EVS QP—Set I

Q1: Answer any two of the following. ( 5+5=10)

a. What are renewable and non-renewable resources? Explain both the terms with examples.
b. What are ecological pyramids? Explain them with suitable examples.
c. Elucidate the functions and structure of grassland ecosystem.

Q2: Answer any 2 of the following. ( 5+5=10)

a. Explicate the natural and man-made pollutants that cause air pollution.
b. Expound the term “hotspots of biodiversity”. Discuss the salient features of these hotspots.
c. What is consumerism? Discuss the negative impacts of consumerism.

Q3: Answer any 2 of the following. ( 5+5=10)

a. Discuss the importance of the Water (Prevention and Pollution Control) Act of India
b. “Each year, close to eleven million children worldwide are estimated to have died from the
effects of disease and inadequate nutrition. Most of these deaths are in the developing world.”
Discuss the above statement by enumerating the possible reasons for children deaths.
c. Analyze the sources, effects and control of noise pollution.

Q4: Write short notes on 2 of the following: ( 5+5=10)

a. Rain Water harvesting

b. Tsunami and it’s possible causes
c. Biomagnification

Q5: (10)
“ For all development projects, whether Government or Private, the Ministry of Environment & Forests requires an
impact assessment done by a competent organisation. The EIA must look into physical, biological and social
parameters.”
Enumerate the environmental data to be collected and considered in EIA for a project.
Synoptic answers

Q1:

a. Renewable resources are any resource that cycles or can be replaced within a human life span.
Examples include: water, crops, wind, soil, sunlight, animals, etc… Wind – caused by the uneven
heating of the Earth. Not only renewable but inexhaustible.
Sun – light from the sun supports all the life on Earth as we know it. Also considered
inexhaustible.
Water – constantly renewed/replenished by the water cycle.
Biomass fuels – are organic matter (wood, plants, animal residues, etc…) that contain stored
solar energy
Geothermal energy – the heat generated deep within the Earth. Fueled by the decay of
radioactive elements. Used to heat water.
Nonrenewable Resources--Any resource that cannot be replaced during the time of a human life
span.
Took thousands of years to form and exist in fixed amounts in the Earth. They need to be
conserved before they become depleted.
Fossil Fuels--In developing countries, the fossil fuels are fossilized wood, charcoal, and peat. In
developed countries, the fossil fuels are mainly coal, natural gas, and oil.
Petroleum and Natural Gas – are the remains of mainly marine organisms.
Coal – the remains of wetland plants that have been compressed over millions of years.

b. It is a graphic representation of the relationship between organisms at various trophic levels in

a  food chain. The basis of an ecological pyramid is the biomass, energy, and number. Just as the
name suggests ecological pyramids are in the shape of a pyramid. The concept was first
introduced by Charles Elton, the pioneer British Ecologist.
Pyramid of numbers– Here the factor that is taken into account is the number of organisms in
each trophic level. As we go up the levels of the pyramid, the number of organisms decreases.
The producers form the largest number and hence are at the bottom of the pyramid.
Pyramid of energy– This is an upright pyramid that represents the flow of energy from the
producers to the final consumers.
Pyramid of biomass – This pyramid represents the amount of biomass of the organisms present
at each trophic level. Biomass is nothing but the weight of the organisms.

An inverted pyramid of numbers can also be found in an ecosystem where the community
contains parasites. There can be many more parasites than the hosts they feed on because each
individual parasite has a very small biomass.
A pyramid of numbers does not always have a regular pyramid shape because it does not take
into account the biomass of the organisms. An inverted pyramid of numbers can be found in an
ecosystem where the community contains a few producers with a very large biomass that
support a larger number of smaller consumers.
 In general, all ecological pyramids are upright, except in certain cases. For example, in a detritus
food chain, the pyramid of numbers is not upright because many organisms feed on one dead
plant or animal. The pyramid of biomass in an ocean is also inverted. But a point of note is that
the pyramid of energy is always upright as the flow of energy is unidirectional.

c. The Grassland Ecosystem is also called transitional landscape because grassland ecosystems are
dominated by the grass with few or no trees in the area where there is not enough for a forest
and too much of a forest. These are known by different names in different region of the world
like steppes in Europe and Asia, pampas in South America, Veldt in South Africa and Downs in
Australia.

Grassland Ecosystem is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous
(non-woody) plants. It is also called transitional landscape because grassland ecosystems are dominated
by the grass with few or no trees in the area where there is not enough for a forest and too much of a
forest. Structure of grassland ecosystem as follows-

1. Abiotic Components: These are non-living thing components consist of carbon, hydrogen, sulphur,
nitrogen and phosphorous etc.

