Resources and Development Test - 20

Standard unit of measuring land is 'hectare'. One hectare is equal to 2.4 acres. 

• The history of colonization reveals that rich resources in colonies were the main attractions for the foreign invaders. It was primarily the higher level of technological development of the colonizing countries that helped them to exploit resources of other regions and establish their supremacy over the colonies. 
  
• For example, the teak plantation in South India had destroyed the habitat of several species during that time.

Any land which is left fallow (uncultivated) for more than five years is included in this category. It can be brought under cultivation after improving it through reclamation practices.In India percentage of the culturable waste land is 4.41%.

The running water cuts through the clayey soils and makes deep channels as gullies. The land becomes unfit for cultivation and is known as bad land. In the Chambal basin such lands are called ravines.

According to the Forest Survey of India, over 262,000 sq km of forest area was converted into agricultural land in India between 1951 and 1980. Moreover, a substantial part of the tribal belts has been deforested or degraded by shifting cultivation.

• Biotic resources are derived from living things.
  
• Based on the object possessing life or not, the objects are classified as biotic and abiotic. 
  
• Biotic: These are living organisms that possess life and carry on metabolism accordingly. Human beings, flora and fauna, fisheries, and live stocks fall under this category.
  

In recent years, multi-purpose projects and large dams have come under great scrutiny and opposition for a variety of reasons. Regulating and damming of rivers affect their natural flow causing poor sediment flow and excessive sedimentation at the bottom of the reservoir, resulting in rockier stream beds and poorer habitats for the rivers’ aquatic life. Dams also fragment rivers making it difficult for aquatic fauna to migrate, especially for spawning. The reservoirs that are created on the floodplains also submerge the existing vegetation and soil leading to its decomposition over a period of time.

Among the given options, buildings are made by human beings for their own use.

• Resources which are surveyed for their quality and quantity and have determined to be useful are called potential resources.
  
• These resources include metals, non-metals, natural resources like water, etc.
  

On the basis of ownership resources are classified as follows:

• Individual resources are owned by an individual. Example - land owned by a farmer.
  
• Community resources are owned by a community. Example - graveyard, parks, ponds etc
  
• National resources are owned by a nation's government. Examples - roads, railways etc.
  
• International resources like oceans and seas are regulated by international bodies.