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Ecology and Biodiversity PYQs (previous year questions) for UPSC Prelims: Ecology and Biodiversity (Environment) had 77 questions across the 11 official UPSC Prelims papers we tagged (2016–2026), and appeared in 11 of them. Asked in 11 of 11 years. The concepts asked in the most papers: Protected Areas, Fauna, Fauna of India.
Year-wise question count
Asked in 11 of 11 years.
Most-asked concepts
Sorted by the number of papers a concept appeared in.
| Concept | Questions | Papers | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected Areas | 8 | 6 | 2026, 2023, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 |
| Fauna | 9 | 3 | 2024, 2023, 2022 |
| Fauna of India | 5 | 3 | 2020, 2017, 2016 |
| Animal Behaviour | 3 | 2 | 2023, 2021 |
| National Parks | 3 | 2 | 2020, 2019 |
| Wildlife Protection Act | 3 | 2 | 2020, 2017 |
| Animal Biology | 2 | 2 | 2021, 2019 |
| Coral Reefs | 2 | 2 | 2022, 2018 |
| Flora | 2 | 2 | 2026, 2024 |
| Fungi | 2 | 2 | 2023, 2022 |
| Invasive Species | 2 | 2 | 2023, 2018 |
| Plant Uses | 2 | 2 | 2021, 2019 |
| Species in News | 2 | 2 | 2026, 2025 |
| Wildlife Protection Law | 2 | 2 | 2024, 2022 |
| Flora of India | 2 | 1 | 2016 |
| Wildlife Distribution | 2 | 1 | 2019 |
| Afforestation | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Big Cats | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Biodiversity Conservation | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Biodiversity Governance | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Biodiversity Initiatives | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| Biodiversity Loss | 1 | 1 | 2018 |
| Biogeochemical Cycles | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ecosystem Services | 1 | 1 | 2017 |
| Environmental Institutions | 1 | 1 | 2026 |
| Food Chains | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Forest Types | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mangroves | 1 | 1 | 2026 |
| Marine Ecology | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Migratory Birds | 1 | 1 | 2026 |
| Oxygen Cycle | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Peatlands | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Plant Ecology | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Plant Species | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pollination | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Symbiosis | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Tiger Conservation | 1 | 1 | 2017 |
| Tiger Reserves | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Western Ghats | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| Wetlands | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wildlife Biology | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Wildlife Trade | 1 | 1 | 2017 |
How to practise Ecology and Biodiversity PYQs
- Start with the concepts at the top of the table. They have come back the most.
- Solve one year’s Ecology and Biodiversity questions from the official PDF against the clock, then check the answer listed below.
- Log every miss as a concept gap, a calculation slip or a misread. Each needs a different fix.
- Once a concept is clean in two papers, move to the next. Then sit a full paper from the year pages.
Questions by year
Each line gives the question number, type, concept, our one-line summary and the official answer, with a link to the official PDF.
UPSC Prelims2026
- Q.22 · MCQ · Species in News: Status, habitat and traits of the Western Hoolock Gibbon PDF
- Q.23 · MCQ · Mangroves: Why mangroves matter for climate resilience PDF
- Q.27 · MCQ · Migratory Birds: Significance of Amur Falcons arriving at Doyang Lake PDF
- Q.32 · MCQ · Protected Areas: Tiger reserve status, Ramsar site and extent of Madhav NP PDF
- Q.36 · MCQ · Flora: Habit, range and State-flower status of the Foxtail orchid PDF
- Q.77 · MCQ · Environmental Institutions: Verticals and lead institutes of the NIRANTAR platform PDF
UPSC Prelims2025
UPSC Prelims2024
- Q.16 · MCQ · Peatlands: Region with the world's largest tropical peatland PDF
- Q.18 · MCQ · Fauna: Which listed organisms include parasitoid species PDF
- Q.20 · MCQ · Wildlife Protection Law: Legal status and diet of the Indian Flying Fox PDF
- Q.21 · MCQ · Fauna: What kind of organisms cicada, froghopper and pond skater are PDF
- Q.23 · MCQ · Fauna: Matching countries with animals in their natural habitat PDF
- Q.25 · MCQ · Big Cats: Breeding, roaring and scent marking in big cats PDF
- Q.28 · MCQ · Pollination: Tree with a unique coevolved insect pollinator PDF
- Q.29 · MCQ · Fauna: Which listed groups have poisonous species PDF
- Q.30 · MCQ · Flora: Which listed trees are native to India PDF
UPSC Prelims2023
- Q.3 · MCQ · Forest Types: How many listed trees are deciduous (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.12 · MCQ · Fauna: Whether marsupials occur in India and their habitat needs (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.13 · MCQ · Invasive Species: Organisation to which the Invasive Species Specialist Group belongs (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.14 · MCQ · Fauna: Which listed animals are nocturnal or active after sunset (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.15 · MCQ · Animal Behaviour: Organisms that use a waggle dance to signal food (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.16 · MCQ · Fungi: Medicinal, psychoactive, insecticidal and glowing mushrooms (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.17 · MCQ · Fauna: Nesting, food storage and diet of Indian squirrels (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.19 · MCQ · Animal Behaviour: Animal that uses a stick tool to scrape out insects (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.38 · MCQ · Protected Areas: Governance and permitted activities in Community Reserves (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.79 · MCQ · Biodiversity Governance: Biodiversity Management Committees and the Nagoya Protocol (official answer: C) PDF
UPSC Prelims2022
