1.

ECOSYSTEM & ECOLOGY

1. Ecology is the study of interactions among organisms & their environment. Ernst Haeckel coined the
word 'Ecology'.

• Levels of Organizations in Ecology - Correct order of biological organization ranging from

organism to biosphere is: Population → Community → Ecosystem → Landscape

•
2. A.G. Tansley first used the term Ecosystem. An Ecosystem is a community of living organism (plants,
animals & microbes) along with non-living components (air, water, soil etc.) interacting as a system.
These biotic & abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycle & energy flows.

•
3. Important features of ecology/ecosystem are:
38. Apiko Movement' was started in Karnataka in 1983.

39. The Mitti Bachao Andolan was started in the year 1977 against water logging and salinity caused
by the Tawa Dam in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh.

40. Decomposers convert inorganic into organic matter.

41. Sequence of ecosystem in order of decreasing productivity:

• Mangroves → Grasslands → Lakes→ Oceans

42. Arne Naess coined the team "deep ecology”.

43. Grinnell enunciated the concept of ecological niche. He referred to the "ecological or
environmental niche" as the ultimate distributional unit of "species & subspecies".

44. Global hectares is the measurement unit of the ecological footprint.

45. Ecological footprint is the measure of human demand on Earth's ecosystem. It is the minimum
area of land required to completely sustain the life of the person. It is the biologically productive area
which is required to includes fruits, vegetables, wood, fibers, fossil fuels use & also the release of CO2.

46. National Environmental Legislation List -

• Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972

• The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974
• Water Cess Act (Prevention and Control of Pollution), 1977
• Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980
• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1981
• Environment (Protection) Act of 1986
• Biodiversity Act 2000
• Forest Rights Act, 2006 Or The Scheduled Tribes & other Traditional Dwellers (Recognition of
forest Rights) Act, 2006
• National Green Tribunal Act, 2010
• Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2010
• Project Tiger, 1973.
• Project Elephant, 1992
• Project Snow Leopard, 2009

47. Bionomics is study of an organism & its relation to its environment. It is synonymous with ecology.
It stresses on value of natural systems that influence human systems.

48. Pycnocline indicates a density gradient. Halocline shows salinity gradient. Thermocline shows
change in temperature.

49. Marine upwelling is process of replacement of hot water of the surface of sea with cold nutrient
rich water. It increases the marine productivity. Downwelling is where surface water is forced
downwards, where it may deliver oxygen to deeper water. Downwelling leads to reduced
productivity.
• 2002: COP 8, New Delhi, India
• 2005: COP 11/CMP 1. Montreal, Canada Montreal, (Kyoto Protocol was ratified in 2005)
• 2006: COP 12/CMP 2, Nairobi. Kenya
• 2007: COP 13/CMP 3, Bali, Indonesia - Bali conference resulted in the adoption of the
Adaptation Fund
• 2010: COP 16/CMP 6, Cancun, Mexico - Parties also established a Green Climate Fund (GCF)
• 2013: COP 19/CMP 9, Warsaw, Poland - UNFCCC created a mechanism for Intended Nationally
Determined Contributions (INDCs) to be submitted before COP-21 which would take place in
Paris in 2015.
• 2014: COP 20/CMP 10. Lima, Peru
• 2015: COP 21/CMP 11, Paris, France - At COP-21, the Paris Agreement was announced as the
Kyoto Protocol’s successor. The Paris Agreement, with 195 signatories, was to fully replace the
Kyoto Protocol and govern climate change reduction measures from 2020. It was 21st yearly
session of conference of Parties (COP) to the 1992 UNFCC and the 11th session of the meeting
of the Parties to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
• 2016: COP 22/CMP 12, Marrakech, Morocco
• 2017: COP 23/CMP 13, Bonn, Germany.
• 2018: COP 24/CMP 14, Katowice, Poland.
• 2019: COP 25/CMP 15/CMA 2, Madrid, Spain
• 2021: COP 26/CMP 16/CMA 3, Glasgow, United Kingdom
• 2022: COP 27, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
• 2023: COP 28, United Arab Emirates

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 •
44. NITI Aayog is the nodal agency for coordinating and monitoring the Sustainable Development
Goals.

