Class 9 Geography Chapter 5 Extra Questions and Answers Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

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Class 9 Geography Chapter 5 Extra Questions and Answers Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Class 9 Extra Questions and Answer Geography Chapter 5 Very Short Answers Type

Question 1.
Define natural vegetation or virgin vegetation.
Answer:
Natural vegetation refers to a plant community which has grown naturally without human aid and has been left undisturbed by humans for a long time. This is termed as virgin vegetation.

Extra Questions and Answers Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

Question 2.
Explain the terms—endemic or indigenous species and exotic plants.
Answer:
The virgin vegetation, which are purely Indian are known as endemic or indigenous species but those which have come from outside India are termed as exotic plants.

Very Short Questions and Answers Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

Question 3.
How can you say that the nature of land influences the type of vegetation?
Answer:
The type of vegetation depends on the nature of land. The fertile level is generally devoted to agriculture. The undulating and rough terrains are areas where grassland and woodlands develop.

Question 4.
What is called a biome?
Answer:
A very large ecosystem on land having distinct types of vegetation and animal life is called a biome. The biomes are identified on the basis of plants.

Question 5.
Name the regions of India where the tropical evergreen forests are found.
Answer:
The Western Ghats and the island groups of Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar, upper parts of Assam and Tamil Nadu coast.

Question 6.
Why do the tropical evergreen forests appear green all the year round?
Answer:
The tropical evergreen forests appear green all the year round because there is no definite time for trees to shed their leaves.

Question 7.
Name some commercially important trees of the tropical evergreen forests.
Answer:
Ebony, mahogany, rosewood, rubber and cinchona.

Question 8.
Where in India are the one-horned rhinoceros found?
Answer:
They are found in the jungles of Assam and West Bengal.

Question 9.
Which forests are also called the monsoon forests?
Answer:
The tropical deciduous forests are also called the monsoon forests.

Question 10.
Name the trees found in the thorn forests?
Answer:
Acacias, palms, euphorbias and cacti.

Question 11.
What is alpine vegetation?
Answer:
Alpine vegetation refers to the zone of vegetation between the altitudinal limit for tree growth and the rival zone, found above 3000 m.

Question 12.
Where are mosses and lichens found?
Answer:
Mosses and lichens are found at higher altitudes in mountainous areas.

Question 13.
Where are Sundari trees found? How are they useful?
Answer:
In the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta, sundari trees are found. They provide durable hard timber.

Question 14.
How many medicinal plants have been named by the World Conservation Union’s Red list?
Answer:
The World Conservation Union’s Red list has named 352 medicinal plants.

Question 15.
What is the most common use of tulsi plant?
Answer:
It is used to cure cough and cold.

Question 16.
Where are elephants found in India?
Answer:
Elephants are found in the hot west forests in Assam, Karnataka and Kerala.

Question 17.
Where are tigers found in India?
Answer:
Tigers are found in the forests of Madhya Pradesh, the Sundarbans of West Bengal and the Himalayan region.

Question 18.
Name any two animals found at Ladakh’s freezing high altitudes.
Answer:
Yak and the Tibetan antilope.

Question 19.
How many plant species are endangered?
Answer:
About 1,300 plant species are endangered.

Question 20.
Where is the Asiatic lion found?
Answer:
The Asiatic lion is found in the Gir Forest in Gujarat.

Question 21.
Where are the mangrove tidal forests found?
Answer:
They are found in the areas of coasts influenced by tides.

Question 22.
Name some non-flowering plants.
Answer:
Algae, fungi and ferns.

Question 23.
What are migrating birds?
Answer:
Some birds fly hundreds and thousands of kilometres to find the best ecological and habitats for feeding, breeding and raising their young. These birds are called migrating birds.

Question 24.
Where are wild asses found in India?
Answer:
In India, wild asses are found in arid areas of the Rann of Kachchh.

Question 25.
Mention one feature of the tropical deciduous forests.
Answer:
Trees of these forests shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in dry summer.

Question 26.
Name the regions of India where vegetation cover is natural in the real sense.
Answer:
The Himalayas, the hilly region of central India and the marusthali (desert areas).

Question 27.
What is Van mahotsav?
Answer:
Van mahotsav is a programme in which saplings are planted.

Question 28.
What is a national park?
Answer:
A national park is a park officially recognised by a nation’s government. National parks are often made to protect the animals that live inside them or the land itself.

