Q.(a) Study the given graphs (X) and (Y) depicting the annual variation in solar radiation on Earth from January to December and answer the undermentioned questions. [Graphs: X and Y – Solar radiation vs Months (Jan. to Dec.)]
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🔒 Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Part (a)Concept understanding — Biodiversity Explanation
Biodiversity: The Web of Life Around You
Imagine walking into a kitchen garden. You see a few tomato plants, some mint, maybe a rose bush. Now imagine walking into a forest — hundreds of tree species, birds calling from every direction, insects crawling under leaves, fungi on the bark, and a stream with tiny fish. That staggering variety of living things — from the tallest tree to the invisible bacteria in the soil — is what we call biodiversity.
The Simple Intuition
Biodiversity is short for biological diversity. Think of it as the "variety of life" on Earth. Just as a library with only one kind of book is boring and limited, an ecosystem with only one kind of plant or animal is fragile and poor. Biodiversity is nature's library — the more species, the richer and more stable the system.
The Precise Meaning
The NCERT textbook defines biodiversity as:
The variety of living organisms present on Earth, including the different plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms, their genes, and the ecosystems they form.
This definition has three layers, and each matters:
- Genetic diversity — variation within a species. For example, all humans are one species, but we have different eye colours, heights, and resistance to diseases. In crops, genetic diversity means some wheat varieties resist drought while others resist pests.
- Species diversity — the number of different species in a region. A tropical rainforest has thousands of species; a cold desert has very few.
- Ecological diversity — the variety of habitats, ecosystems, and communities. A forest, a grassland, a coral reef, and a pond are all different ecosystems.
Biodiversity is not just about counting species. It includes the genes inside each species and the ecosystems they create together. Lose one layer, and the others suffer.
Why Does Biodiversity Matter?
For a commerce or humanities student, the question is natural: why should I care about how many beetles live in a forest? The answer is that biodiversity is the foundation of everything we use and consume.
Direct economic value — We depend on biodiversity for food (crops, fish, livestock), medicine (many drugs come from plants and fungi), raw materials (timber, cotton, rubber), and tourism (wildlife sanctuaries, national parks).
Indirect value — This is harder to see but more critical. Forests clean the air, wetlands purify water, bees pollinate crops, and soil microbes recycle nutrients. These are called ecosystem services. If biodiversity collapses, these services stop — and no technology can replace them at scale.
Ethical and cultural value — Every species has a right to exist, regardless of its usefulness to humans. Many cultures, especially in India, revere certain trees, animals, and rivers as sacred. Biodiversity is also a source of beauty, inspiration, and knowledge.
The NCERT textbook emphasises that biodiversity is our life insurance. It gives us resilience — when one species fails due to disease or climate change, another can take its place. A system with low biodiversity (like a wheat monoculture) is one disease away from collapse.
A Quick Look at India's Biodiversity
India is one of the world's mega-diverse countries. Though it has only 2.4% of the world's land area, it contains about 8% of all known species. This includes:
- Over 45,000 plant species
- More than 90,000 animal species
- 10 biogeographic zones — from the Himalayas to the Western Ghats to the Andaman Islands
This richness is not accidental. India's varied climate, geography, and ancient landmass have allowed many species to evolve and survive here.
The Threat: Why We Talk About It …
Part (b)Concept understanding — Ecological Interactions
Ecological Interactions: A First Look
Imagine a city. People live in apartments, work in offices, buy food from shops, and throw away garbage that someone else collects. Some people compete for the same job. Others help each other—a landlord provides space, a tenant pays rent. Now shrink that city to a forest, a pond, or even your backyard garden. Replace people with plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria. What you get is a web of relationships between living organisms—that is what ecologists call ecological interactions.
The Core Idea
Every living thing on Earth is connected to others. No organism exists in isolation. A tiger needs deer to eat; the deer needs grass; the grass needs sunlight and soil nutrients made available by bacteria and fungi. These connections are not random—they follow patterns. Some interactions help both partners, some help one at the expense of the other, and some harm both.
The NCERT textbook defines ecological interactions as the relationships between different species in a community. These interactions shape who lives where, how many of them exist, and how energy flows through an ecosystem.
