Computer-based MCQ paper for PhD admission and the JRF/SRF fellowship; one paper per subject. Timing and marking follow the yearly bulletin and were not re-read.
Sections
71 Unit 1: Scope of environmental science; spheres; natural resources; land degradation and wastelands; watershed management; ecology and ecosystems; biogeochemical cycles
71 Unit 3: Air pollution, GHGs, ozone depletion, acid rain, disasters, adaptation and mitigation, carbon sequestration and CDM, treaties, CSR, RS and GIS, EIA and environmental auditing
71 Unit 4: Urban and industrial wastewater, effluent treatment, soil pollution, heavy metals and pesticides, remediation including phytoremediation
60: General meteorology, general climatology, crop-weather relations, agroclimatology and climate change (separate paper)
Over the years
The official AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) syllabus PDF was opened and the Environmental Sciences (71) and Agricultural Meteorology (60) syllabi were read. The PDF also lists 52 Aquatic Environmental Management for fisheries. Question papers are not published, so no topic-frequency data exists.
Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.
1. Why are environmental problems such as groundwater depletion typically described as complex?
Many interacting causes, time lags, uncertainty and unequal impacts
They have a single cause that can be removed with one technical measure
They affect only one scale, such as a single field, and never spread
They can always be solved by providing farmers with more information
Answer and working
A. Many interacting causes, time lags, uncertainty and unequal impacts
Complex problems feature multiple feedbacks, delays, uncertainty and distributional conflicts across scales, requiring systems thinking. Single-cause, single-scale or information-only views are inadequate.
Principles of Environmental Science · Scope of environmental science and its links with agriculture
2. Why is seed source (ecotype) important in ecological restoration?
Seed from mismatched ecotypes tends to fail locally
All ecotypes of a species are genetically identical, so source does not matter
Ecotypes cannot interbreed, so mixing them always causes sterility
Restoration law in every country forbids using local seed
Answer and working
A. Seed from mismatched ecotypes tends to fail locally
Locally adapted ecotypes usually perform better; mismatched sources can fail or reduce local adaptation. Ecotypes differ genetically and generally can interbreed.
Ecology & Ecosystem Science · Levels of ecological organisation; autecology and synecology
3. A pesticide has Koc = 500 L/kg and is applied to a soil with 2 per cent organic carbon. What is its distribution coefficient Kd?
1000 L/kg
10 L/kg
0.04 L/kg
25000 L/kg
Answer and working
B. 10 L/kg
Kd = Koc × foc = 500 × 0.02 = 10 L/kg. 1000 uses 2 instead of 0.02; 25000 divides by 0.02; 0.04 inverts the relation.
Environmental Chemistry · Speciation of inorganic and organic contaminants
4. Which biofertiliser is especially used for sugarcane?
Azolla
Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus
Frankia
Rhizobium
Answer and working
B. Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus
G. diazotrophicus is an endophytic nitrogen fixer in sugarcane; Rhizobium nodulates legumes; Azolla is for rice; Frankia for some trees.
Environmental Microbiology · Plant-microbe and soil-microbe interactions
5. Laterite forms under:
Intense tropical weathering that leaches silica and bases
Cold, dry tundra climates with deep permafrost
Evaporation in salt lakes
Glacial grinding of granite
Answer and working
A. Intense tropical weathering that leaches silica and bases
It is rich in iron and aluminium oxides. Tundra, salt lakes and glaciers do not produce laterite.
Earth Systems & Environmental Geoscience · Weathering and soil formation from parent material
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