Question 29.
What is a wild life sanctuary?
Answer:
A wild life sanctuary is a place of refuge where abused, injured and abandoned captive wild life may live in peace and dignity for the rest of their lives. True wild life sanctuaries do not breed or exploit for commercial activities.

Question 30.
What is a zoological garden?
Answer:
A zoological garden is a park like area in which live animals are kept in cages or large enclosures for public exhibition.

Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Class 9 Extra Questions and Answer Geography Chapter 5 Short Answers Type

Question 1.
How is soil an important factor for vegetation?
Answer:

  • The soils vary over space. Different types of soils provide basis for different types of vegetation.
  • The sandy soils of the desert support cactus and thormy bushes while wet, marshy, deltaic soils support mangroves and deltaic vegetation.
  • The hill slopes with some depth of soil have conical trees.

Question 2.
How do the human beings influence the ecology of a region?
Answer:

  • Human beings utilise the vegetation and wild life their greed leads to over utilisation of these resources.
  • They cut the trees and kill the animals creating ecological imbalance.
  • Some of the plants and animals have reached the verge of extinction due to reckless cutting of trees.

Question 3.
Divide the tropical deciduous forests on the basis of the availability of water. Give a brief description of each of them.
Answer:
On the basis of the availability of water, the tropical deciduous forests are divided into moist and dry deciduous:
(i) The moist deciduous forests are found in areas receiving rainfall between 200 and 100 cm. These forests exist mostly in the eastern part of the country—northeastern states, along the foothills of the Himalayas, Jharkhand, west Odisha and Chhattisgarh and on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. Some of the commercially important trees of these forests are teak, sal, bamboo, shisham, sandalwood, mulberry, etc.

(ii) The dry deciduous forest are found in areas having rainfall between 100 cm and 70 cm. These forests are found in the rainier parts of the peninsular plateau and the plains of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The trees found in these forests are teak, sal, peepal and mem.

Question 4.
Give a brief description of the wild life found in the tropical evergreen and tropical deciduous forests.
Answer:
The common animals found in the tropical evergreen forests are elephants, monkey, lemur and deer. The one-horned rhinoceroses are found in the jungles of Assam and West Bengal. Besides these animals plenty of birds, bats, sloth, scorpions and snails are also found in these forests.

The common animals found in the tropical deciduous forests are lion, tiger, pig, deer and elephant. A huge variety of birds, lizards, snakes and tortoises are also found in these forests.

Question 5.
Describe the vegetation and wild life found in the mangrove forests.
Answer:
Vegetation: The mangrove tidal forests are found in the areas of coasts influenced by tides. Mud and silt get accumulated on such coasts giving favourable conditions for the growth of trees. The deltas of the Ganga, the Mahanadi, the Krishna, the Godavari and the Kavari are covered by such vegetation. In the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta, sundari trees are found, other trees are palm, coconut, keora and agar.

Wild life: Royal Bengal Tiger is the famous animal in the mangrove forests. Turtles, crocodiles, gharials and snakes are also found in these forests.

Question 6.
Write in brief about the Indian migrating birds.
Answer:
(i) Indian sub-continent plays host to a number of migratory birds in summer as well as winters. It is estimated that over hundred species of migrating birds fly to India, either in search of feeding grounds or to escape the severe winter to their native habitat.

(ii) During winter, birds such as Siberian Crane come in large numbers. One such place favourable with birds in the Rann of Kachchh.

(iii) At a place where the desert merges with the sea, flamingo with their brilliant, pink plumage, come in thousands to build nest mounds from the salty mud and raise their young ones.

Question 7.
What are the characteristics of the trees of deciduous forests?
Answer:
(i) Deciduous forests are found in areas receiving rainfall between 200 cm and 70 cm with a distinct dry season. They are also known as monsoon forests.

(ii) Trees of this forests type shed their leaves for about six to eight weeks in dry summer. So they have a distinct period for shedding their leaves.

(iii) The trees have wide spread out branches like the neem and mango. Leaves are smaller in size than that of the rain forests to reduce transpiration. Important trees found in these forests are teak, sal, shisham, peepal etc.

Question 8.
Distinguish between extinct and endangered species.
Write three main characteristics of tropical decidous forests.