Why Should a Commerce/Humanities Student Care?
You might think this is only for biology students. But consider this: every business operates within an ecosystem of suppliers, competitors, customers, and regulators. A startup that helps its suppliers grow (mutualism) survives longer than one that squeezes them dry (parasitism). A company that competes aggressively with rivals (competition) may drive prices down for consumers. The same logic that governs a forest governs a market—because both are systems of interacting agents.
Ecological interactions are not just "nature facts." They are a lens to understand any system where different entities depend on, compete with, or exploit each other—including economies, societies, and organizations.
The Main Types of Interactions
Ecologists classify interactions based on who benefits (+) and who is harmed (−). A zero (0) means no effect.
1. Mutualism (+ / +)
Both species benefit. Think of bees and flowers: bees get nectar (food), flowers get pollinated (reproduction). In human terms, this is a win-win partnership—like a coffee shop and a bookstore sharing the same space to attract more customers.
2. Competition (− / −)
Both species are harmed because they fight for the same limited resource—food, water, space, light. When two businesses open identical stores on the same street, both may earn less profit. In nature, two species of birds eating the same insect will both struggle if insects become scarce.
3. Predation (+ / −)
One species (predator) kills and eats the other (prey). The predator benefits; the prey is harmed. This is the tiger-deer example. In business, think of a large corporation acquiring a smaller competitor—the acquirer grows, the acquired loses independence.
4. Parasitism (+ / −)
One species (parasite) lives on or inside another (host) and feeds on it, usually without killing it immediately. The parasite benefits; the host is harmed. A tick on a dog, or a virus in a human. In economics, this resembles a monopolist that extracts value from suppliers without providing fair returns.
5. Commensalism (+ / 0)
One species benefits; the other is neither helped nor harmed. Barnacles attaching to a whale get a free ride to food-rich waters; the whale is unaffected. In a city, a street vendor setting up near a popular metro station benefits from foot traffic without affecting the station.
6. Amensalism (− / 0)
One species is harmed; the other is unaffected. A large tree casts shade that kills smaller plants beneath it—the tree does not care. In business, a giant retailer opening next to a small shop may drive the shop out of business without intending to.
| Interaction | Effect on Species A | Effect on Species B | Real-world analogy |
|-------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|
| Mutualism | + | + | Joint venture |
| Competition | − | − | Price war |
| Predation | + | − | Acquisition |
| Parasitism | + | − | Exploitative contract |
| Commensalism | + | 0 | Free rider |
| Amensalism | − | 0 | Collateral damage |
The Bigger Picture
No interaction exists in isolation. A single species may be involved in multiple relationships simultaneously. A tree competes with other trees for sunlight, provides shelter for birds (commensalism), hosts fungi that help it absorb nutrients (mutualism), and is eaten by insects (predation). This complexity is what makes ecosystems resilient—or fragile. …
Part (a)
Solar radiation is nearly constant and high all year in the tropical region (flat curve) but strongly seasonal in the temperate region (curve with a summer peak and winter trough).
- (i) The flat, high, steady graph = tropical region (I); the graph with large seasonal swings = temperate region (II). (Match the steady curve to X or Y as printed.) …
Part (a): The steady, high-radiation graph is the tropical region and the strongly seasonal graph is the temperate region; the tropical region shows higher biodiversity because of constant high energy and a long, stable evolutionary history.
Part (b): Prickly pear cactus exploded in Australia because it arrived without its natural enemies, and predators normally regulate prey numbers, keeping communities stable and diverse.
Part (a)
Concept-first idea: Solar radiation is the ultimate energy source for ecosystems, and how constant it is with latitude shapes productivity and diversity.
- Identifying the regions. Tropical regions (near the equator) receive nearly perpendicular sunlight all year, so their annual solar-radiation curve is relatively flat and high. Temperate regions (mid-latitudes) tilt toward and away from the Sun across the year, so their curve shows a large summer peak and deep winter trough. Therefore the steady graph depicts the tropical region and the strongly varying graph depicts the temperate region.
