UPSC Prelims 2018 · Question 86 of 99

UPSC Prelims 2018 question on Prosopis Juliflora

Why is a plant called Prosopis juliflora often mentioned in news?

  1. Its extract is widely used in cosmetics.
  2. It tends to reduce the biodiversity in the area in which it grows.
  3. Its extract is used in the synthesis of pesticides.
  4. None of these
Show answer

Answer: B. It tends to reduce the biodiversity in the area in which it grows.

Analysis

Prosopis juliflora is in the news for reducing biodiversity, so the answer is (b).

Prosopis juliflora is an exotic tree and one of the top invaders in India. A native of South and Central America, it was introduced to meet the fuel and wood requirements of the rural poor and to restore degraded land. Besides threatening local plants, with which it competes for resources, it has been shown to affect the nesting success of birds.

Options (a) and (c) suggest commercial extraction for cosmetics or pesticides, which would make the plant newsworthy for its usefulness rather than its harm. Those would have been right only if the species were valued as a crop, whereas the reporting concerns its spread as an invasive.

Source

Down To Earth report on the silent invader; NCERT resource on ecosystems.

How to crack it

The framing of the stem is a clue in itself. Asking why a plant is often mentioned in news, when the plant carries a Latin binomial and no common Indian name, usually signals an invasive alien species rather than a commercial one. Keep a short list of India's notable invasives and what each displaces, because environment questions return to this theme regularly.

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