Extinct Species Endangered Species
(i) Extinct species are those species flora and fauna which are no more surviving. (i) Endangered species are those species of flora and fauna which are in the danger of extinction.
(ii) Even after searches of known or likely areas where they may occur, they are no more found. (ii) They have declined in number at an alarming rate. If the negative factors that have reduced their number is not checked, their survival is difficult.
(iii) Asiatic Cheetah and pink-head duck are extinct in India. Dodo and dinosaurs are extinct from the entire earth. (iii) Black buck, Indian rhino, Indian wild ass, Sangai and Indian tiger are endangered species throughout the world.

Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Class 9 Extra Questions and Answer Geography Chapter 5 Long Answers Type

Question 1.
Why does mountain vegetation change with altitude? Explain with example.
OR
Give five characteristics of the Montane forests.
Answer:
(i) In mountainous areas, the decrease in temperature with increasing altitude leads to the corresponding change in natural vegetation. As such, there is a succession of natural vegetation belts in the same order as we see from the tropical to the tundra region.

(ii) The wet temperate type of forests are found between a height of 1000 and 2000 metres. Evergreen broad-leaf trees such as oaks and chestnuts predominate.

(iii) Between 1500 and 3000 metres, temperate forests containing coniferous trees like pine, deodar, silver fir, spruce and cedar are found. These forests cover mostly the southern slopes of the Hima¬layas, places having high altitudes in southern and north-east India.

(iv) At higher elevations, temperate grasslands are common. At high altitudes, generally more than 3,600 metres above sea-level, temperate forests and grasslands give way to the Alpine vegetation. Silver fir, junipers, pines and birches are the common trees of these forests. However, they get progressively stunted as they approach the snow line.

(v) At higher altitudes, mosses and lichens form part of tundra vegetation.

Question 2.
Describe the characteristics of the tropical evergreen forests of India.
Answer:
(i) The tropical evergreen forests are found in areas which receive heavy rainfall —more than 200 cm with a short dry season. The trees reach great heights upto 60 metres or even above.

(ii) Since the region is warm and wet throughout the year, it has a luxuriant vegetation of all kinds— trees, shrubs and creeping giving it a multilayered structure. Hence, sunlight hardly reaches the earth.

(iii) There is no definite time for trees to shed their leaves. As such, these forests appear green all the year round.

(iv) Some of the commercially important trees of this forests are ebony, mahogany, rosewood, rubber and cinchona.

(v) The common animals found in these forests are elephants, monkeys, lemurs and deers. The one- homed rhinoceroses are found in the jungles of Assam and West Bengal. Besides these animals plenty of birds, bats, sloth, scorpions and snails are also found in these forests.

Question 3.
Give a brief account of the wild life found in India.
Answer:
(i) India is rich in its fauna. It has approximately 90,000 of animal species. The country has about 2,000 species of birds and 2,546 species of fish.

(ii) The elephants are found in the hot wet forests of Assam, Karnataka and Kerala. One-homed rhinoceroses live in swampy and marshy lands of Assam and West Bengal.

(iii) Arid areas of the Rann of Kachchh and the Thar Desert are the habitat for wild ass and camels respectively. Indian bison, nilgai, chousingha, gazel and different species of deer are also found in India. It also has several species of monkeys.

(iv) The Himalayas give shelter to a wide range of animals. Ladakh’s freezing high altitudes are a home to yak, the shaggy homed wild ox, the Tibetan antelope, the bharal, wild sheep and the Kiang or Tibetan wild ass.

(v) In the rivers, lakes and coastal areas, turtles, crocodiles and gharials are found.

(vi) Birds like peacocks, pheasants, ducks, parakeets, cranes and pigeons are some of the birds inhabiting the forests and wet lands of the country.

Question 4.
In which regions are the thorny forests and scrubs found in India? Mention the characteristics
of such type of vegetation.
Answer:
The thorny forests and scrubs in India are found in regions with less than 70 cm of rainfall. This type of vegetation is found in the north-western part of the country including semi-arid of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The main plant species found in these forests are acacias, palms, euphorbias and cacti.
Characteristics of this type of vegetation

  • Trees are scattered and have long roots penetrating deep into the soil in order to get moisture.
  • The stems are succulent to conserve water.

Leaves are mostly thick and small to minimise evaporation. These forests give way to thorn forests and scrubs in arid areas.

Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Class 9 Extra Questions and Answer Geography Chapter 5  Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) Questions

Question 1.
The Government of India has taken up many steps to protect the flora and fauna of the country. Mention some of these steps.
Answer;

  • The government of India has set up fourteen biosphere reserves. Four out of these, the Sunderbans in West Bengal, Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand, the Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu and the Nilgiris have been included in the world network of biosphere reserves.
  • Financial and technical assistance is provided to many Botanical Gardens by the government since 1992.
  • Project Tiger, Project Rhino, Project Great Indian Bustard and many other eco-developmental projects have been introduced.
  • 89 National Parks, 490 wild life sanctuaries and zoological gardens are set up to take care of Natural heritage.

Question 2.
Describe how India is one of the Indian mega bio-diversity countries of the world.
Answer:

  • Our country is one of the twelve mega bio-diversity countries of the world. With about 47,000 plant species India occupies tenth place in the world and fourth in Asia in plant diversity.
  • There are about 15,000 flowering plants in India which account for 6 percent in the world’s total number of flowering plants.
  • The country has many non-flowering plants such as ferns, algae and fungi.
  • India also has approximately 90,000 species of animals as well as rich variety of fish in its fresh and marine waters.
  • The country has about 2,000 species of birds and 2,546 species of fish. It shares between 5 and 8 percent of world is amphibians, reptiles and mammals.

Question 3.
Describe the main objectives of the Project Tiger and the Project Rhino and their effect on the wild life in India.
Answer:
The Project Tiger and Project Rhino are two well-known wild life conservation projects. They have been undertaken to protect Indian tiger and one-horned rhino of India.
Their objectives are:

  • Protect the endangered species from poaching, hunting and illegal trading.
  • Save the natural habitats of these animals so that they can breed naturally and multiply in numbers.
  • Maintain a survey of the number of existing tigers and rhinos.
    These projects have played a major role in protecting the endangered animals. The number of tigers has been increased.

Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Class 9 Extra Questions and Answer Geography Chapter 5  Value-based Questions (VBQs)

Question 1.
How are forest useful to us?
OR
How are forests important for human beings?
Answer:

  • Forests provide to man food, fibre, fodder, timber, fuel wood and many other essential things.
  • They modify the local climate, control soil erosion, regulate stream flow, support a variety of industries.
  • They provide humus to the soil and shelter to the wild life.
  • They provide livelihood for many communities and offer scenic view for recreation.
  • Forests are renewable resources and play a major role in enhancing the quality of environment.

Question 2.
Name some medicinal plants. Describe how they are useful for human beings.
Answer:
Sarpagandha, Jamun, Aijun, Babool, Neem, Tulsi and Kachanar.

  • Sarpagandha: It is used to treat blood pressure.
  • Jamun: The juice from ripe fruit is used to prepare vinegar which is carminative and diuretic and has digestive properties. The powder of the seed is used for controlling diabetes.
  • Arjun: The fresh juice of its leaves is a cure for earache. It is also used to regulate blood pressure.
  • Babooh Its leaves are used as a cure for eye sores. Its gum is used as a tonic.
  • Neem: It has high antibiotic and antibacterial properties.
  • Tulsi plant: It is used to cure cough and cold.
  • Kachnan It is used to cure asthma and ulcers. The buds and roots are good for digestive problems.

Question 3.
Why is bio-diversity necessary and why should it be conserved?
OR
Why according to you flora and fauna should be conserved?
Answer:

  • Bio-diversity describes the whole range of the different varieties of living things and systems on the earth.
  • Bio-diversity can be found everywhere. It includes animal species, plant species, genes, ecosystems and landscapes.
  • Bio-diversity is very much needed and must be conserved. High biodiversity indicates the richness of a place. They help in maintaining the environment best suited for living. The more plant, insect and animal species there are in one area the greater the biodiversity and the healthier the ecosystem.

Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Class 9 Extra Questions and Answer Geography Chapter 5 Map-based Questions

Question 1.
Different vegetation types have been shown in the given political outline map of India. Identify them and write their names on the lines marked in the map.
Answer:
1. Montane forests
2. Tropical thorn forests
3. Tropical evergreen forests
4. Tropical deciduous forests
5. Mangrove forests
Answer:
Class 9 Geography Chapter 5 Extra Questions and Answers Natural Vegetation and Wildlife 1

Question 2.
On the given outline map of India, locate and label the following:
A. National Parks: Ranthambhor, Shivpuri, Kanha, Corbett
B. Bird Sanctuary: Vedanthangal, Ranganathitto
C. Wild life Sanctuary: Pocharam, Eturnagaram, Chandra Prabha, Periyar
Answer:
Class 9 Geography Chapter 5 Extra Questions and Answers Natural Vegetation and Wildlife 2