Day-242 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

Answer: D
Explanation:
• Detritivores are heterotrophic organisms and it gets nutrition by feeding on detritus, which is an organic matter consisting of dead plants and animals. Detritivores also use the feeding strategy which involves the consumption of feces, called coprophagy to get nutrition. Also, detritivores break down the organic matter by oral digestion and absorb its nutrients. Typical detritivores animals include millipedes, springtails, woodlice, dung flies, slugs, many terrestrial worms, sea stars, sea cucumbers, fiddler crabs.
• Hence, all of the given options are correct.

Answer: A
Explanation:
• Statement 1 is correct: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to it under the said Act.
• NTCA has been fulfilling its mandate within the ambit of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 for strengthening tiger conservation in the country by retaining an oversight through advisories/normative guidelines, based on appraisal of tiger status, ongoing conservation initiatives and recommendations of specially constituted Committees.
• The ‘Project Tiger’ is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, providing funding support to tiger range States for in-situ conservation of tigers in designated tiger reserves, and has put the endangered tiger on an assured path of recovery by saving it from extinction, as revealed by the recent findings of the All-India tiger estimation using the refined methodology.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: The Minister for Environment & Forests is the current Chairperson of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

Answer: D
Explanation:
• Mukandra Hills Tiger Reserve (Rajasthan): is named after two continuous flat topped, almost parallel hills with narrow central ridges, forming part of the Vindhyan range and extending from river Chambal to Kalisindh, with a length of almost 80 km. and the width ranging from 2 to 5 km. The tiger reserve was constituted in the year 2013 which encompasses the area of Mukandra National Park, Dara Sanctuary, Jawahar Sagar Sanctuary and part of Chambal Sanctuary (from Garadia Mahadev to Jawahar Sagar Dam), forming its core / critical tiger habitat. The forests of Kota, Chittorgarh and Jhalawar are included in the buffer.
• The Sanjay-Dhubri tiger reserve (Madhya Pradesh) is spread over an area 1674.511 sq. km. and consists of Sanjay National Park and Dubri Sanctuary along with buffer areas taken from Sidhi and Shahdol districts. It is situated on the north eastern part of the state of MP and is bordered by the Guru Ghasidas National Park on south, of which it was a part before formation of Chattisgarh in the year 2000. The reserve is part of the Bandhavgarh-Sanjay-Guru Ghasidas-Palamau landscape, and has been identified as one of four potential tiger meta-population landscapes which require conservation inputs. The terrain of Dubri sanctuary is almost plain while that of Sanjay National Park is undulating. Various perennial rivers flow through the reserve viz. Gopad, Banas, Mawai, Mahan, Kodmar, Umrari and others.
• Satkosia Tiger Reserve is located in the heartland of Odisha and spread over four districts viz. Angul, Cuttack, Boudh and Nayagarh. The terrain is hilly with moderate to steep slopes and narrow valleys. The General elevation varies from 37 Mtrs. to 932 Mtrs. The lowest point is 37 m. on the view bed at Katrang and the highest peak is Sunakhania at 932m.The river Mahanadi flows through the valleys in the middle of the Reserve.
• The Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve (Chhattisgarh)includes total area of Udanti&Sitanadi Wildlife Sanctuaries, some parts of Tourenga, Mainpur, Indagaon and Kulhadighat ranges of Udanti Forest Division, Gariyaband District, parts of Dhawalpur range of East Raipur and parts of Sankara range of Dhamatari Forest Division, Dhamtari District. The Core I (Udanti) of the Tiger Reserve was declared as Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary in 1984 by the then undivided Government of Madhya Pradesh. It is a small but important Wildlife Sanctuary located in the Gariyaband district of Chhattisgarh. Apart from having good habitat for tigers, it is also contiguous to Khariar Forest Division of Odisha State and acts as Buffer for Sonabeda WLS. Hence, the location of the reserve becomes significant since it shares its boundary with another proposed tiger reserve forming one (Chhattisgarh-Odisha) Tiger Conservation Unit.
• Dampa Tiger Reserve is in the western limit of Mizoram. On the West, the reserve is bound by the Chittagong hill tracts (Sazek hill range) of Bangladesh. The terrain is hilly with elevation ranging from 49 to 1095 m. above mean sea level. The tract is dissected by numerous drainages.

Answer: B
Explanation:
● The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty which comes under United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. The Minamata Convention on Mercury is the most recent global agreement on environment and health, adopted in 2013. It is named after the bay in Japan where, in the mid-20th century, mercury-tainted industrial wastewater poisoned thousands of people, leading to severe health damage that became known as the “Minamata disease.” Hence, statement 1 is correct.
● It is a legally binding treaty. Hence, statement 3 is also correct.
● India is a signatory to the Convention. On 18 June 2018, the Government of India deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 93nd Party to the Minamata Convention. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
● Since it entered into force on 16 August 2017, Parties have been working together to control the mercury supply and trade, reduce the use, emission and release of mercury, raise public awareness, and build the necessary institutional capacity to #MakeMercuryHistory.

Answer: D
Explanation:
● Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary (KBS) is a unique wetland ecosystem located in Jamnagar district on the southern coast of the Gulf of Kutch, of Gujarat state. KBS is one of the Important Bird Areas (IBA) from Gujarat state.
● Haiderpur wetland in Uttar Pradesh has been recognised as the 47th Ramsar site in India.Haiderpur wetland is a part of the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary. It is one of the largest man-made wetlands that formed in 1984.
● KabartalWetland, also known as Kanwar Jheel, covers 2,620 hectares of the Indo-Gangetic plains in the Begusarai district of Bihar. It acts as a vital flood buffer for the region besides providing livelihood opportunities to local communities.
● Maharana Pratap Sagar, also known as Pong Reservoir or Pong Dam Lake is a large reservoir in Fatehpur, Jawali and Dehra tehsil of Kangra district of the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. It was created in 1975, by building the highest earth fill dam in India on the Beas River in the wetland zone of the Siwalik Hills.
● Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary is a human-made freshwater wetland, and is the largest wetland in Haryana State. The wetland was declared as a protected area in 1986 and was designated as an Eco-sensitive zone by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2011.
Hence, option D is correct.