Natural Vegetation and Wild Life-Class 9 Geography Extra Questions: India is very rich in terms of biodiversity as it is one of the 12 mega diversities in the world with a lot of natural vegetation and animals. The chapter natural vegetation and wildlife class IX explains the biodiversity of India, ecosystem and different types of education is found in India and what is being done to conjure and save the indentured species. Here are given some extra questions based on the text matter given the chapter the natural vegetation and wildlife class IX geography.
Class 9 Geography Extra Questions: Chapter Natural Vegetation and Wildlife
1. How rich is bio-diversity of India?
- India is one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries of the world. The other countries are Mexico, payroll Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, China, Madagascar, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia.
- India has 47,000 plant species giving India the 10th ranked in the world and 4th in Asia. 6% of the total number of flowering plants are found in India.
- India is rich in fauna with 90,000 species of animals. India has a rich variety of freshwater and marine water fish.
2. What is natural or virgin vegetation?
The community of vegetation that grows naturally without any human aid or human disturbance for a long tie is called natural vegetation. The forests, grasses and vegetation of mountains are examples of natural vegetation.
The crops, orchards of fruit trees grown with human aid are not natural vegetation.
3. Differentiate between flora and fauna.
Flora and fauna are important part of an ecosystem and help maintain the ecological balance. Fauna depends directly or indirectly on flora for food.
| Flora | Fauna | |
| 1 | Flora refers to plant life present in a particular region or at a period. It also refers to entire plant kingdom. | It refers to entire animal kingdom present or living in particular a region or a period. |
| 2 | They prepare their own food | They depend for their food on flora or the fauna that depends on flora |
| 3 | Examples: Flowering and non-flowering plants | Examples: birds, animals and insects |
4. Explain the factors that affect the flora and fauna or bio-diversity?
land: the nature of land influences the type of vegetation. The first available area is used for agriculture, the rough terrains have grassland and woodlands that give shelter to a variety of life
Soil: different types of soils provide different types of vegetation like cactus and thorny bushes in desert, mangroves in direct sales and conical trees on hill slopes.
Temperature: Above the height of 915 m, the fall in temperature affects the types of vegetation and its growth. The vegetation changes from tropical to subtropical template and alpine vegetation.
Photoperiod (Sunlight): the duration of sunlight affects the plant growth. Trees grow faster in summer
7. Why are forests important for man?
- Forests increase the quality of the environment.
- They modify the climate.
- They control the erosion of the soil.
- They regulate flow of the streams.
- The support many industries and thus provide a livelihood for the rural population.
- They provide shelter to the wildlife
6. What is ecosystem?
An ecosystem shows the interrelation and interdependence of biotic and abiotic components of environment. It is a community of plants and animals interacting with one another as well as with their non-living environment like soil, minerals, water, atmosphere.
In short, we can say that ecosystem is the system of relationship between the plants and animals and their physical environment. Human beings are also an integral part of ecosystem.
7. What is a biome?
A biome is a large geographical area characterized by its vegetation, soil, climate, and wildlife. Every inch of the Earth’s surface is a part of one or more biomes. There are five major types of biomes: aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra.
8. What are different temperature characteristics of different vegetation zones?
9. What are the different major types of vegetation found in India?
(i) Tropical Evergreen Forests
(ii) Tropical Deciduous Forests
(iii) Tropical Thorn forests and Scrubs
(iv) Montane Forests
(v) Mangrove Forests
10. Distinguish between tropical evergreen forests and tropical deciduous forests.
| Tropical Evergreen forests | Deciduous Forests |
|---|---|
| (i) Found in regions with heavy rainfall more than 200 cm. | (i) Found in regions with rainfall between 70-200 cm. |
| (ii) Luxuriant vegetation with trees, shrubs and creepers. giving the forests a multi-layered structure. Trees reach heights of 60m. | (ii) Most widespread monsoon forests in India. They are of two types: (a) moist deciduous in 200 -100 cm rainfall areas. (b) dry deciduous in 100 – 70 cm rainfall areas. |
| (iii) The trees do not have definite time to shed leaves and appear green all the year round. | (iii) Trees shed their leaves for about 6 to 8 weeks. |
| (iv) Areas: Western Ghats, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar | (iv)Wet deciduous – North-Eastern states, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa Dry deciduous – peninsular plateau, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar |
| (v) Trees- ebony, mahogany, rosewood, rubber and cinchona | (v) Moist Deciduous Forest trees-Teak, sal. arjun, mulberry, sandalwood, Dry Deciduous Trees- Teak, shisham, neem, pipal etc |
| (vi) Wildlife- elephants, monkey, lemur, deer, one horned rhino in jungles of Assam and W. Bengal. Plenty of birds, bats, sloth, scorpion and snakes etc. | (vi) lion, tiger, deer, elephant, birds, lizards, snakes, tortoises |
