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India is one among 15 nations that are rich in species diversity.

Edward Wilson

1.7 to 1.8 million

Amphibians live in terrestrial habitat but for sexual reproduction they depend on aquatic habitat. Habitat loss affects the amphibians more greatly than other animal groups because it requires both the habitat for its survival

Scientists make a statistical comparison of the temperate-tropical species richness of an exhaustively studied group of insects and extrapolate this ratio to other groups of animals and plants to come up with a gross estimate of the total number of species on earth.

Humans derive countless direct economic benefits from nature. For example: ‘

1. Food (cereals, pulses, fruits)

2. Firewood

3. Fibre

4. Construction material .

5. Industrial products (tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes)

6. Products of medicinal importance.

(i) Volcanic storms

(ii) Co-extinctions

Size: On one hand, there are micros­copic bacteria of a new micrometre in size and on the other hand, there are blue whales (about 30 metres) in animals, and redwood trees of California, about 100 metres tall.

Life span: Some pine trees live for thousands of years, while insects like mosquitoes live only for a few days.

Appearance: There are some species which are colourless and transparent also. On the other hand, there are various colourful birds, butterflies and other beautiful animals, and attractive plants, with coloured leaves and flowers.

Seeds are formed in fruits.

Frog belongs to class Amphibia.

Carolus Linnaeus.

The special characteristics which help the plants and animals to live successfully in a particular environment are called adaptations.

Cynobacteria belongs to kingdom monera.

The answer is (A) the generic name followed by a species name, that begins with a small letter

Robert H. Whittaker in 1969.

Nomenclature is a system of assigning scientific names to the organisms, listed in any classification. Scientific names consist of two words in which the first word represents the genus and the second word represents species. It is a unique name assigned to an organism and can be used to identify it, anywhere in the world. Certain conventions are followed while writing the scientific names: 

(i) The name of the genus begins with a capital letter. 

(ii) When written by hand, the genus and the species names have to be underlined separately. 

(iii) When printed, the scientific name is given in italics. 

(iv) The name of the species begins with a small letter.

The answer is (C) Protista

The answer is (A) Thallophyta

The answer is (B) Root system well developed

Aquatic habitat is one of the most important habitats, where a large number of animals live. The aquatic, habitats include, both freshwater and marine water animals. Aquatic adaptations develop due to an aquatic mode of live animals, like those of fishes, mammals, like the seal, dolphin, whales, etc. 

The structural and functional adaptations of aquatic animals are: 

1. for movement. 

2. for protection of the body. 

3. for feeding. 

4. for obtaining dissolved oxygen. 

5. for remaining buoyant in water, 

6. for balancing the fluctuations, in pressure. 

The aquatic adaptations for aquatic animals to their aquatic life, are as follows: 

1. The body of most of the aquatic animals is streamlined or spindle-shaped. Their body is laterally compressed and offers the least resistance to motion, as the fish swims. 

2. The animals locomote in water by fins (in fishes), flippers (in whales) or, webbed feet (in frogs and ducks), for swimming in water. 

3. The body is covered with waterproof, scales, cuticle, shell and a slippery substance for reducing the surface tension. 

4. Aquatic animals possess the ability to feed in water. 

5. Swim bladder and gills are the main respiratory organs in aquatic animals. Gills have a large surface area, to extract oxygen dissolved in water. In mammals, lungs are the respiratory organ. 

6. Hair, skin glands and oil glands are absent, in aquatic animals. 

7. Aquatic animals are generally larger in size.

The organisms which do not have a well-defined nucleus, membrane-bound cell organelles and multicellular body designs, are grouped under the kingdom Monera. The organisms which are unicellular and eukaryotic are grouped under the kingdom Protista.

Platypus and Echidna.

Frog from class Amphibia respire through gills, lungs and skin.

Cryophytes: Cryophytes are the plants which grow in cold regions. Ex- Salmonella, moss, lichen etc. These plants grow when ice melts and complete their life cycle in a small period of time. They have short life-span e.g., plants like salmonella, a flowering plant, which grows when the ice melt with heat. Flower only grow outside the plant.

