Indian Forest Service Examination Forests & Climate Change: Carbon, REDD+ & MRV: practice questions

1 · Global climate change: history and projections · hard

Under the very high emissions scenario SSP5-8.5, AR6 projects very likely global warming by 2081–2100 relative to 1850–1900 of about:

1. 3.3 to 5.7 °C
2. 1.0 to 1.8 °C
3. 0.5 to 1.0 °C
4. 7 to 10 °C

2 · Impacts of climate change on forests, wildlife and water · medium

The CO2 fertilisation effect refers to:

1. Fertiliser applied to forests specifically to make them absorb more CO2
2. CO2 released by fertiliser factories
3. Increased photosynthesis and water-use efficiency under higher CO2
4. Reduced growth caused by high CO2

3 · Impacts of climate change on forests, wildlife and water · hard

Why can climate-driven disturbances turn forests from carbon sinks into sources?

1. Mortality, fire and decay release carbon faster than regrowth absorbs it
2. Disturbed forests stop respiring and therefore emit nothing
3. Disturbances increase photosynthesis permanently
4. Disturbed forests convert CO2 into methane only

4 · Forest carbon pools: above-ground, below-ground, deadwood, litter, soil · medium

In which forest type does the soil and peat pool usually hold most of the carbon?

1. Boreal forest
2. Tropical dry deciduous forest
3. Young eucalypt plantation
4. Tropical rain forest on mineral soil

5 · Forest carbon pools: above-ground, below-ground, deadwood, litter, soil · medium

Mangroves are called 'blue carbon' ecosystems mainly because:

1. Their leaves are blue in colour
2. They store large amounts of carbon in their waterlogged soils
3. They absorb carbon only from dissolved seawater salts, not the air
4. They hold no carbon in soil

6 · Forest carbon pools: above-ground, below-ground, deadwood, litter, soil · hard

Why may a project exclude the dead wood pool from carbon accounting in an afforestation project?

1. Dead wood never contains any carbon, so it can always be ignored
2. Dead wood is counted as soil carbon by definition
3. Excluding a pool that can only increase is conservative
4. IPCC forbids measuring dead wood

7 · Measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) and forest reference levels · medium

Deforestation emissions in three reference years were 5, 7 and 6 million t CO2e. What is a simple historical-average FREL?

1. 18 million t CO2e per year
2. 7 million t CO2e per year
3. 5 million t CO2e per year
4. 6 million t CO2e per year

8 · Measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) and forest reference levels · hard

Why must the same methods be used for a reference level and for measuring results?

1. Because reference levels may only be set by the IPCC for every country
2. Otherwise apparent reductions may be artefacts of changed methods
3. Because results are measured only in physical volume
4. Because new methods are forbidden under the UNFCCC

9 · Climate adaptation in silviculture · medium

Assisted gene flow differs from assisted migration in that it:

1. Moves species to other continents
2. Uses genetically modified trees
3. Uses genetically modified trees developed in laboratories
4. Moves seed within a species' range, such as from warmer populations

10 · Climate adaptation in silviculture · hard

Why does increasing species and genetic diversity within stands help adaptation?

1. Diverse stands never suffer any mortality from drought or pests
2. A mixture is less likely to fail entirely under unexpected stress
3. Diversity removes the need for monitoring
4. Monocultures cannot be planted legally