11. Differentiate between thorn forests and mangrove forests.
| Thorn forests | Mangrove forests | |
| (a) located in regions having 70 cm of rainfall. The natural vegetation consists of thorny trees and bushes. | (a) The mangrove tidal forests are found in coastal regions influenced by tides. | |
| (b) Found in semi-arid regions Like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh. | (b) Mangrove tidal forests are found in the deltas Ganga – Brahmaputra, Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Mahanadi. | |
| (c) Babul, kikar, palms, cacti and acacia are the main plant species. | (c) The sundari is An mportant tree found here. These are the hard durable timber. Other examples are agar, keora. | |
| (d) rat, mice, rabbits, fox, wolf tiger, lion, wild as horses and camels are found here. | (e) Royal Bengal Tiger is the famous animal in these forests. Turtles, crocodiles, gharials and snakes are also found. |
12. Describe the major vegetation zones of the Himalayan region.
- In mountainous regions like Himalayas, the vegetation changes with increasing altitude because of decrease in temperature with altitude.
- Between the height of 1000-2000 m, wet temperate type of forests is found. Evergreen broad-leaf trees such as oak and chestnuts predominate here.
- Between 1500 – 3000 m above sea-level, coniferous forests such as pine, deodar, silver fir, Spruce and cedar are found.
- At high altitudes above 3600 m, alpine vegetation is found. Silver fir, junipers, pines and birches are the common trees here. At the snow line alpine grasslands with shrubs and scrubs are found.
- At higher altitudes tundra vegetation with Mosses and lichens are found.
- Kashmir stag, spotted deer, wild sheep, Jack Rabbit, the Tibetan antelope, yak, snow Leopard, wild ibex, red panda, sheep and goats with thick hair here are found
13. Compared the wildlife of the Himalayas and the wetlands of our country.
The animals of the Himalayas can survive in the extreme cold conditions with very low temperatures. Rare animals like snow leopard and red panda are found in certain areas.
In the wetlands, animals like the crocodiles, gharials and turtles are commonly found. A number of reptiles and birds inhabit the wetlands of the country.
14. Give an account of the wild life in India.
(i) India is home to more than 90,000 animal species, more than 1200 bird species and about 2500 species of fish. Around 5 to 8 % of the world’s amphibians live here.
(ii) Elephants are found in the hot wet forests of Assam, Karnataka, and Kerala. One-horned rhinoceros live in swampy and marshy lands of Assam and north-west Bengal. Rann of Kutch and Thar desert are habitat of wild ass and camels. Several species of monkey also live in India.
(iii) India is the only country where both tigers and lions are found. Lions are found in Gir forest of Gujrat while tigers are found Madhya Pradesh, the Sunderbans of W. Bengal and the Himalayan region.
(iv) Yaks, snow-leopards, bear, Tibetan antelope, bharal, kiang etc. are found in the Himalayas.
(v) Crocodiles, gharials, turtles are found in coastal areas and other wetlands, rivers and lakes.
15. How humans are disturbing ecosystem?
- Ecosystem has been disturbed by Excessive exploitation of the plants and animals by human beings.
- Natural vegetation has been modified, replaced or degraded by human occupancy due to factors like -demand for cultivated land, development of industries and mining, urbanisation and over-grazing of pastures.
- Quite a few animal species are endangered and some have become extinct due to hunting by greedy hunters for commercial purposes.
- Ecological balance is also disturbed by pollution, introduction of alien species and reckless cutting of forests of cultivation and inhabitation.
16. Mention the steps taken by the government to protect the flora and fauna.
- 18 biosphere reserves have been set up.
- Financial and technical assistance is provided many botanical gardens since 1992
- Many eco-developmental projects have been introduced to like Project Tiger Project, Project Rhino, Project Great Indian Bustard.
- 100 national parks and over 500 sanctuaries have been set up to take care of the national heritage of flora and fauna.
- Zoological gardens have been set up.
17. Write three measures to conserve ecosystem.
- Avoiding cutting of trees indiscriminately.
- By checking illegal hunting of animals.
- Checking rapid growth of population as it increases demand for natural resources which are being exploited then.
- Checking of the smoke from the chimneys and vehicles to lessen the problem of pollution.
- The wastes from farms, factories and cities should be scientifically treated so that we can save our ecosystem reserve it for the benefit of mankind.
