ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) — Subject 59 Forestry · India · National Testing Agency for ICAR
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersWeather and climate as they shape forest distribution, growth and hazards: radiation, temperature, moisture and wind, inside and above the canopy.
In the exams: Background to IFoS silviculture (site factors) and fire topics; ICAR AICE-JRF 59 Unit 2 (climatic site factors) and Unit 12
How our questions for ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF spread across the units of Forest Meteorology & Climatology. Difficulty: 7 easy, 26 medium, 16 hard.
| Atmosphere, radiation balance and energy budget | 7 | |
| Humidity and evapotranspiration | 7 | |
| Forest microclimate and edge effects | 7 | |
| Climate classification (Köppen, Holdridge life zones) | 7 | |
| Precipitation, interception and fog drip | 5 | |
| Weather instruments and forest weather stations | 5 | |
| Temperature, frost and heat regimes | 4 | |
| Wind and windthrow | 4 | |
| Fire weather and fire danger indices | 3 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
A well-watered tropical forest has a low Bowen ratio. This means:
A. Evapotranspiration uses most energy
β = H/LE; a low value (about 0.2–0.5) means latent heat dominates.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Oke; Monteith and Unsworth; Bonan; FAO-56; WMO-No. 8; Van Wagner 1987; Holdridge 1967
Worldwide, alpine and polar treelines occur where the mean growing-season temperature falls to roughly:
A. 6–7 °C
Körner and colleagues found treelines at a growing-season mean of about 6–7 °C; the 10 °C warmest-month isotherm is an older approximation.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Oke; Monteith and Unsworth; Bonan; FAO-56; WMO-No. 8; Van Wagner 1987; Holdridge 1967
Rain that runs down branches and trunks to the ground is called:
B. Stemflow
Stemflow is usually a small share but concentrates water and nutrients at tree bases.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Oke; Monteith and Unsworth; Bonan; FAO-56; WMO-No. 8; Van Wagner 1987; Holdridge 1967
A catchment receives 1200 mm of rain in a year and yields 450 mm of streamflow, with negligible storage change. What is annual evapotranspiration?
C. 750 mm
ET = P − Q − ΔS = 1200 − 450 = 750 mm.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Oke; Monteith and Unsworth; Bonan; FAO-56; WMO-No. 8; Van Wagner 1987; Holdridge 1967
Which method directly measures evapotranspiration above a forest canopy from turbulent fluctuations?
D. Eddy covariance on a flux tower
Eddy covariance correlates vertical wind and vapour fluctuations; the other methods estimate or measure other quantities.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Oke; Monteith and Unsworth; Bonan; FAO-56; WMO-No. 8; Van Wagner 1987; Holdridge 1967
By WMO convention, surface wind speed is measured at what height above open ground?
A. 10 m
10 m is standard for wind; 1.25–2 m is the height of temperature and humidity sensors.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Oke; Monteith and Unsworth; Bonan; FAO-56; WMO-No. 8; Van Wagner 1987; Holdridge 1967
In a mid-latitude northern hemisphere forest, the brightest part of a small canopy gap at ground level is usually:
A. Displaced towards the north side
Sunlight enters at an angle from the south, so the sunlit patch falls towards the gap's northern edge.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Oke; Monteith and Unsworth; Bonan; FAO-56; WMO-No. 8; Van Wagner 1987; Holdridge 1967
In a Walter–Lieth climate diagram, an arid period is shown where:
A. Rain line dips below temperature line
With 10 °C = 20 mm, precipitation below the temperature line indicates water deficit.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Oke; Monteith and Unsworth; Bonan; FAO-56; WMO-No. 8; Van Wagner 1987; Holdridge 1967
A minimum thermometer uses alcohol with an index, while a maximum thermometer uses:
C. Mercury with a constriction
The constriction stops mercury returning to the bulb, holding the highest reading.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Oke; Monteith and Unsworth; Bonan; FAO-56; WMO-No. 8; Van Wagner 1987; Holdridge 1967
Which instrument measures photosynthetically active radiation for forest light studies?
A. Quantum sensor
Quantum sensors measure photon flux in the 400–700 nm band; pyrheliometers measure direct beam irradiance.
Further reading: See the manual sources: Oke; Monteith and Unsworth; Bonan; FAO-56; WMO-No. 8; Van Wagner 1987; Holdridge 1967
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