of ex situ conservation. It involves preservation at \(-196^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\) in liquid nitrogen. It can maintain tissue culture, embryos, animal cells/tissues, spermatozoa indefinitely. The cryopreserved material is revived through special technique, when required.

Hint

(b): In situ (on site) conservation is conservation and protection of the whole ecosystem and its biodiversity at all levels, in order to protect the threatened species. Two in situ methods are being used to save biodiversity viz., hotspots and protected areas. Protected areas include national parks, sanctuaries, biosphere reserves and sacred groves. Ex situ (off site) conservation is conservation of selected rare plants/animals in places outside their natural homes. Ex situ conservation includes offsite collections, seed banks, gene banks, in vitro fertilization, cryopreservation techniques and tissue culture.

Hint

(c): The taxon under critically endangered category are facing very high risk of extinction in the wild and can become extinct at any moment in the immediate future.

Hint

(b) : IUCN is International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources which is now called World Conservation Union \((\mathrm{WCU})\). It has its headquarters at Morges, Switzerland. It maintains a red data book or red list which is a catalogue of taxa facing risk of extinction. Red data book or red list was initiated in 1963. The Red list of year 2000 has made assessment of 18,000 species.

Hint

(d)

Hint

(a) : Ex situ conservation is conservation of selected rare plants/animals in places outside their natural homes. It includes botanical gardens or zoological parks, seed banks, cryopreservation, field gene banks and sacred plants. Many wild and domesticated species are well managed and collected in botanical gardens, zoological parks, wildlife safari parks, arboreta etc. Most of these have capture breeding programmes to restore the decreasing number of animals and helping the survival of existing individuals of the species. Gene banks are institutes that maintain stocks of viable seeds (seed banks), live plants (orchards), tissue culture and frozen germplasm with the whole range of genetic viability.

Hint

(a): Fungi is a large kingdom of over 72,000 species. They are achlorophyllous, heterotrophic, spore forming, non-vascular, eukaryotic organisms which contain chitin or fungal cellulose in their walls and possess glycogen as food reserve. They are major decomposers of many ecosystems and are associate of many organisms.

Hint

(b) : Nagarjunasagar – Srisailam Tiger Reserve is the largest tiger reserve in India. It is present in Andhra Pradesh with a total area of \(3568 \mathrm{~km}^2\). The core area of this reserve is \(1200 \mathrm{~km}^2\).

Hint

(d) : Genetic diversity is the diversity in the numbers and types of genes as well as chromosomes present in different species and the variations in the genes and their alleles in the same species. Oryza sativa (rice) has \(32,000-50,000\) genes.

Hint

(a): 

Hint

(d) : Hotspots are areas with high density of biodiversity or megadiversity which are also the most threatened ones. Ecologically hotspots are determined by four factors – number of species/ species diversity, degree of endemism, degree of threat to habitat due to its degradation and fragmentation, and degree of exploitation. India has three hotspots : Indo-Burma, Himalayas and Western Ghats – Sri Lanka. India is even otherwise a country of megadiversity with \(2.4 \%\) of land area and having \(8.1 \%\) of global diversity. Major centres of biodiversity are Agasthyamalai hills, Silent valley and Amambalam reserve. There is high degree of endemism as well as richness of species of flowering plants, amphibians, reptiles, some mammals and butterflies.

Hint

(c):

Hint

(d) : Sacred grove is an example of in situ conservation of forests and wildlife especially rare and threatened species. These forest patches are found around places of worship which are held in high esteem by tribal communities. They are the most undisturbed forest patches which are often surrounded by highly degraded landscapes. Not a single branch is allowed to be cut from these forests. As a result many endemic species which are rare or have become extinct elsewhere can be seen to flourish here. Such sacred groves are found in Khasi and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya, Aravalli hills of Rajasthan, Western ghat regions of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Sarguja, Chanda and Bastar areas of Madhya Pradesh.

Hint

(b) : Insects have highest number of species found in nature. The insecta is the largest class of animals. It has over \(7,00,000\) species. The insects are the most successful land invertebrates and the only major competitors with humans for dominance in the world.

Hint

(d)

Hint

(b) : Biodiversity (biological diversity) is the existence of a wide variety of species (species diversity) or other taxa of plants, animals and microorganisms in a natural community or habitat, or of communities within a particular environment (ecological diversity), or of genetic variation within a species (genetic diversity). The maintenance of a high level of biodiversity is important for the stability of ecosystems.

Hint

(d) : Predator and prey evolve together. The prey is part of the predator’s environment, and the predator dies if it does to get food, so it evolves whatever is necessary in order to eat the prey. Likewise, the predator is part of the prey’s environment, and the prey dies if it is eaten by the predator, so it evolves whatever is necessary to avoid being eaten. So, predators cannot lead to the extinction of prey species.

Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the night shade family of plants (Solanaceae) that constitutes approximately \(0.6-3.0 \%\) of dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots and accumulation occurring in the leaves. Strychnine is an alkaloid plant toxin extracted chiefly from \(N u x\) vomica; formerly used as a stimulant. These are not metabolic disorder products but are metabolic wastes. \(\square\)

Hint

(b) :

Hint

(d) : The Indian rhinoceros is a endemic of north-east region of India. Kaziranga National Park (Assam) is famous for rhinoceros.

Hint

(a)

Hint

(b) : Gir National Park is situated in district Junagarh of Gujarat. This national park is famous for Asiatic lion. Beside lion, panther, striped hyaena, sambhar, nilgai, cheetal are also conserved.