2. Biotic Components: These are living components and its sub-components are discussed below-

(I) Producers: The primary producers of food are the grasses such as Aristida, Cynodon, Digitaria,
Desmodium, Setaria etc. If herbs and shrubs are present, they also contribute to the primary production
of food.

(II) Consumers: The consumers in a grassland ecosystem are of three levels.

(a) Primary consumers: These feed directly from the grasses (grazing) and include herbivores such
as Cows, Buffaloes, Goats, Rabbits, Mouse etc. and also insects, termites, centipede, millipedes etc.

(b) Secondary consumers: These consumers are the carnivorous animals such as snakes, lizard, jackal,
foxes, frogs etc. which feed on the primary consumers.

(c) Tertiary consumers: Hawk, Eagles and vultures constitute the tertiary consumer in the grassland
ecosystem which preys upon the secondary and primary consumer.

(III) Decomposers: The organic matter of the grassland is decomposed by the microbes like
actinomycetes, fungi (Mucor, Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Penincillium, and Cladosporium), aerobic and
anaerobic soil bacteria etc. They release the minerals back into the soil thus making the soil fertile.

Functions:- Food Chain in an ecosystem, Nutrient cycle in an ecosystem, Grass lands biomes are
important to maintain the crop of many domesticated and wild herbivores such as horse, mule, ass,
cow, pig, sheep, goat, buffalo, camel, deer, zebra etc. which provides food, milk, wool and
transportation to man.

Q2:
a. Natural Sources of Air Pollution-- Natural air pollutants include radon, fog and mist, ozone, ash,
soot, salt spray, and volcanic and combustion gases. Radon is a radioactive gas that seeps from
the ground in some areas, and fog and mist are both dense water vapor at ground level that
obscures vision.
Man-made pollutants-- Power plants, factories, cars and trucks emit carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxides and particulate matter that consists
of fine particles suspended in the air. Burning oil, coal, gasoline and other fossil fuels is a major
cause of man-made air pollution. Other man-made sources of air pollution include waste
disposal, dry cleaning, paints, chemical manufacture, wood stoves and flour mills.

b. Areas that are rich in species diversity are called ‘hotspots’ of diversity. India is among the
world’s 15 nations that are exceptionally rich in species diversity. The earth’s biodiversity is
distributed in specific ecological regions. There are over a thousand major ecoregions in the
world. Of these, 200 are said to be the richest, rarest and most distinctive natural areas. These
areas are referred to as the Global 200.
Features of hotspot-- Biodiversity underpins all life on Earth. Without species, there would be
no air to breathe, no food to eat, no water to drink. There would be no human society at all. And
as the places on Earth where the most biodiversity is under the most threat, hotspots are critical
to human survival.
The map of hotspots overlaps extraordinarily well with the map of the natural places that
most benefit people. That’s because hotspots are among the richest and most important
ecosystems in the world — and they are home to many vulnerable populations who are directly
dependent on nature to survive. By one estimate, despite comprising 2.4% of Earth’s land
surface, forests, wetlands and other ecosystems in hotspots account for 35% of the “ecosystem
services” that vulnerable human populations depend on.

c. Consumerism is related to the constant purchasing of new goods, with little attention to their
true need, durability, product origin, or the environmental consequences of their manufacture
and disposal. Consumerism is driven by huge sums spent on advertising designed to create both
a desire to follow trends, and a personal feeling of satisfaction based on acquisition. Materialism
is one of the end results of consumerism.
 Negative impacts-- destructive, in the long run, to the environment
 a contributing factor to poverty around the world
 a contributing factor to hunger amongst such immense wealth
 and numerous other social and ecological problems
Q3:
a. The Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 is the first enactment by the
Parliament is the first specific and comprehensive legislation institutionalizing
simultaneously the regulatory agencies for controlling water pollution. The Pollution
Control Board at the Centre and in the State came into being in terms of this Act.
According to the Article 51 A (g) it is the fundamental duty of every citizen of India to
protect and improve the natural environment included Forest, Lakes, Rivers and Wildlife
and to have compassion for living creatures.
 Water Act is enacted with the aim of prevention and control of Water Pollution in India.
Pollution means contamination of water or such alteration of the Physical, Chemical or
Biological properties of water or such discharge of any sewage or trade effluent or of
any other liquid, gas and Solid substance into water (whether directly or indirectly) as
may be the case or is likely to create nuisance or render such water harmful or injurious
to public health or safety or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural or other
legitimate uses, or to the life and health of animals or plant or of aquatic organizations.
Trade effluent includes any liquid or solid substance which is discharged from any
premises used for carrying on any industry operation or process or treatment and
disposal system, other domestic sewage.

