GATE — Ecology and Evolution (EY)

India · IITs and IISc on rotation (2026: IIT Guwahati) · pg

145practice questions written to this syllabus
8subjects

Format

Computer-based, 3 hours, 100 marks (15 General Aptitude + 85 subject), MCQ, MSQ and NAT; negative marking on MCQ only (GATE-wide rules).

Sections

Over the years

There is no GATE forestry paper. EY is the closest GATE paper for forestry graduates aiming at ecology, wildlife and conservation Master's and PhD programmes (IISc, IISER, WII-linked courses). Syllabus read in the GATE 2026 EY PDF.

Official source: https://gate2026.iitg.ac.in/doc/GATE2026_Syllabus/EY_2026_Syllabus.pdf

Subjects this exam draws on

Forest Botany & Plant Systematics10 questionsForest Ecology & Ecosystem Processes18 questionsConservation Biology & Forest Genetic Resources31 questionsForest Genetics & Tree Improvement12 questionsForest Restoration & Afforestation of Difficult Sites5 questionsWildlife Biology & Ecology25 questionsForests & Climate Change: Carbon, REDD+ & MRV9 questionsLandscape Ecology & Forest Ecosystem Modelling35 questions

Five practice questions, worked

Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.

1. Bark, in the forester's sense, consists of:

  1. Only the dead cork cells
  2. Only the outer heartwood
  3. Only the epidermis of the stem
  4. Everything outside the cambium
Answer and working

D. Everything outside the cambium

Bark = secondary phloem (inner bark) plus periderm and rhytidome (outer bark).

Forest Botany & Plant Systematics · Plant cell, tissues and secondary growth

2. Producers in a forest make 10,000 kJ available. Assuming 10 per cent transfer efficiency, how much energy reaches second-level carnivores (tertiary consumers)?

  1. 10 kJ
  2. 100 kJ
  3. 1,000 kJ
  4. 1 kJ
Answer and working

A. 10 kJ

Herbivores: 1,000; first-level carnivores: 100; second-level carnivores: 10 kJ. 1,000 and 100 stop too early; 1 goes one level too far.

Forest Ecology & Ecosystem Processes · Energy flow, food webs and trophic levels

3. Diversity within a single habitat or site is called:

  1. Beta diversity
  2. Alpha diversity
  3. Gamma diversity
  4. Delta diversity
Answer and working

B. Alpha diversity

Whittaker: alpha within site, beta between sites, gamma regional.

Conservation Biology & Forest Genetic Resources · Levels of biodiversity: genetic, species, ecosystem

4. Which force tends to make separate populations more similar genetically?

  1. Gene flow
  2. Genetic drift
  3. Local natural selection
  4. Inbreeding
Answer and working

A. Gene flow

Gene flow moves alleles between populations; drift and local selection drive divergence.

Forest Genetics & Tree Improvement · Variation in natural populations and its causes

5. Which is one of SER's six key attributes for judging restoration?

  1. Timber volume
  2. Tourist numbers per year
  3. Road density
  4. Structural diversity
Answer and working

D. Structural diversity

Threats, physical conditions, composition, structure, function, external exchanges.

Forest Restoration & Afforestation of Difficult Sites · Principles of ecological restoration and forest landscape restoration

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