Stream II: Common

(d) High Mountain

Nepal's observed warming is greatest at higher elevations, with the High Mountain and Himalayan belt warming faster than the Terai. Warming is amplified at altitude by loss of snow and ice cover (albedo feedback).

(d) All of Above

Forests give provisioning services (fodder, timber), supporting services (nutrient cycling) and regulating services (carbon sequestration), so all three options are ecosystem services.

(c) SDG 15

SDG 15, Life on Land, covers sustainable management of forests, combating desertification, halting land degradation and stopping biodiversity loss. SDG 13 is climate action, SDG 1 is no poverty and SDG 4 is quality education.

(d) All of above

Agroforestry deliberately combines woody perennials with crops and/or livestock on the same land unit, as in tree-crop, silvopastoral and orchard-tree systems, so all the listed combinations fall under it.

(d) Rock and minerals

Geology is the science of the Earth's materials, structure and history, including rocks, minerals and the processes that form them. Plant taxonomy is botany, and the animal kingdom is zoology.

(b) Nitrogen

Legumes host Rhizobium bacteria in root nodules that fix atmospheric nitrogen (N$_2$) into ammonia usable by plants. Nitrogen is the element fixed, while phosphorus, potash and calcium come from the soil.

(a) Alluvial

Soil deposited by rivers and streams is alluvium, found on floodplains such as the Terai. Colluvial material is moved by gravity at slope bases, residual soil stays where it formed, and moraine is glacial deposit.

(d) All of above

Watershed management is an integrated approach to managing land, water and forest/vegetation resources within a drainage basin, to conserve soil and water and sustain livelihoods.

(d) All the above

A researcher relies on observation and evidence, has a spirit of free enquiry, and systematizes or theorizes knowledge. All three are basic qualities of a scientific researcher.

(a) Structural interview

A structured (standardized) interview follows a fixed schedule of predetermined questions asked in the same order to every respondent, which makes responses comparable.

(a) Observational

Observational research collects primary data by watching and inspecting people or events directly, as opposed to experimental research, where variables are manipulated.

(d) All of these

A realistic research problem is researchable (can be studied with available methods, time and resources), is new and adds to knowledge, and has utility and relevance.

(d) All of the above

A literature review identifies what is known and unknown, helps define the problem and its operational definitions, and shows strengths and weaknesses of earlier studies.

(c) Externalities management

Upstream conservation benefits downstream users, for example through reduced sedimentation, without those users paying for it. This is a positive externality, and managing it (for example through payment for ecosystem services) is externalities management.

(a) Number of visits

Demand for outdoor recreation is measured by the number of visits (visitor-days) to a site, typically related to travel cost in the travel cost method.

(a) Feasible project

A benefit-cost ratio above 1 means discounted benefits exceed discounted costs. A BCR of 4 means Rs 4 of benefit for each Rs 1 of cost, so the project is economically feasible.

(a) Unlimited economic growth vs separating economic growth from natural resource consumption

The brown economy pursues growth through ever-higher resource use, whereas the green economy aims at decoupling growth from resource consumption and environmental damage. The other options are only consequences of this core difference.

(d) Social inequality

The Human Development Index combines life expectancy (health), education (mean and expected years of schooling) and per capita income (GNI). Social inequality is not a direct HDI indicator; it appears in the inequality-adjusted HDI.

(d) All of the above

Watershed characteristics are described by morphology (size, shape), hydrology (discharge) and land cover (vegetation), so all of these are considered.

(c) 83%

The Hills and Mountains cover about 83% of Nepal's land area, and the Terai covers the remaining roughly 17%.

(d) All of the above

Mountains store water as snow, ice and in soils, harbor high biodiversity and endemism, and support tourism, so all three roles are globally important.

(b) 2002

The United Nations declared 2002 the International Year of Mountains, with FAO as the lead coordinating agency.

(b) Narayani/Gandaki river basin

By mean annual discharge the Narayani (Gandaki) basin is the largest of Nepal's major rivers, at roughly 1,700 m$^3$/s, ahead of Karnali and Koshi. Mahakali is the smallest of the four.

(d) All of the above

Sustainable mountain development needs access to good agricultural practices, climate-resilient interventions, and partnership with rural communities with equitable sharing of resources.

(d) Reduce, Recycle, Reuse

The three R's are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: cut resource use and waste, reuse items, and recycle materials. Option (d) lists exactly these three; the others include "Reserve", which is not one of them.