b. Seven out of 10 of childhood deaths in developing countries can be attributed to five

main causes, or a combination of them. These are pneumonia, diarrhoea, measles,
malaria and malnutrition. Around the world, three out of every four children suffer from
at least one of these conditions.
Pneumonia: Acute respiratory infections (ARI), most frequently pneumonia, is a major
cause of death in children under five, killing over two million children annually.
Gastro intestinal conditions-- Diarrhoea: Diarrhoea is caused by a wide variety of
infections. Urgent diagnosis and treatment of diarrhoea is a priority for saving a child’s
life. Measles: Measles is a rash that appears with fever and bodyache in children and is
caused by a virus. It infects over 40 million children and kills over 800,000 children under
the age of five. Malaria is a widespread tropical disease-- Young children are particularly
vulnerable because they have not developed the partial immunity that results from
surviving repeated infections. Poverty-environment-malnutrition: There is a close
association between poverty, a degraded environment, and malnutrition. This is further aggravated
by a lack of awareness on how children become malnourished.

c. There are several sources of noise pollution that contribute to both indoor and outdoor noise
pollution. Noise emanating from factories, vehicles, playing of loudspeakers during various
festivals can contribute to outdoor noise pollution while loudly played radio or music systems, and
other electronic gadgets can contribute to indoor noise pollution.

Effects of noise pollution on physical health The most direct harmful effect of excessive noise is
physical damage to the ear and the temporary or permanent hearing loss often called a temporary threshold shift
(TTS). Effects of noise pollution on mental health: Noise can also cause emotional or psychological effects such
as irritability, anxiety and stress. Lack of concentration and mental fatigue are significant health effects of noise.

Noise Control techniques: Reduce noise at the source, block the path of noise, increase the path
length and protect the recipient. In general, the best control method is to reduce noise levels at the source. Source
reduction can be done by effectively muffling vehicles and machinery to reduce the noise.

Q4:
a. As our world faces serious water shortages, one method is to manage rain water in such a way that it is
used at the source. Current technologies of rainwater harvesting require that all roof and terrace water
passes down into a covered tank where it can be stored for use after the monsoon. This is most
advantageous in arid areas where clean water is very scarce.
Another way of using rooftop rainwater harvesting is to collect it so that it percolates into over the ground into
rivers. Thus by recharging ground water harvested from rooftops, the water table rises and the surrounding wells
retain water throughout the year.
b. A tsunami is a large ocean wave that is caused by sudden motion on the ocean floor.
This sudden motion could be an earthquake, a powerful volcanic eruption, or an
underwater landslide. The impact of a large meteorite could also cause a tsunami.
Tsunamis travel across the open ocean at great speeds and build into large deadly
waves in the shallow water of a shoreline. causes of tsunamis-- Earthquakes. It can be
generated by movements along fault zones associated with plate boundaries.
Landslides-- A landslide which occurs along the coast can force large amounts of water
into the sea, disturbing the water and generate a tsunami. Volcanic Eruption,
Extraterrestrial Collision

c. Biomagnification refers to the condition where the chemical concentration in an organism

exceeds the concentration of its food when the major exposure route occurs from the
organism’s diet. The term food web biomagnification is used to describe trophic
enrichment of contaminants within food webs and refers to the progressive increase in
chemical concentrations with increasing animal trophic status. The terms
biomagnification and food web biomagnification are more narrowly defined to reflect the
thermodynamic condition where the chemical potential in an animal exceeds its diet and
environment and increases through successive trophic levels.

Q5:
 Land Ownership Details of land ownership, tenure and existing land use are an important basis
of the EIS. It is important that the ownership of traditional land by indigenous people and
archaeological sites of significance be reviewed as soon as an area is identified for the project.
 A climatic profile for the locality should be constructed by collecting the following data: Rainfall,
wind speed and direction, relative humidity, temperature maximum/minimum, barometric
pressure
 Flora (Vegetation): An inventory of terrestrial and aquatic flora; Population and density data for
vegetation species; Identification of valued populations (e.g. where vegetation/trees are
scarce); Identification of any rare or endangered species.
 Fauna (Animals): An inventory of terrestrial, aquatic and avifauna, Population and density of
animal species; · Permanent/migratory populations, Habitat; Identification of any rare or
endangered species.
 Terrain Analysis: Geology; Drainage; Soil classification; · Erosion potential.
 Air Quality: Dusts containing biologically-significant silica/silicates; Sulphur dioxide
concentration; Other gases.
 Water Quality; Surface water quality; Groundwater quality.
 Waste Disposal and Chemical Safety: Identification of anticipated chemicals that will be used on
the site, a possible inventory, proposed storage and handling procedures, emergency planning
procedures and waste disposal arrangements should be considered from an early stage.