UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Microclimate leads to ‘inferior greening’
Q1. With reference to the phenomenon described as 'inferior greening' in the context of large-scale solar photovoltaic deployment, consider the following statements:
1. It is accompanied by a measurable increase in the Leaf Area Index of the affected landscape.
2. It involves the replacement of ecologically diverse habitat by dense but compositionally homogeneous vegetation.
3. It denotes a net decline in total vegetation cover brought about by the land-take of solar arrays.
4. Its effects were found to be most pronounced in desert regions.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- It is accompanied by a measurable increase in the Leaf Area Index of the affected landscape.
- It involves the replacement of ecologically diverse habitat by dense but compositionally homogeneous vegetation.
- It denotes a net decline in total vegetation cover brought about by the land-take of solar arrays.
- Its effects were found to be most pronounced in desert regions.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 3 and 4
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q2. The county-level panel dataset on which the 'inferior greening' finding rests spans how many years?
- A. 6 years
- B. 8 years
- C. 10 years
- D. 12 years
Q3. In coniferous (needle-leaf) canopies, the Leaf Area Index is conventionally defined as what fraction of the total needle surface area per unit ground area?
- A. One-half of the total needle surface area
- B. One-third of the total needle surface area
- C. One-fourth of the total needle surface area
- D. The entire total needle surface area
Q4. Leaf Area Index is formally recognised as one of the 'Essential Climate Variables' identified by which one of the following bodies?
- A. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, under the World Meteorological Organization and UNEP
- B. The Global Climate Observing System, co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization and partners
- C. The Group on Earth Observations, through its Global Earth Observation System of Systems
- D. The Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice under the UNFCCC
Q5. Consider the following statements comparing the differential effects reported by the 2026 study on solar expansion and avian diversity in China:
1. The adverse effect on bird diversity was stronger in non-desert regions than in desert regions.
2. Both resident and migratory bird groups showed significant declines, whereas species associated with mountain habitats showed no significant effect.
3. The adverse effect was concentrated in the poorest counties and was largely absent in wealthier, structurally complex landscapes.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The adverse effect on bird diversity was stronger in non-desert regions than in desert regions.
- Both resident and migratory bird groups showed significant declines, whereas species associated with mountain habitats showed no significant effect.
- The adverse effect was concentrated in the poorest counties and was largely absent in wealthier, structurally complex landscapes.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q6. With reference to the 2026 study linking China's solar expansion policy to bird diversity, consider the following statements:
1. It used a panel of 2,344 counties.
2. A one-standard-deviation rise in solar policy intensity was associated with a fall of about 2.10% in the bird biodiversity index.
3. The dominant pathway of impact identified was direct collision mortality of birds striking photovoltaic panel surfaces.
4. The study recommended siting large solar clusters preferentially on cropland-rich plains rather than in desert regions.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- It used a panel of 2,344 counties.
- A one-standard-deviation rise in solar policy intensity was associated with a fall of about 2.10% in the bird biodiversity index.
- The dominant pathway of impact identified was direct collision mortality of birds striking photovoltaic panel surfaces.
- The study recommended siting large solar clusters preferentially on cropland-rich plains rather than in desert regions.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 3 and 4
- C. 2 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 4
Q7. In the research that established the 'photovoltaic heat island' effect, what was the largest reported local climatic contrast between a utility-scale solar power plant and adjacent natural desert?
- A. Annual mean rainfall about 24% higher over the plant
- B. Annual mean soil moisture about 2.4 times that of the desert
- C. Annual mean temperature about 0.4 °C lower than the desert
- D. Annual mean temperature about 2.4 °C higher than the desert
Q8. The kind of satellite-based land and vegetation monitoring used to track greening around infrastructure is operationalised in India through the Bhuvan geoportal, which is run by which one of the following?
- A. The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences
- B. The National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- C. The National Remote Sensing Centre, a centre of ISRO under the Department of Space
- D. The Survey of India, the national mapping agency under the Ministry of Science and Technology
Q9. The scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects, under which large contiguous land parcels are aggregated for utility-scale generation, is implemented by which one of the following?
- A. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, through State-designated solar power park developers
- B. The Ministry of Power, through the Rural Electrification Corporation and State distribution utilities
- C. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, through the National Clean Energy Fund window
- D. NITI Aayog, through the Solar Energy Corporation of India as its executing arm
Q10. In China's announced pledge to reach 'carbon neutrality' before 2060, the term carbon neutrality is best understood as which one of the following?
- A. A state in which every greenhouse gas from every sector is permanently eliminated at source
- B. A state in which the entire national energy supply is drawn exclusively from non-fossil sources
- C. The point at which national carbon dioxide emissions reach their highest level and thereafter decline
- D. A state in which anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions are balanced by anthropogenic removals
Q11. Which one of the following is the principal component of biological diversity whose decline is the defining signature of biotic homogenization?
- A. Beta diversity, the compositional distinctiveness among communities
- B. Alpha diversity, since homogenization necessarily removes species from every local site
- C. Gamma diversity, since the regional species pool is invariably the first to collapse
- D. Phylogenetic diversity, which is unaffected by land-use change in all documented cases
Q12. With reference to the measures used to characterise bird communities in ecological studies, consider the following statements:
1. The Shannon index reflects both the number of species present and the evenness of their relative abundances.
2. Species richness is a count of the species present and takes no account of their relative abundances.
3. Functional richness, functional evenness, functional divergence and functional dispersion are used alongside taxonomic measures to describe bird community responses.
4. A rise in the Shannon index of a bird community indicates an increase in the total number of individual birds present.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- The Shannon index reflects both the number of species present and the evenness of their relative abundances.
- Species richness is a count of the species present and takes no account of their relative abundances.
- Functional richness, functional evenness, functional divergence and functional dispersion are used alongside taxonomic measures to describe bird community responses.
- A rise in the Shannon index of a bird community indicates an increase in the total number of individual birds present.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 1 and 4 only