- Which region is more diverse — and why. The tropical region shows higher biological diversity:
- Constant, high energy input sustains high net primary productivity throughout the year, supporting more individuals, more trophic levels and more niches.
- Environmental stability and long evolutionary time — tropics have remained largely undisturbed (no glaciations) for millions of years, giving more time for speciation and niche specialisation with fewer extinctions. …
Showing the 12 most recent of 95 on this concept.
- CBSE 2026Set 57/2/11 markMCQQ.What could be the reason of extinction of Abingdon Tortoise from Galapagos Islands ? (A) Intraspecific Competition (B) Predation (C) Parasitism (D) Interspecific Competition
›Reveal solutionSolution
The Abingdon tortoise was driven to extinction primarily by interspecific competition — specifically, competition from introduced feral goats that destroyed its food supply.
The story of the Abingdon tortoise is one of the most poignant examples of how a single introduced species can unravel an entire ecosystem. To understand what happened, we need to look at the Galapagos Islands not as a pristine paradise, but as a fragile web of life that evolved in isolation for millions of years. The Abingdon tortoise, a subspecies of the giant Galapagos tortoise, lived only on Pinta Island (also called Abingdon Island). Its extinction was not caused by a dramatic volcanic eruption or a sudden disease. It was caused by something far quieter, and far more human-driven.
The key event was the arrival of feral goats. Sailors and whalers, over centuries, deliberately left goats on islands as a future source of fresh meat. On Pinta, these goats found a paradise with no natural predators. They multiplied explosively. And here is where the ecological interaction becomes critical: goats and tortoises both eat vegetation — grasses, shrubs, and low-lying plants. But goats are far more efficient and destructive. They can climb, they can strip bark, they can eat plants down to the root. The tortoise, slow and with a limited diet, simply could not compete.
This is a textbook case of interspecific competition — competition between individuals of different species for the same limited resource. The goats did not attack the tortoises directly. They did not parasitise them. They simply outcompeted them for food. As the goat population boomed, the island’s vegetation was decimated. The tortoises, which had evolved with no such competitor, starved. Their population collapsed. By the time scientists realised what was happening, only a single individual — famously named Lonesome George — remained. Despite decades of effort, he never reproduced, and with his death in 2012, the subspecies was gone. …
- CBSE 2026Set V11 markMCQQ.Herbivores in a broad ecological context not very different from(a) Commensals(b) Predators(c) Parasites(d) Producers
›Reveal solutionSolution
In a broad ecological sense a herbivore that feeds on a plant is, functionally, a predator on that plant.
Predation is any interaction in which one organism (the predator) consumes another living organism (the prey) for its nutrition. When this idea is applied broadly, a herbivore eating a plant is essentially a "predator" of that plant, because it is a consumer that lives on another living organism and transfers energy from the producer level to higher trophic levels. This is why the NCERT text states that, in a broad ecological context, herbivores are not very different from p …
- CBSE 2026Set A1 markMCQQ.How many mega-biodiversity countries are there in the world?(a) 25(b) 34(c) 14(d) 17
›Reveal solutionSolution
The world has 17 megadiverse countries that together hold most of the Earth's species; India is one of them.
A small number of countries lying largely within the tropics harbour a very large share of the world's biodiversity. These are termed megadiverse (mega-biodiversity) countries and number 17, including …
- CBSE 2026Set A1 markMCQQ.Which region got comparatively shorter span of time for species evolution and diversification due to frequent glaciation?(a) temperate region(b) tropical region(c) polar region(d) glaciation occurred in all regions
›Reveal solutionSolution
Tropics stayed relatively undisturbed and had more evolutionary time; temperate regions faced frequent glaciations, giving less time for diversification.
One explanation for the greater species richness of the tropics is time: tropical latitudes have remained relatively undisturbed for millions of years, providing a long, stable period for species to evolve and diversify. Temperate regions, in contrast, were subj …
- CBSE 2026Set A1 markMCQQ.Which of the following was used to control the cactus that had been introduced in Australia?(a) Moth(b) Calotropis(c) Phytophagous insects(d) Virus
›Reveal solutionSolution
The cactus moth Cactoblastis controlled the introduced Opuntia cactus in Australia — a classic biological-control example.
