5. Answer the following:
a) Write the uses of quinine, neem, amla, tulsi and morphine.
b) List the disadvantages of deforestation.
c) What happens when animals are deprived of food and shelter?
d) What are the causes of shrinking of Delhi Ridge?
e) Explain the interdependency of forest and the organisms in the forest.
f) List the importance of Delhi ridge. g) How forests help in:
i. Checking pollutions
ii. Preventing soil erosion
iii. Maintaining temperature iv. To recharge ground water
Answers
Answer:
a)Quinine is an alkaloid used to treat uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria.
Neem is a common pest repellant, effective against sand fleas and mosquitoes. Other forms of neem can help control termites and repel moths.
Amla, also known as Indian gooseberries, The antioxidants and vitamins found in amla berries offer several health benefits. High concentrations of vitamin C in amla helps the body recover from illness. Amla berries also include several flavonols, chemicals that have been linked to benefits like improved memory
The Basil or Tulsi plant has many medicinal properties. The leaves strengthen the stomach and help in respiratory diseases.
Morphine injection is used to relieve moderate to severe pain. It may also be used before or during surgery with an anesthetic. Morphine belongs to the group of medicines called narcotic analgesics (pain medicines). It acts on the central nervous system to relieve pain.
b)
It destroys the habitat of animals and birds.
It affects water cycle.
It can limit the supply of wood or timber.
It causes green house gases build-up.
It causes floods and fires.
c)
Deforestation can lead to a direct loss of wildlife habitat as well as a general degradation of their habitat. The removal of trees and other types of vegetation reduces available food, shelter, and breeding habitat.
In the simplest term, when a habitat is destroyed, the plants, animals, and other organisms that occupied the habitat have a reduced carrying capacity so that populations decline and extinction becomes more likely. Perhaps the greatest threat to organisms and biodiversity is the process of habitat loss.
d)Delhi ridge - a part of the Aravalli range, protects the city from pollution, hot winds from Rajasthan, and water shortage. Its destruction through roads, deforestation, and construction has led to its considerable shrinking over the years.
e)Forest is a place where a large and diverse variety of flora and fauna stay together and maintain the ecological balance.
f)The Ridge acts as the "green lungs" for the city, and protects Delhi from the hot winds of the deserts of Rajasthan to the west.
g)
i)Forest provides a dense cover of trees which consume carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is one of the major components of pollution contributed by the human activities. This increased amount of carbon dioxide is balanced by the trees in a forest hence, check the air pollution.
ii)Forests are rich in vegetation. Herbs, shrubs and trees in the forests hold the top most layer firmly by their roots. This does not allow natural forces like wind and water to carry away the top most fertile layer of the soil easily. Hence, forests prevent soil erosion.
iii)Forests influence climate change largely by affecting the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When forests grow, carbon is removed from the atmosphere and absorbed in wood, leaves and soil.
iv)Forest help in recharging groundwater level by preventing runoff, transpiration which further leads to precipitation and less evaporation. Also It absorb rainwater and increase the groundwater level.