Environment and Ecology Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 10)

Section 11 requires an objective determination of actual danger or incurable disability, not just fear that an animal might become dangerous.

Section 39 makes many wild animals government property, but vermin under Schedule V are excluded, making “sole property of the government” an inaccurate blanket claim.

Only statement 2 is correct — protection applies equally inside and outside reserves. Vermin under Schedule V are excluded from government ownership (statement 1), and mere apprehension is not sufficient grounds for capture or killing (statement 3).

The Eurasian Spoonbill’s long, flat, spoon-shaped bill, swung through shallow water to catch prey, is its most distinctive identifying feature.

The Golden Mahseer is an endangered freshwater fish found in Himalayan rivers, threatened by dams, pollution, and overfishing.

The Golden Mahseer is a large Himalayan river fish, sometimes called the “Tiger of the Indian Rivers.” The other three are all genuine birds.

Schedule VI was inserted by the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 1991, extending the original 1972 Act’s protection to plant species.

Schedule VI regulates cultivation and trade of specified plants — a licence is required, but cultivation is not banned outright.

The Ceylon frogmouth is named for its unusually wide mouth, not its diet, call, or colour.

The Coppersmith Barbet is named for its repetitive “tuk-tuk-tuk” call, which sounds like a coppersmith hammering metal.

All four are birds — a frogmouth, a barbet, a minivet, and a redstart, spanning the Western Ghats, Himalayas, and Northeast India.

The matriarch’s value comes from decades of accumulated experience with her environment, not genetics or captivity. Her herd benefits directly from her memory of resources and danger.

Karnataka holds India’s largest wild elephant population, ahead of Assam and Kerala, per the Synchronized Elephant Population Estimation.

Elephant herds are led by a matriarch (statement 1), and gestation can run up to 22 months (statement 2), the longest of any land mammal. Cows keep calving well past 40, and Karnataka, not Kerala, has India’s largest elephant population.

The correct answer is ordinary sand. Section 3(e) of the MMDR Act, 1957 classifies building stone, gravel, ordinary clay, and ordinary sand as minor minerals. Iron ore, coal, and bauxite are major minerals, regulated mainly by the Central Government.

The correct answer is that State Governments hold both powers. Under Section 15 of the MMDR Act, 1957, States frame the rules for granting quarry leases, mining leases and other concessions for minor minerals, and they grant the leases. Rules to prevent illegal mining sit separately in Section 23C. Major minerals like coal and iron ore are regulated mainly by the Centre.

The correct answer is triazophos. The 2018 order banned 18 pesticides, and triazophos was among those with a full ban from December 2020. Carbofuran was left out of that list, and a 2023 order later banned all but one formulation. Methyl parathion and phorate were also not part of the 2018 list.

The correct answer is 1 and 3 only. Sand is a minor mineral under Section 3(e) of the MMDR Act, 1957 (statement 1, true). State Governments frame rules to prevent illegal mining, transport and storage of minerals under Section 23C (statement 3, true). Statement 2 is false: under Section 15, the State Governments make the rules for granting minor-mineral leases, so the rule-making power does not lie with the Centre.

The correct answer is Class Ia, the WHO’s most severe hazard tier. Methyl parathion and phorate are organophosphates rated extremely hazardous, meaning even small doses can be fatal. Carbofuran and triazophos sit one notch lower, in Class Ib (highly hazardous).

The correct answer is pesticides in agriculture. Carbofuran, methyl parathion, phorate, and triazophos are all crop-protection chemicals used to kill insects and pests on Indian farms, not food preservatives or cosmetic ingredients.

Clouds reflect and re-radiate the Earth’s outgoing heat back down to the surface, so the ground stays warmer than on a clear night. Since the surface never cools enough to reach the dew point, water vapour cannot condense into dew. [UPSC CSP 2019]

When the surface cools below freezing point, water vapour turns directly into ice instead of liquid water. This is frost, also called hoar frost, and it forms by the same radiative cooling process as dew.

The dew point is the temperature at which air holds all the water vapour it can. Below this temperature, extra vapour condenses into liquid dew.

Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover by absolute area of any Indian state. But its huge total territory keeps its forest-cover percentage lower than Chhattisgarh or Odisha.

Chhattisgarh has the highest share, about 41 percent of its own area under forest cover. It ranks first among these four states on this measure.