GATE Ecology and Evolution (EY) Syllabus 2024: PDF Download, List of Chapters and Topics

GATE Ecology and Evolution (EY) Syllabus 2024: IISc Bangalore has released the GATE 2024 syllabus for all the papers. Candidates who will be appearing for the Ecology and Evolution must refer to the official syllabus only given on this page to prepare for the exam. GATE 2024 Ecology and Evolution syllabus includes 5 sections namely, Ecology, Evolution, Mathematics and Quantitative Ecology, Behavioural Ecology, and Applied Ecology & Evolution. The questions in the GATE 2024 Syllabus for Ecology and Evolution are of the graduation level, with core subjects accounting for 85% of the syllabus. The remaining 15% of questions will come from the General Aptitude section which is compulsory for all the papers. Candidates who choose Ecology and Evolution as their first paper in GATE 2024 can also choose Life Sciences (XL) as their second paper. The 55 questions will be asked from GATE Ecology and Evolution subjects and 10 questions will be from General Aptitude. 

Read the full post to check the GATR 2024 Ecology and Evolution syllabus, exam pattern, marking scheme, and more. 

Section-Wise GATE Ecology and Evolution Syllabus 2024

The GATE Ecology and Evolution paper covers topics like the diversity of life, Mathematics, and Statistics in ecology, reproduction, biodiversity, conservation, etc. To qualify for the exam with flying colors candidates need clarity of concept, analytical skills, and practice of practical questions. Solving GATE previous year question papers and GATE mock test 2024 will help applicants practice and analyze their preparation. 

Candidates can check the detailed section-wise GATE 2024 syllabus for Ecology and Evolution 

GATE Ecology and Evolution Syllabus 2024 Section 1: Ecology

• Fundamental concepts: Abiotic and biotic components; scales (population, species, community, ecosystems, biomes); niches and habitats
• Interactions: Types (mutualism, symbiosis, commensalism, competition, parasitism, predation, etc); ecophysiology (physiological adaptations to abiotic environment); prey- predator interactions (Lotka-Voltera equation etc)
• Population ecology: Population growth rates (density dependent/independent); metapopulation ecology (colonization, persistence, extinction, patches, sources, sinks); age- structured populations
• Ecosystems structure and function: trophic levels and their interactions; nutrient cycles; primary and secondary productivity.
• Community ecology: Community assembly, organization and succession; species richness, evenness and diversity indices, species-area relationships; theory of island biogeography

GATE Ecology and Evolution Syllabus 2024 Section 2: Evolution

• History of Evolutionary thought: Lamarckism; Darwinism; Modern Synthesis
• Fundamentals: Variation; heritability; natural selection; fitness and adaptation; types of selection (stabilizing, directional, disruptive)
• Diversity of life: Origin and history of life on earth; diversity and classification of life; systems of classification (cladistics and phenetics)
• Interactions: Coevolution (co-adaptations, arms race, Red Queen hypothesis, co- speciation); prey-predator interactions (mimicry, crypsis, etc)
• Life history strategies: Allocation of resources; trade offs; r/K selection; semelparity and iteroparity
• Population and Quantitative genetics: Origins of genetic variation; Mendelian genetics; Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium; drift; selection (one-locus two-alleles model); population genetic structure (panmixia, gene flow, FST); polygenic traits; gene-environment interactions (phenotypic plasticity); heritability
• Macroevolution: Species concepts and speciation; convergence; adaptive radiation; biogeography
• Molecular evolution and phylogenetics: Neutral theory; rates of evolution; molecular clocks;phylogenetic reconstruction; molecular systematics

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GATE Ecology and Evolution Syllabus 2024 Section 3: Mathematics and Quantitative Ecology

• Mathematics and statistics in ecology: Simple functions (linear, quadratic, exponential, logarithmic, etc); permutations and combinations; concept of derivatives and slope of a function; basic probability (probability of random events; sequences of events, etc); frequency distributions and their descriptive statistics (mean, variance, coefficient of variation, correlation, etc).
• Statistical hypothesis testing: Concept of p-value; Type I and Type II error, test statistics like t-test and Chi-square test; basics of linear regression and ANOVA.

GATE Ecology and Evolution Syllabus 2024 Section 4: Behavioural Ecology

• Sensory ecology: Neuroethology; communication (chemical, acoustic and visual signaling); recognition systems 
• Classical Ethology: Instinct; fixed action patters; imprinting; learnt behavior; proximate and ultimate questions 
• Reproduction: Cost of sex; sexual dimorphism; mate choice; sexual selection (runaway selection, good genes, handicap principle, etc); sexual conflict; parental care mating systems. Social living: Costs and benefits of group living (including responses to predators); effect of competition (scramble and contest) on group formation; dominance relationships; eusociality; kin selection; altruism; human behavior: reciprocity.
• Foraging ecology: Foraging behaviour; optimal foraging theory 

GATE 2024 Ecology and Evolution Syllabus Section 5: Applied Ecology & Evolution

• Biodiversity and conservation: Importance of conserving biodiversity; threats to biodiversity; ecosystem services; invasive species; in-situ conservation (endemism, biodiversity hotspots, protected areas); ex-situ conservation; conservation genetics (genetic diversity, inbreeding depression); DNA fingerprinting and DNA barcoding 
• Global climate change: Causes; consequences; mitigation
• Disease ecology and evolution: Epidemiology; zoonotic diseases; antibiotic resistance; vector Control Plant and animal breeding: Marker-assisted breeding; genetic basis of economically important traits.

GATE 2024 Ecology and Evolution Syllabus PDF Download

GATE Ecology and Evolution Exam Pattern 2024

The GATE Exam Pattern 2024 varies for each of the 27 papers. The Ecology & Evolution 2024 exam pattern is as follows: 

• Ecology, Evolution, Mathematics and Quantitative Ecology, and Behavioural Ecology are the five sections of of GATE Ecology and Evolution paper
• The duration of GATE EY will be 3 hours.
• GATE EY will be administered online (Computer Based Test)
• GATE EY Question Paper 2024 will have 65 questions worth 100 marks. 
• GATE EY will include two types of questions: multiple choice (MCQ) and numerical answer type (NAT).

GATE 2024 Marking Scheme

The following GATE marking scheme 2024 will be implemented in the Ecology and Evolution paper. 

Also Read: 5 Ways of cracking GATE in the first attempt

GATE 2024 Best Books for Ecology and Evolution

Selection of the right books is important for the exam as the right selection of GATE 2024 books will offer proper knowledge and explanation of the topics. We have provided the names of the some of the GATE best books for Ecology and Evolution that you can refer to. 

Also Read: GATE 2024: Mistakes to Avoid with Last Minute Revision

In addition, you can also look at the following articles that will help you with your GATE 2024 exam preparation. 

We hope that this post on GATE Ecology and Evolution (EY) Syllabus 2024 was helpful and informative.