Environment & Ecology
Context: In the United States, wildlife officials declared a Nevada wildflower endangered at the only place it’s known to exist – on a high-desert ridge where a lithium mine is planned to help meet the growing demand for electric car batteries.
About Nevada Wildflowers:
- Sierra Nevada meadows explode in the spring and summer with beautiful wildflowers.
- In English Meadow, the orange-red Indian paintbrush (genus Castilleja) grows amid tall, yellow-flowered arrowleaf ragwort (Senecio triangularis).
- Meadow wildflowers play an important role in the larger ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada.
- The flowers are a primary food source for insects, and insects are an important food source for bats and birds.
About Sierra Nevada:
- Sierra Nevada, also called Sierra Nevadas, major mountain range of western North America, running along the eastern edge of the U.S. state of California.
- Its great mass lies between the large Central Valley depression to the west and the Basin and Range Province to the east.
- Extending more than 250 miles (400 kilometres) northward from the Mojave Desert to the Cascade Range of northern California and Oregon, the Sierra Nevada varies from about 80 miles wide at Lake Tahoe to about 50 miles wide in the south.
- Its magnificent skyline and spectacular landscapes make it one of the most beautiful physical features of the United States. Biologically, it is home to the largest trees in the world—the giant sequoias.
- The Sierra Nevada range is an excellent example of how the human occupation and use of an area can modify its landscape.
Source: NewsOnAir
Previous Year Questions
Q.1) Which one of the lakes of West Africa has become dry and turned into a desert? (2022)
- Lake Victoria
- Lake Faguibine
- Lake Oguta
- Lake Volta
