Entrance Exams
Govt. Exams
Lantana camara outcompetes native vegetation through superior resource acquisition and allelopathy, leading to competitive exclusion. This reduces niche availability for native species, fundamentally altering community structure and ecosystem functions like nutrient cycling.
The 10% energy transfer rule states that only ~10% of energy is passed to the next trophic level; the remaining 90% is lost through respiration, heat, and excretion. This is fundamental to understanding ecosystem energy dynamics.
With abundant resources and low initial population density, the deer population exhibits exponential growth (J-shaped curve). The carrying capacity has not yet been reached as numbers are still increasing rapidly without stabilization.
Deciduous trees in Indian dry and moist deciduous forests shed leaves during the dry season (March-May) as an adaptation to seasonal water scarcity, reducing transpirational water loss while maintaining survival.
The facilitation model (Connell & Slatyer) proposes that pioneer species modify environmental conditions to make them more suitable for subsequent species, gradually changing the ecosystem toward climax community.
Regulating services include processes like climate regulation, pollination, disease control, and water purification that maintain ecosystem functions benefiting humans, distinct from provisioning, cultural, or supporting services.
Small, isolated populations experience increased genetic drift, loss of genetic diversity, and inbreeding depression, reducing fitness and adaptive capacity, making them highly vulnerable to extinction from random events.
Rising sea temperatures are the primary trigger for coral bleaching, causing symbiotic algae expulsion. Climate-induced warming of coastal waters around India's coral reefs (Andaman, Lakshadweep) directly causes bleaching events.
Density-independent factors (like weather, drought, floods) affect populations regardless of their density, whereas disease and competition are density-dependent as their impact increases with higher population density.
r-selected species (like insects and small rodents) typically produce many offspring with minimal parental investment and care. K-selected species (like elephants and humans) show extended parental care.