Biodiversity and Conservation — Questions & Answers

Sample questions from Biodiversity and Conservation

1. Q1. A student lists India's legally protected in-situ areas as 14 biosphere reserves, 90 national parks and 448 wildlife sanctuaries, and then adds sacred groves to the same list. This addition is:

   • A.Acceptable, because sacred groves are a category under the same legal notification
   • B.Wrong, because sacred groves are an ex-situ measure
   • C.Wrong, because sacred groves conserve only cultivated plants
   • D.Acceptable as in-situ conservation, though sacred groves are community-protected rather than legally notified protected areas✓
   Solution

   Sacred groves are tracts of forest protected by tribal communities on religious grounds, so they conserve species in their natural habitat and are in-situ. They are, however, culturally rather than legally protected, unlike the 14 biosphere reserves, 90 national parks and 448 sanctuaries.

2. Q2. Cryopreservation, an advanced ex-situ conservation technique, specifically involves:

   • A.Storing gametes, embryos, tissues, or seeds at extremely low temperatures to preserve genetic material viability for extended periods, potentially decades✓
   • B.Exposing biological material to very high temperatures to destroy genetic material
   • C.A technique with no relationship to genetic material preservation
   • D.Only applicable to fully grown adult organisms, never gametes or embryos
   Solution

   Cryopreservation involves storing biological material (such as sperm, eggs, embryos, or seeds) at extremely low temperatures (often using liquid nitrogen), which can preserve genetic material viability for extended periods, supporting genetic diversity conservation and potential future breeding programs.

3. Q3. India has 2.4 per cent of the world's land area and about 8.1 per cent of its recorded species. The ratio of India's species share to its area share is closest to:

   • A.0.3
   • B.3.4✓
   • C.1.0
   • D.10.9
   Solution

   The ratio is 8.1 divided by 2.4, which is about 3.4, so India holds over three times the diversity that its land area alone would predict. This disproportion is the quantitative basis for calling India a megadiverse nation.

4. Q4. Prokaryotic species are generally NOT included in the conventional global estimates of species diversity mainly because:

   • A.Prokaryotes are considered non-living
   • B.Conventional taxonomic methods are unsuitable for them and many cannot be cultured in the laboratory✓
   • C.Their numbers are too small to matter
   • D.They are all identical genetically
   Solution

   Prokaryote species are defined and identified with difficulty using conventional morphological taxonomy, and a large fraction cannot be cultured under laboratory conditions. If biochemical or molecular criteria were used, their diversity alone could run into millions.

5. Q5. Compared with the pre-human rate of extinction, the current rate at which species are being lost is estimated to be faster by a factor of:

   • A.2 to 5 times
   • B.100 to 1,000 times✓
   • C.10,000 to 1,00,000 times
   • D.The rates are the same
   Solution

   Careful analysis of fossil records and current data suggests present extinction rates are 100 to 1,000 times faster than in pre-human times. If trends continue, nearly half of all species could be lost within the next 100 years.

Other Class 12 Biology chapters