45. Plachimada is a small village in Palakkad district of Kerala. In 2000, the Panchayat gave license to
Coca-Cola Beverage which soon contaminated groundwater in that locality.

46. Environment Protection Act, 1986 also known as Umbrella legislation. Due to Bhopal Tragedy,
Govt. of India Environment Protection set of 1986 under Article 253 of constitution.

47. Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee is constituted under the Environment Protection Act,
1986. It is the apex body constituted in Ministry of Environment & forest under ‘Rule of manufacture,
use, import, export & storage of hazardous microorganism/genetically engineered organism 1989’.

48. Conservation agriculture means adopting minimum tillage, using crop residues to cover the soil
surface, adopting spatial & temporal crop sequencing/crop rotations.

49. Mixed cropping, organic manures, nitrogen fixing plants and pest resistant crop varieties are best
strategy for environment-friendly sustainable development in Indian agriculture.

50. India is not over urbanized country. Here most of the large cities do not have adequate
infrastructure.

51. According to census 2011, approx. 121 crore (68.9 %) people still live in rural areas.

52. Masanobu Fukuoka is famous for his natural farming & revegetation of desertified lands.

53. Australia introduced Green Army for Environmental conservation.

5. VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE

76. Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary is in Goa. Kanger ghati National Park is in Chhattisgarh. Orang Sanctuary
(also called Mini Kaziranga) is in Assam. UshKothi Wildlife Sanctuary is in Odisha.

77. Chinar Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Kerala.

78. Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary is situated in Gurgaon, Haryana.

79. Bird Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu is located in Karikili.

80. In Bhutan, National Parks are 33.66% of the total geographical area of the country.

81. World’s largest botanical garden- Royal Botanical Garden of Kew, England.

82. Bundala Biosphere Reserve is located on the southeast coast of Sri Lanka.

12. MISCELLANEOUS
1. India’s first research base station- Dakshin Gangotri, Antarctica, (est. in 1984)-Decommissioned in
1990

• India’s second research Centre- Maitri, Antarctica, (est. in 1988-99)-Active

• India’s third research base station- Bharati, Antarctica, (est. in 2012)-Active

2. Agenda 21 is a non-binding voluntarily implemented action plan of United Nations with regard to
sustainable development. It is a product of Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment &
Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 8n 1992. Agenda 21 has 4 agreements.

3. “Momentum for Change: Climate Neutral Now” is an initiative launched by the UNFCCC Secretariat.

4. (a) Skin Cancer- Ultraviolet light (b) Noise Pollution- Decibel (c) Global Warming- Carbon dioxide (d)
Ozone Hole- Chlorofluorocarbon

5. Biotechnology Park in Uttar Pradesh was set up in Lucknow in 2003.

6. Insititute & their location:

• National Institute of Nutrition-Hyderabad

• Wildlife Institute of India- Dehradun
• National Institute of Ayurveda- Jaipur
• National Institute of Naturopathy- Pune
• Centre for Ecological Science (CES)- Bengaluru
• Indian Institute of Forest Management- Bhopal
• G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development- Almora
• Forest Research Institute- Dehradun
• Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute- Jhansi
• Central Arid Zone Research Institute- Jodhpur
• Indian Agriculture Research Institute- New Delhi
 • Epiphytes – Equitorial Region
• Acacia – Savanna
• Baobab – Sahara Region
• Cedars – Mediterranean

68. Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, published in 1962, was a landmark in the development of the
modern environmental movement.

69. The main objective of sustainable tourism is to manage tourism and the environment while
maintaining cultural integrity and ecological processes.

70. Lake Chilika is the largest brackish water lagoon in Asia and the second largest coastal lagoon in
the world. The lagoon is located on the east coast of India, at the mouth of the Daya River, which
flows into the Bay of Bengal

71. Mean net primary productivity in increasing order:

• Temperate Grassland <Tropical savanna <Temperate forests <Tropical forests

72. India aim to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030.

73. The Environmental Kuznets Curve - described the relationship between per capita income and
income inequality as an inverted-U.