- Q.43 · MCQ · Wetlands: Wetland function that justifies calling them the kidneys of Earth (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.45 · MCQ · Fungi: Statements about the Gucchi mushroom (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.47 · MCQ · Fauna: Which listed species is not a bird (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.49 · MCQ · Coral Reefs: Situation in which Biorock technology is used (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.50 · MCQ · Afforestation: What the Miyawaki method is known for (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.89 · MCQ · Wildlife Protection Law: Ownership and protection of wild animals under Indian law (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.90 · MCQ · Fauna: Organisms known for cultivating fungi (official answer: A) PDF
UPSC Prelims2021
- Q.20 · MCQ · Plant Ecology: Organisms able to survive on surfaces without soil (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.21 · MCQ · Plant Uses: Plant used to make a natural mosquito repellent (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.22 · MCQ · Marine Ecology: Primary producers in ocean food chains (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.23 · MCQ · Animal Behaviour: Animals that roll up to protect from predators (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.26 · MCQ · Animal Biology: Which animal is a filter feeder (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.27 · MCQ · Biogeochemical Cycles: Cycle where rock weathering is the main nutrient source (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.28 · MCQ · Food Chains: Which organisms are detritivores (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.30 · MCQ · Symbiosis: Groups with species able to form symbiotic relationships (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.63 · MCQ · Plant Species: Statements on moringa and tamarind (official answer: B) PDF
UPSC Prelims2020
- Q.72 · MCQ · Wildlife Biology: Statements on Indian elephants' herds, gestation and range (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.73 · MCQ · Protected Areas: Protected areas located in the Cauvery basin (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.74 · MCQ · Fauna of India: What group the frogmouth, barbet, minivet and redstart belong to (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.75 · MCQ · National Parks: Protected area known for conserving hard-ground Barasingha (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.77 · MCQ · Protected Areas: Likely places to find musk deer in natural habitat (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.81 · MCQ · Wildlife Protection Act: Implication of a plant listed in Schedule VI of WPA 1972 (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.95 · MCQ · National Parks: Statements on India's Desert National Park (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.100 · MCQ · Tiger Reserves: Tiger reserve with the largest critical tiger habitat (official answer: C) PDF
UPSC Prelims2019
- Q.18 · MCQ · National Parks: National park lying wholly in the temperate alpine zone (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.22 · MCQ · Wildlife Distribution: Animals found naturally only in India (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.27 · MCQ · Protected Areas: Protected areas that form the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.28 · MCQ · Animal Biology: Herbivorous turtles, fish, marine mammals and viviparous snakes (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.29 · MCQ · Wildlife Distribution: Match wildlife species with where they are naturally found (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.31 · MCQ · Plant Uses: Use of Himalayan nettle as a sustainable source (official answer: D) PDF
UPSC Prelims2018
- Q.60 · MCQ · Biodiversity Loss: Context of the sixth mass extinction debate (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.86 · MCQ · Invasive Species: Why Prosopis juliflora is in the news (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.87 · MCQ · Coral Reefs: Distribution and diversity of coral reefs (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.94 · MCQ · Protected Areas: State where Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary lies (official answer: A) PDF
UPSC Prelims2017
- Q.4 · MCQ · Protected Areas: Area linking the Eastern and Western Ghats ecologically (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.6 · MCQ · Wildlife Trade: Statements on the TRAFFIC network (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.21 · MCQ · Ecosystem Services: Effects of a big fall in butterfly populations (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.35 · MCQ · Wildlife Protection Act: Animals protected from hunting under the Wildlife Act 1972 (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.67 · MCQ · Fauna of India: Best place to see gharials in the wild (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.80 · MCQ · Tiger Conservation: Context of the M-STrIPES term (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.91 · MCQ · Wildlife Protection Act: Meaning of Schedule I protection for a tortoise (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.95 · MCQ · Protected Areas: Site proposed for translocating Gir lions (official answer: B) PDF
UPSC Prelims2016
- Q.22 · MCQ · Fauna of India: Natural habitat of the Great Indian Hornbill (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.44 · MCQ · Fauna of India: Unique traits of the Kharai camel (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.45 · MCQ · Flora of India: Where a new tall banana species was found in India (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.52 · MCQ · Biodiversity Initiatives: Statements on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.53 · MCQ · Flora of India: Statements on Red Sanders tree (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.68 · MCQ · Western Ghats: Subject of the Gadgil and Kasturirangan reports (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.90 · MCQ · Fauna of India: State that first declared a State Butterfly (official answer: D) PDF
Other Environment topics
FAQ
How many Ecology and Biodiversity questions come in UPSC Prelims?
In the official papers we tagged: 6 in 2026, 3 in 2025, 9 in 2024, 10 in 2023, 7 in 2022, 9 in 2021, 8 in 2020, 6 in 2019, 4 in 2018, 8 in 2017 and 7 in 2016. That is 77 questions in all, about 51% of Environment.
Which Ecology and Biodiversity topics repeat in UPSC Prelims?
Asked in the most papers: Protected Areas, Fauna, Fauna of India. The concept table lists every one with its count.
Are these official UPSC Prelims questions?
Yes. Every question is from an official UPSC Prelims paper hosted on our year pages. The one-line summaries are ours; open the PDF linked beside each question for the full text.