Often mistaken for a form of vegetation, corals “are in fact an animal that lives in symbiosis with an algae, a plant,” Corals and algae “provide services for each other,” with the algae providing “up to 90% of the coral animal’s food” through photosynthesis “When ocean temperatures get too hot, this symbiosis, this relationship, breaks down”. “The algae is lost from the coral and causes the coral to look white,” effectively “starving” it. When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.

The Chilika Lake in Odisha has emerged as the “single largest habitat of Irrawaddy dolphins in the world” with the spotting of about 155 such animals. Chilika is Asia’s largest brackish-water lagoon with an estuarine character, and one of India’s first Ramsar Convention sites.

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#Daily #IAS #UPSC #Stact_PSC #Prelims #Mains #Daily #Questions #Answers #MCQs #Explaination #GeoIAS

Olive Ridley turtle is the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtle found in the world.

It is found in warm waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans.

It commences its journey from Indian Ocean towards Bay of Bengal during their mating season in October and November every year.

The Gahirmatha Beach in Kendrapara district of Odisha (India), which is now a part of the Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, is the largest breeding ground for these turtles.

Green turtles and olive ridleys are known to nest in Maharashtra in small numbers.

Goa has records of three species of sea turtles: olive ridley, leatherback and green turtles.

Recently many of these turtles were found dead near the Andhra Pradesh coast.

In-situ conservation, the conservation of species in their natural habitats.

It includes National parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves and sacred groves (Khasi and Jaintia hills in Meghalaya).

Ex-situ conservation is the preservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats.

It includes Gene banks, Captive breeding of animals and artificial propagation of plants, zoos, aquaria, and botanic gardens.

Biotic potential, the maximum reproductive capacity of an organism under optimum environmental conditions.

The National Commission on Agriculture, Government of India, first used the term ‘social forestry’ in 1976.

It aims at raising plantations by the common man so as to meet the growing demand for food, fuel wood, fodder, fiber and fertilizer (5 F’s) etc, thereby reducing the pressure on the traditional forest area.

It does not aim at the displacement or exploitation of traditional forests, but supplementing them with community grown forests.

Bio magnification stands for Biological Magnification, which means the increase of contaminated substances or toxic chemicals that take place in the food chains.

These substances often arise from intoxicated or contaminated environments.

The contaminants include heavy metals namely mercury, arsenic, pesticides such as DDT, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) compounds which are then taken up by organisms because of the food they consume or the intoxication of their environment.

Pollutant needs to satisfy characteristics like long life, biologically active, soluble in fat etc. to make bio magnification possible.

Burning of coal by man is the main source of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

It has nothing to do with adding nitrogen to the soil.

Nitrogenous waste products of living organisms such as urea and dead remain of organisms are converted back into inorganic ammonia by the bacteria.

Most of the organic toxins are water insoluble and non-biodegradable.

These high persistent toxins are, therefore, transferred from lower trophic level to higher trophic level through food chain.

Over time, the concentration of toxins in higher animals reaches a level which causes serious metabolic and physiological disorders.

All the above are the benefits of sea weeds.

Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to several species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae.

Seaweed species such as kelps provide essential nursery habitat for fisheries and other marine species and thus protect food sources; other species, such as planktonic algae, play a vital role in capturing carbon, producing up to 90% of Earth’s oxygen.