The answer is (B) Virus

The answer is (A) Oviparous

The animals who live and flourish, mainly on land, but come to the trees or its branches for safety and shelter, are called arboreal animals. For example, monkey, flying lizard, flying squirrel, bats, birds, etc. 

The bird and bats are adapted for the aerial mode of life. Main adaptation in aerial animals are as follows: 

(i) The body of birds is streamlined i.e., spindle shaped, for the easy and swift passage through the air. 

(ii) Forelimbs are modified into wings, for flying in. 

(iii) The entire body of birds is covered by light, elastic and waterproof feathers. They also help in maintaining body temperature. 

(iv) Birds have hollow bones, strong flight muscles light body covering, sharp eyesight, modified beaks and tails. Birds do not have teeth and urinary bladder. 

(v) Ovary and oviduct are single, lungs are provided with air sacs, which are air filled and make the body light. 

(vi) The feet of birds are modified, for climbing and perching.

The answer is (B) Angiosperm

Gymnosperms are perennial plants. They are mostly trees or shrubs, e.g., Pinus. Pinus is evergreen plant and differentiated into root, stem and leaves. It has a taproot system. The main roots, however, is not very long and the lateral roots are extensively spread out. They show symbiotic association with soil fungus. This relationship is called mycorrhiza. 

Coralloid root: In some plants, like cycas small adventitious branches arise from primary roots, in contact with cyanobacteria, which fixes the nitrogen from the atmosphere.

The answer is (C) Presence of a nerve cord and gill cleft.

Class-Mammalia: It includes big animals, like Kangaroo, bat, monkey, cow and man. Developed mammary glands are found in females, mothers feed milk to young ones secreted by mammary glands. Their body is divided into head, neck, thorax and tail. Hairs are present on the body. Ear pinnae (External ear) is present. They are warm-blooded. They respire through the lungs. The heart is four-chambered. The heart has 2 auricles and 2 ventricles. Most of the mammals are viviparous. 

Examples are: Pteropus (bat), Homo (man), Herpestes (mongoose), Ratus (rat), Panthera (lion, tiger).

Difference between Chordata and Non-Chordata:

(i) Animals of sub-kingdom Chordata have a notochord, in some stage of their life. Non-chordate animals do not have a notochord, in any stage of their life. 

(ii) Chordates have nerve cord on the mid-dorsal surface. In non-chordates, nerve cord is absences, or if present then it is on the mid-ventral surface. 

(iii) Chordates have pharyngeal gill clefts in some stage of life. In non-chordates, the pharynx does not have any cleft at any stage of life.

In Trapa, the assimilatory root becomes green for photosynthesis. These greenish roots remain hanging in the air. Their main function is photosynthesis. They manufacture food material for the plant.

Halophytes are present in water-logged conditions and so, the roots in the soil do not get air for respiration. Thus, underground roots grow above the surface of the soil and are called aerial respiratory roots or pneumatophores. They are negatively geotropic. Aerial respiratory roots appear like conical spikes coming out of the water. They have numerous aerating pores, that help in respiration.

The answer is (C) Sunken stomata

Animals of class Aves and Mammalia.

Unicellular animals have no organs, only loosely aggregated cells are found.

(a) The blue whale is the largest existing mammal. 

(b) The elephant is the largest land mammal.

Ozone hole was discovered in Antarctica.

Many bacteria are not culturable under normal conditions in the laboratory. This becomes a problem in studying their morphological, biochemical and other characterizations which are useful for their assessment.

In general, species diversity decreases as we move away from the equator towards the poles.

The possible reason could be as follows:

1. Temperature decreases as we move away from the equator towards the poles.

2. The intensity of sun light decreases as we move away from the equator towards the poles and hence productivity. 

3. In polar regions the temperature is very low so most of the organisms cannot survive in that habitat.

In India, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981, Amendment 1987, includes noise as an air pollutant.

Correct option is (a) Clarlas gariepinus

Correct option is (a) quick nutrient cycling

(a) Habitat loss and fragmentation, Over exploitation, Alien species invasion, Coextinctions

The 'Evil Quartet‘ is used as a sobriquet to refer to the cause of loss of biodiversity : 

(i) Habitat loss and fragmentation : When large habitats are broken up into smaller fragments due to various human activities, the animals requiring large territories (elephants, birds etc.) are badly affected and their populations decline. 

