Examination Preparation

New Revised Life Science Syllabus for CSIR June 2009 Examination

CSIR-UGC National Eligibility Test (NET) for Junior Research Fellowship and Lecturer-ship

REVISED SYLLABUS

EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 2008 EXAMINATION

SYLLABUS FOR LIFE SCIENCES PAPER I AND PAPER II

Unit 10. ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES
A. The Environment: Physical environment; biotic environment; biotic and abiotic interactions.
B. Habitat and niche: Concept of habitat and niche; niche width and overlap; fundamental and realized niche; resource partitioning; character displacement.
C. Population ecology: Characteristics of a population; population growth curves; population regulation; life history strategies (r and K selection); concept of metapopulation – demes and dispersal, interdemic extinctions, age structured populations.
D. Species interactions: Types of interactions, interspecific competition, herbivory, carnivory, pollination, symbiosis.
E. Community ecology: Nature of communities; community structure and attributes; levels of species diversity and its measurement; edges and ecotones.
F. Ecological succession: Types; mechanisms; changes involved in succession; concept of climax.
G. Ecosystem: Structure and function; energy flow and mineral cycling (CNP); primary production and decomposition; structure and function of some Indian ecosystems: terrestrial (forest, grassland) and aquatic (fresh water, marine, eustarine).
H. Biogeography: Major terrestrial biomes; theory of island biogeography; biogeographical zones of India.
I. Applied ecology: Environmental pollution; global environmental change; biodiversity-status, monitoring and documentation; major drivers of biodiversity change; biodiversity management approaches.
J. Conservation biology: Principles of conservation, major approaches to management, Indian case studies on conservation/management strategy (Project Tiger, Biosphere reserves).