Match List - I with List - II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists :
List - I
(Natural Vegetation)
A. Epiphytes
B. Acacia
C. Baobab
D. Cedars
List - II
(Region)
1. Medit

Question

Match List - I with List - II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists :
List - I
(Natural Vegetation)
A. Epiphytes
B. Acacia
C. Baobab
D. Cedars
List - II
(Region)
1. Mediterranean
2. Equatorial
3. Sahara
4. Savanna
Codes :

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, A-2, B-3, C-4, D-1. Epiphytes — orchids, ferns and bromeliads perched on trunks and branches — are the signature of the multi-storeyed equatorial rainforest, where light near the ground is scarce, so A goes to 2. Acacia, the thorny, tiny-leaved, deep-rooted tree, is taken here as the desert entry: in the Sahara it is the characteristic tree of the wadis and depressions, so B goes to 3. The baobab (Adansonia digitata), the 'upside-down tree' with a hugely swollen water-storing trunk, is the emblem of the African savanna, so C goes to 4. Cedars — the cedar of Lebanon and the Atlas cedar of Morocco and Algeria — are Mediterranean trees, so D goes to 1. That gives A-2, B-3, C-4, D-1, which is option (a).

Why the other options are wrong — (b) It places the baobab in the Mediterranean and the cedars in the savanna — an exact swap of the last two rows. The baobab is an African dry-tropical tree and does not grow wild around the Mediterranean, while cedar is a cool-hill conifer of the Mediterranean mountains, not a savanna tree.  (c) This is the tempting one, because acacias genuinely are the umbrella trees of the African savanna. But in this four-way set the savanna slot is claimed by the baobab, and no other listed plant can occupy the Sahara. Placing the baobab in the Sahara is the clear error — it needs a wet season the Sahara does not have.  (d) Three rows are wrong at once: acacia to the savanna, baobab to the Mediterranean and cedars to the Sahara. Cedar forests need the cool, moist mountain slopes of Lebanon or the Atlas — the Sahara supports date palms at oases and thorny scrub in wadis, not conifer forest.

Concept: World natural vegetation follows the moisture regime. The equatorial belt has rain all year, producing a tall, layered rainforest with lianas and abundant epiphytes. The savanna has a sharply seasonal rainfall, producing tall grass with scattered fire- and drought-resistant trees such as the baobab and acacia. The hot desert has almost no rain, so vegetation retreats to xerophytes — thorny acacias in the wadis, date palms at oases. The Mediterranean belt gets its rain in winter, producing sclerophyllous evergreens: olive, cork oak, and on the higher slopes the cedars. Match the plant to the water supply it needs and the pairing usually falls out.

State PCS 2019 Q118 — Geography PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2019 Q118 — Geography PYQ with Answer