Hint

(a): Species diversity is related to the variety in the number and richness of the species within a region and is measured at the level of ‘species’. Thus, it is the product of species richness and species evenness. Species richness refers to the number of species per unit area. As the area of the site increases, the number of species also increases due to more availability of natural resources. Species evenness is the relative abundance with which each species is represented in an area. Thus, variation in the number of species, kinds of species as well as the number of individuals per species lead to greater diversity. In the given table, the area which shows maximum species diversity is ‘s’.

Hint

(a)

Hint

(b) : Conservation of biodiversity is a collective responsibility of all nations. The historic Convention on Biological Diversity (‘The Earth Summit’) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, called upon all nations to take appropriate measures for conservation of biodiversity and sustainable utilisation of its benefits. In a follow-up, the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa, 190 countries pledged their commitment to achieve by 2010 , a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at global, regional and local levels.

Hint

(a) : In India, large variety of exotic animal and plant species have been introduced from other parts of the world through the ages. Some exotic plants have turned into weeds, multiplying fast and causing harm to the ecosystem, e.g. water hyacinth and Lantana camara.

Hint

(d) : Dachigam National Park is located only 22 kilometers from Srinagar, the capital city of the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. Dachigam is considered home to some of the unique Himalayan range of flora and fauna. Primary amongst them is the hangul or Kashmiri stag, the most endangered species of red deer in the world. It was finally upgraded and declared a National Park in the year 1981.

Hint

(d) : An endangered species is a population of an organism which are at risk of becoming extinct because it is either a few in number or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters.Podophyllum is such an endangered species of Indian medicinal plants. They contain, podophyllotoxin and podophyllin that is used as a purgative and as a cytostatic. They are also grown as ornamental plants for their attractive foliage and flowers. Extracts of plants are used for genital warts and some skin cancers.

Hint

(b):

Hint

(b) : An endangered species is a living organism in danger of disappearing from the face of the earth if it is not protected and its situation is not improved. Red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and Bentinckia nicobarica are endangered organisms of India. The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) faces problems with human encroachment into its habitat. Bentinckia nicobarica is a fast-growing, slender and elegant, pinnate palm from the Nicobar Islands in the Andaman Sea, North of Sumatra.

Hint

(c) : In situ conservation means “on-site conservation”. In situ conservation is the protection and management of important components of biological diversity through a network of protected areas e.g., National Park, sanctuary, biosphere reserve, etc. Botanical gardens come under ex situ conservation.

Hint

(c) : Kaziranga National Park of Assam is known for the conservation of rhinoceros.

Hint

(d) : Biodiversity Act of India provides for conservation of biological diversity, substainable use of its components and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of biological resources, knowledge and for matters connected there with or incidental there to. The biodiversity act of India was passed in 2002. This act of parliament received the assent of President of India on the \(5^{\text {h }}\) February 2003.

Hint

(d) : According to IUCN Red list, the status of Red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is endangered species. Endangered species are those species that are facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. This category is used when the species suffered a population reduction of \(80 \%\) or more.
Vulnerable species have sufficient population at present but are depleting fast. e.g., Golden langur, leopard cat. Extinct species no longer exist, e.g., Dodo. Critically endangered species are threatened to a greater extent.

Hint

(b) : Biosphere reserves are multipurpose protected areas of different representative ecosystems which are meant for conservation of biodiversity or wildlife, traditional life style of tribals and their domesticated animals and also plant resources. Each biosphere reserve has a core zone (where no human activity is allowed), a buffer zone (with limited human activity) and manipulation zone (where human activity is allowed without degradation of ecology. Thus, the biosphere reserves protect not just wild varieties but also domesticated varieties of plants of an area.

Hint

(a) : IUCN Red List (2004) documents the extinction of 784 species (including 338 vertebrate species, 359 invertebrate species and 87 plant species) in the last 500 years. On worldwide basis, more than 15,500 species are facing the threat of extinction. At present, \(12 \%\) of the bird species, \(23 \%\) of mammal species, \(32 \%\) of amphibian species and \(\)31 \%\(\) of gymnosperm species are facing the threat of extinction in the world. Several endangered mammalian species are Panthera pandus (Leopard), Panthera leo persica (Lion), Presbytis pilaetus (capped langur) etc.

Hint

(d) : Chiru or the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsoni) is medium-sized bovid which is about \(1.2 \mathrm{~m}\) in height. Its coat is grey to reddish brown, with a white underside. The Chiru’s wool, known as the shahtoosh, is worm, soft and fine. The wool can only be obtained by killing the animal. It is listed as endangered by the world conservation union and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service due to commercial poaching for its wool.

Hint

(c) : Wildlife refers to all living organisms (terrestrial, aquatic and aerial) living in all possible natural habitats of their own, other than the cultivated plants and domesticated animals. Thus “wildlife” does not exist only in jungles and are hunted down but wild life includes even the migrating birds, turtles, coral reefs, microorganisms, insects, fishes, etc.
Several hundred organisms are endangered or on the verge of extinction. The reasons are deforestation, pollution, killing, over exploitation etc. The most important among them is deforestation or destruction of their natural habitat because it will affect the species (flora and fauna) of complete area and not only the few organisms. The natural habitat may be destroyed by man for his settlements, grazing grounds, agriculture, mining, industries, dam building etc. As a consequence of this, the species must adapt to the changes, move elsewhere or may succumb to predation, starvation or disease, and eventually dies.