Habitat and Ecosystem, Flora and Fauna of UP

What the official syllabus says

UPPCS Main Examination, General Studies VI.

Habitat and Ecosystem, structure and function, adjustment, Flora and Fauna with reference to UP.

Topics in detail

This line combines ecology (habitat, the structure and function of ecosystems, the adjustment of living things to their surroundings) with the flora and fauna of UP. Learn the concepts first and give each a UP example.

Habitat and ecosystem: concepts

• Habitat and ecological niche
• Ecosystem: biotic and abiotic components
• Structure: producers, consumers, decomposers; food chains and food webs; trophic levels; ecological pyramids
• Function: energy flow, nutrient (biogeochemical) cycles, productivity, ecological succession
• Ecotones and the edge effect
• Biodiversity: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity; endemic and endangered species

Adjustment (adaptation)

• Adaptations of plants and animals to heat, drought, flooding and cold
• Adaptations of wetland and aquatic life (hydrophytes, fish, river dolphins)
• Adaptations in dry Bundelkhand: deciduous trees, thorny shrubs
• Human adjustment: farming systems, houses and livelihoods suited to the Terai, the flood plains and the plateau

Ecosystems of UP

• Terai forest and grassland ecosystem
• Riverine ecosystems of the Ganga, Yamuna, Chambal and Ghaghara
• Wetland ecosystems (tal and jheel)
• Agricultural ecosystems of the plain
• Dry deciduous and scrub ecosystems of the Vindhyan and Bundelkhand south
• Urban ecosystems

Flora of UP

• Trees: sal, teak, shisham, khair, tendu, mahua, neem, peepal, banyan, babool, arjun, jamun
• Grasses of the Terai: tall elephant grass and other grasses
• Medicinal and aromatic plants
• Aquatic plants of wetlands
• State tree (ashoka) and state flower (palash)

Fauna of UP

• Mammals: tiger, leopard, swamp deer (barasingha, the state animal), sambar, chital, nilgai, blackbuck, one-horned rhinoceros at Dudhwa, sloth bear, wild boar
• Aquatic animals: Gangetic dolphin, gharial, mugger crocodile, turtles, otters
• Birds: sarus crane (the state bird), Bengal florican, migratory waterfowl, vultures
• Threatened species and their protection under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972
• Species conservation: vulture conservation, gharial and dolphin protection, rhino reintroduction

Ecological concepts with UP examples

• Keystone and umbrella species: the tiger of the Terai, whose protection saves the whole forest
• Flagship species: the Gangetic dolphin, India's national aquatic animal, as a sign of a healthy Ganga
• Indicator species: gharial and dolphin numbers as signs of river health
• Invasive species: water hyacinth in ponds and wetlands, lantana and parthenium on land, Prosopis juliflora in dry tracts
• Fragmentation of habitat by roads, canals and farms, and the role of wildlife corridors
• Ecosystem services: clean water, flood control, pollination, soil fertility

Overlaps

Protected areas are on National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. Ecosystems, biodiversity and conservation of wildlife for India are in General Studies III.