2024 · Q32
Which of the following statements regarding faunal resources of India is/are correct?
- 1High degree of endemism has been noticed in the biodiversity hotspots of India
- 2Of the total biosphere reserves in India, the Sundarbans has the largest number of species and Nokrek has the smallest number of species Select the answer using the codes given below:
indian-world-geographyindia-physiography
- A1 only
- B2 only
- CBoth 1 and 2
- DNeither 1 nor 2
Explanation
Statement 1 is correct: the Western Ghats is one of the world's eight 'hottest hotspots' of biodiversity and harbours a very high proportion of endemic species (roughly half of its plant and animal species are endemic). Statement 2 — that the Sundarbans has the maximum number of plant and animal species while Nokrek has the minimum — is not an established fact (the Sundarbans is a mangrove ecosystem, not the richest biosphere reserve, and Nokrek is not documented as the poorest), and it cannot be verified from standard references. With only statement 1 clearly correct, the answer is A.