Q52 · UPSC Prelims 2015 · Set A · Environment and Ecology

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Which one of the following National Parks has a climate that varies from tropical to subtropical, temperate and arctic?

A Khangchendzonga National Park
B Nandadevi National Park
C Neora Valley National Park
D Namdapha National Park

Correct answer: (d) Namdapha National Park

Explanation

  1. A

    Khangchendzonga National Park

    Khangchendzonga National Park in Sikkim spans high Himalayan altitudes and has temperate to alpine belts, but it is not the park classically cited for a continuous tropical-to-arctic gradient in this question. This option is not the key.

  2. B

    Nandadevi National Park

    Nanda Devi National Park in Uttarakhand is a high-altitude Himalayan reserve of alpine meadows and glaciers. It lacks a tropical lowland belt of the kind Namdapha shows. This option is therefore wrong.

  3. C

    Neora Valley National Park

    Neora Valley National Park in the Kalimpong hills of West Bengal is a temperate-to-subtropical Eastern Himalayan forest. It does not run from tropical rain forest to arctic conditions. This option is not the key.

  4. D

    Namdapha National Park

    Namdapha National Park in Changlang, Arunachal Pradesh, rises from low tropical valleys to high snow-bearing ridges. That elevation range produces tropical, subtropical, temperate and alpine/arctic climates in one park. This option is the official key.

Summary. Official key is (d) Namdapha National Park. Namdapha’s altitude span from tropical foothills to high Himalayan ridges packs several climate belts into one protected area. Khangchendzonga and Nanda Devi are high Himalayan parks without that full tropical-to-arctic sequence as framed here. Neora Valley is a narrower Eastern Himalayan forest. Only Namdapha matches the climate gradient asked.

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