Indian Forest Service Examination Forest Types, Phytogeography & World Biomes: practice questions

1 · World biomes: boreal, temperate, Mediterranean, tropical moist and dry forests · medium

Large areas of eastern Siberia, where permafrost and extreme cold prevail, are dominated by:

1. Teak, a deciduous broadleaf
2. Larch, a deciduous conifer
3. Coast redwood, an evergreen conifer
4. Holm oak, an evergreen broadleaf

2 · World biomes: boreal, temperate, Mediterranean, tropical moist and dry forests · hard

Why is planting trees in ancient, species-rich savannas often criticised?

1. It always increases the area of tropical rain forest worldwide
2. Savannas cannot support any tree species under any conditions
3. It destroys a valuable ecosystem rather than restoring forest
4. Savannas are already counted as closed forest in every report

3 · Phytogeographic regions of the world · hard

Why do vegetation belts usually lie higher on south-facing slopes in the Himalaya?

1. South-facing slopes are sunnier, warmer and drier
2. South-facing slopes receive more snow in winter
3. South-facing slopes have deeper, wetter soils
4. South-facing slopes are always less steep

4 · Forest classification systems: physiognomic, floristic, ecological · medium

Daubenmire's habitat type classification groups sites by their:

1. Potential climax vegetation
2. Present timber volume
3. Distance from the nearest road
4. Legal ownership

5 · Tropical forest formations: evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist and dry deciduous · easy

Sal (Shorea robusta) forms extensive forests mainly of which type groups?

1. Tropical wet evergreen and littoral
2. Himalayan moist temperate and sub-alpine
3. Tropical thorn and dry alpine scrub
4. Tropical moist and dry deciduous

6 · Temperate, subalpine and alpine forests · medium

In the western Himalaya, which oak typically grows highest, near the upper limit of the temperate belt?

1. Ban oak (Quercus leucotrichophora)
2. Kharsu oak (Quercus semecarpifolia)
3. Moru oak (Quercus floribunda)
4. Cork oak (Quercus suber)

7 · Temperate, subalpine and alpine forests · hard

Why are Himalayan dry temperate forests found in inner valleys behind the main ranges?

1. They lie in the wettest areas, receiving the heaviest monsoon rain
2. They lie in the rain shadow, with low monsoon rain and winter snow
3. They lie at sea level where temperatures are highest
4. They lie on alluvial floodplains with permanent waterlogging

8 · Mangrove and littoral forests · medium

Stilt or prop roots arching from the trunk are characteristic of:

1. Avicennia
2. Casuarina
3. Calophyllum
4. Rhizophora

9 · Forest cover mapping, national forest-cover reports and the FAO Forest Resources Assessment · medium

In the ISFR, moderately dense forest has a canopy density of:

1. 70 per cent and above
2. 40 to 70 per cent
3. 10 to 40 per cent
4. Below 10 per cent

10 · Forest cover mapping, national forest-cover reports and the FAO Forest Resources Assessment · hard

Why can an increase in reported forest cover hide the loss of natural forest?

1. Satellite images cannot detect trees taller than ten metres
2. Natural forest is excluded from all forest cover maps
3. The threshold also counts plantations and orchards
4. Forest cover is calculated only from legal records