UPSC Prelims 2015 · Question 38 of 98
UPSC Prelims 2015 question on Mixed Forests Andaman Nicobar
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2015
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectEnvironment and Ecology
- TopicBiodiversity
- DifficultyMedium
- TypeDirect
Which one of the following regions of India has a combination of mangrove forest, evergreen forest and deciduous forest?
Show answer
Answer: D. Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Verdict
The answer is the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Mangrove, evergreen and deciduous forest occur together there.
Analysis
The islands combine a wet tropical climate with a long indented coastline, so tropical evergreen forest occupies the interior, moist deciduous forest occurs where rainfall and soil permit, and extensive mangroves fringe the creeks and estuaries. North coastal Andhra Pradesh and southern Saurashtra are far drier and lack tropical evergreen forest. South-West Bengal is inland of the Sundarbans mangrove belt and does not carry evergreen forest of this kind.
Source
Andaman administration material on the flora of the islands.
How to crack it
Reason from what each forest type demands rather than from a list of regions. Evergreen forest needs very heavy and well distributed rainfall, mangroves need a saline tidal coastline, and moist deciduous forest needs an intermediate rainfall band. Only a wet island with a heavily indented coast satisfies all three at once, which points to the Andamans directly. Note that the PDF left the difficulty cell blank for this row, so the medium label here is inferred rather than read from the analysis.
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