When the prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia) was introduced into Australia in the early 1900s, it spread uncontrollably because it had no natural enemies there. It was brought under control by introducing a natural predator (a herbivore) — the cactus-feeding moth Cactoblastis cactorum. Thi …
- CBSE 2026Set A1 markMCQQ.What is lichen an example of?(a) Mutualism(b) Competition(c) Parasitism(d) Commensalism
›Reveal solutionSolution
Lichens are a mutualism between a fungus and an alga, where both partners benefit.
A lichen is an intimate, mutually beneficial partnership between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner (an alga or a cyanobacterium). The alga carries out photosynthesis and supplies food, while the fungus provides shelter, anchorage, water and min …
- CBSE 2026Set BOTANY1 markMCQQ.In terms of population interactions, mycorrhiza is an example of _____.(a) competition(b) predation(c) parasitism(d) mutualism
›Reveal solutionSolution
Mycorrhiza is a mutualistic association between a fungus and the roots of a higher plant, in which both partners benefit.
Population interactions between two species can be classified by their net effect (+, -, 0) on each partner: mutualism (+ +), competition (- -), predation/parasitism (+ -), commensalism (+ 0), and amensalism (- 0). Mycorrhiza is the intimate association of a fungus with the root system of a vascular plant. The fungal hyphae greatly increase the absorptive surface area of the root system, so the fungus helps the plant take up phosphorus and other minerals (and sometimes water) from the soil more efficiently. In return, the plant supplies the fungus with photosynthetically fixed carbohydrates (sugars) that the non-photosynthetic fungus cannot make for itself. Because BOTH pa …
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.If species 'A' + (Positive) and species 'B' - (Negative) in population, the name of interaction will be(a) Mutualism(b) Competition(c) Predation(d) Parasitism
›Reveal solutionSolution
A +/- interaction, where one species benefits and the other is harmed, describes parasitism; of the given options 'Parasitism' is the standard population interaction named for this sign pattern.
Ecological population interactions are often summarised by the effect on each species: Mutualism is (+,+) - both benefit; Competition is (-,-) - both are harmed; Commensalism is (+,0) - one benefits, the other unaffected. When one species benefits (+) at the cost of the other, which is harmed (-), the interaction is parasitism - the parasite (species A) derives nutrition from the h …
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markQ.What is brood parasitism? Give one example.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Brood parasitism is a special case of exploitative interaction where a parasitic bird lays eggs in a host bird's nest, and the unsuspecting host raises the parasite's chick as its own.
Brood parasitism is an interesting interspecific interaction (studied alongside predation, parasitism, and other population interactions) in which a bird species lays its eggs in the nest of another species, so the host bird ends up incubating and rearing the parasite's young, often at the expense of its own offspring.
…
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.This type of interaction confers benefits on both interacting species are called:(a) Commensalism(b) Mutualism(c) Parasitism(d) Competition
›Reveal solutionSolution
An interaction that benefits both species is mutualism.
Interspecific interactions are classified by their effect on the two species. Mutualism is the interaction in which both species are benefited (a +/+ relationship), for example the pollination of flowers by bees, or lichens (fungus and alga). In commensalism one benefits and the other is unaffected (+/0), in parasitism one benefits …
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Fill in the blank: When a species become extinct, the plant and animal species associated with an obligatory way also become extinct. It is called ______.
›Reveal solutionSolution
The linked extinction of dependent species along with the species they rely on is called co-extinction.
Many species are so closely dependent on another species (for food, host or partner) that they cannot survive without it. When such a host or partner species becomes extinct, the plants and animals that were obligately associated with it also die out. This linked loss is called co-extinction, for exa …
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The possible reason for extinction of Steller's sea cow is due to –(a) Alien species invasion(b) Over exploitation(c) Habitat Loss(d) Co-extinction
›Reveal solutionSolution
Steller's sea cow became extinct because humans hunted it excessively — an example of over-exploitation.
Over-exploitation is one of the major causes of biodiversity loss ("The Evil Quartet"): when a resource is harvested by humans faster than it can replenish, the species declines to extinction. Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) was a large, docile marine mammal that was kill …
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