NATURAL VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE
Q. Define: Biome
Ans. Biome is a large geographical area characterized by certain types of plants and animals.
Q. What is meant by Flora and Fauna?
Ans. The vegetation of a place is called Flora and the animals are referred to as Fauna.
Q. What is biodiversity?
Ans. Biodiversity means a variety of life forms.
Q. Why is India a mega biodiverse country?
Ans. Because India experiences diverse geographical and climatic conditions.
Q. What is ecology?
Ans. Ecology is the study of organisms in relation to the surrounding in which they live.
Q. Define: Ecosystem
Ans. An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a
particular area, as well as all the non-living, physical components of the environment with
which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight.
Q. Which geographical features in India are responsible for diverse climatic conditions?
Ans. A variety of geographical features like the Himalayas, deserts, coastal plains etc. are
responsible for diverse climatic conditions.
Q. How have the diverse climatic conditions given rise to mega diversity in India?
Ans. 1) The diverse climatic conditions include the cold and high Himalayas in the North, to the
hot and humid peninsula in the South, from extremely wet North-Eastern green forests to the
extremely dry North-Western arid desert.
2) This has given rise to a variety of plant life ranging from wet ever-green forests of western
ghats and the North-Eastern hills to the dry deciduous forests of central India and the thorny
forests of the Thar desert.
Such diverse conditions support a variety of plant and animal life, thus making India a mega
diversity region.
Q. Name the natural factors that influence the physical characteristics of plants.
Ans. The physical characteristics of plant life like its size, shape, height, leaf type etc. are greatly
influenced by the natural factors like relief, soils, temperature, sunlight and precipitation.
Q. How does relief influence plant life?
Ans. The different elevations of the relief influences climate and temperature conditions.
Therefore, we come across different types of vegetation in the mountains, plateaus and coastal
plains.
Q. How is soil formed?
Ans. Soil is formed by a variety of physical and chemical interaction with the rocks.
Q. How does soil influence plant life?
Ans. The different climatic conditions result in different types of soil varying in fertility. These
soils support different plant life. e.g. desert soils support thorny bushes, marshy soils support
mangrove vegetation.
Q. How does temperature influence plant life?
Ans. Temperature influences physical characteristic of plant like its size, shape, leaves.
Temperature varies according to latitude and altitude. Therefore, Alpine and Temperate forests
are found in the Himalayas and Deciduous forests in the Deccan plateau.
Q. How does sunlight (photo period) affect plant life?
Ans. India receives abundant sunlight as it lies in the tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Therefore, trees grow faster.
Q. How does precipitation affect plant life?
Ans. Areas which receive heavy rainfall support rich vegetation and have more dense
vegetation as compared to areas of less rainfall. E.g. western slopes of western ghats receive
more rainfall therefore have more vegetation as compared to eastern slopes. Similarly, the
southern slopes of the Himalayas have more vegetation than the northern slopes.
Q. Write two points of difference between tropical evergreen forests and tropical deciduous
forests.
Ans.
tropical evergreen forests (rain forest) tropical deciduous forest
1) they are found in areas receiving more 1) they are found in areas receiving rainfall
than 200 cm of rainfall. from 200 cm to 70 cm.
2) the climate in this region is warm and wet 2) this region experiences seasonal changes.
throughout the year.
3) trees do not have a fixed time to shed 3) during dry season these trees shed their
leaves. leaves.
Q. Complete the correlation:
1) Andaman Islands: tropical evergreen forest :: deccan plateau: tropical deciduous forest
2) mahogany: tropical evergreen forest :: sal : tropical deciduous forest
Q. Why do tropical deciduous trees shed their leaves?
Ans. to conserve water.
Q. Write three characteristics of tropical thorn forest.
Ans. 1) Tropical thorn forests are found in dry and semi-arid regions receiving less than 70cm
rainfall.
2) the plants are scattered and have deep roots to get moisture from deep underground.
3) the stems are succulent to conserve water. Leaves are mostly thick and small to
minimize evaporation.
Q. Match the columns:
Column A Column B
1) 1000-2000m wet temperate evergreen broad-leaf trees
2) 1500-3000m temperate coniferous trees
3) 3600m alpine shrubs and scrubs
4) 4500m alpine grasslands
Q. Write two characteristics of Tidal forests.
Ans. 1) Tidal forests are found in areas under the tidal influence along the coasts having a lot of
silt and mud in saline water.
2) Mangroves are the common variety of plants. They have their roots submerged.
Q. What is the importance of mangroves in nature?
Ans. 1) Mangrove forests are rich in animal life. They provide breeding ground for fish, reptiles
and water birds.
2) mangroves prevent erosion and minimize storm impact.
Q. Match the columns:
Column A (bio-geographic regions) Column B (location)
1) Trans-Himalayan region Ladakh and Lahul-Spiti of Himachal Pradesh
2) Desert-Thar region Kutch, Gujarat and Thar
3) Semi-arid region Punjab, Gujarat and Rajasthan
4) Western ghats region coastal plains and mountains of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka
and Kerala
5) Indian coast Western and eastern coastline and deltas of rivers
6) North-East region Brahmaputra valley and Assam Hills
7) Indian islands Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands
Q. Why has vegetation depleted in the Gangetic plains?
Ans. because of deforestation for the extension of agriculture.
Q. Why is it necessary to conserve biodiversity?
Ans. 1) a healthy biodiversity provides humans with raw materials for consumption and
production.
2) it is important to the survival, health and welfare of the human population.
3) it is also an essential part of the solution to climate change, extinction of plants and
animals.
Q. What are the major dangers to wildlife. (any three points)
Ans. (copy from the textbook pg.71)
Q. What steps are taken by government of India for the protection and conservation of
biodiversity. (Any three)
Ans. (copy from the textbook pg.71)
Q. How will you contribute towards conservation of wildlife. (Any three)
Ans. (copy from the textbook, page 71 last paragraph)
Q. On a political outline map of India mark the biosphere reserves in India.
Q. Name the type of forests found in Goa.
Ans. 1. Evergreen and semi-evergreen forest
2. moist deciduous
3. scrubs and thorny forests
4. littoral vegetation
Q. What is littoral vegetation?
Ans. The vegetation found along coastal areas and river valleys close to the river mouth is called
littoral vegetation.
Q. Match the columns:
Column A Column B
1) state animal Gaur (Indian Bison)
2) state bird Ruby throated yellow Bulbul
3) state fish Mullet (shevto)
4) state flower Abolim (red jasmine)
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