(ii) Over-exploitation : When need of a resource becomes greed. e.g., over exploitation of passenger pigeon led to its extinction. Also marine fish is at brink of being endangered due to over exploitations. 

(iii) Alien species invasion : Intentional or non-Intentional introduction of a species to a nearby area may disturb the harmony of existing species. e.g., Eichhornia after introduction posed a big threat to the native species. 

(iv) Co-extinction : Extinction of one species invariably leads to extinction of another when they are associated with each other in an obligatory way. e.g., when host species is extinct, obligate parasites dependent on it also die. 

(v) We grieve for the loss of genes, because the wild forms are hardy and more resistant to pathogen attack and can be beneficial in crop breeding programmes.

1. Floods of Western Maharashtra were mainly due to unseasonal and extremely heavy rain caused by climate change events. 

2. The floods had hit the districts of Kolhapur and Sangli hard. Sangli got completely marooned: There was no electric supply for extended period. 

3. Over two lakh people were living without electricity in affected areas

4. Lack of food and drinking water was a main problem. 

5. Several water-supply schemes became dysfunctional. 

6. Fields were completely ruined as crops were damaged. In Kolhapur district alone crops over 67,000 hectares were damaged.

 7. Large number of cattle were dead. 

8. Houses were destroyed completely. Thousands of people were shifted to safer places. 

9. About 223 villages in district of Kolhapur suffered a lot. 18 out of these have been completely marooned. 

10. About 28,897 persons were affected out of which 8,923 people were shifted. 

11. 813 houses were affected in the district, out of which 89 are completely damaged. There was also the scarcity of petrol and diesel.

12. The Mumbai-Bengaluru National Highway, which passes through Kolhapur was dysfunctional and hence transport was also affected.

In Indian culture and traditions in different religions, biodiversity is protected and conserved. Few examples of worship of animals and plants can be given here.

1. Nagpanchami festival is towards the respect of snakes. They are worshipped on that day and the local people are aware of their role in ecosystem of control of rat population. 

2. Vatapournima festival is worshipping a banyan tree. 

3. Various other festivals teach the value of plants and animals surrounding us. Even the cattle are worshipped on a particular day as a tradition. 

4. Jain religion strongly advocates protection of all animals through vegetarianism.

Conservation in terms of utilitarian reasons: The conservation of biodiversity can be done in utilitarian way or for ethical reasons. Utilitarian reasons are further classified into narrowly utilitarian and broadly utilitarian reasons:

I. Narrowly utilitarian reasons:

1. Humans always reap material benefits from biodiversity in the form of resources for basic needs such as food, clothes, shelter. 

2. Industrial products like resins, tannins, perfume base, etc. are also obtained through biodiversity resources. 

3. For making ornaments or artefacts for aesthetic purpose, again biodiversity is sacrificed. 

4. Many medicines are also obtained through biodiversity resources which shares 25% of global medicine market. 

5. Around 25000 species are used for traditional medicines by tribal population worldwide. 

6. Bioprospecting which is a systematic search for development of new sources of chemical compounds, genes, microorganisms, macroorganisms, and other valuable products from nature which is of economically important species is also due to biodiversity

II. Broadly utilitarian reasons:

1. Production of oxygen done by all green plants helps human beings to thrive. Amazon forest alone gives 25% of the oxygen to the entire world. 

2. Insects carry out pollination and seed dispersal. 

3. If insects do not carry out pollination and seed dispersal, man would go hungry without crops and fruits. 

4. Biodiversity also is useful in recreation of human beings.

III. Taking all these aspects in consideration, conservation of biodiversity becomes essential. Therefore, to protect and conserve our rich biodiversity on the planet, we have to remember all the utilitarian reasons.

1. Government of India has introduced the concept of Joint Forest Management (JFM) for working closely with local communities who protect and manage forests. 

2. In return, for their services to the forest, the communities can get benefit of various forest products (Fruits, gum, rubber, medicine, etc.).

3. This is done with the idea to conserve the forest in a sustainable manner. 

4. JFM has started from 1980.

Amazon forest is called the “lungs of the planet”. Human activities which are being carried out in this region are

• Grazing of beef cattle
• Cultivation of soya bean crop.