NDA (II) 2016 General Ability Test · Question 70 of 150

Correct — C, 1, 2 and 3. All three statements hold. Statement 1 states the recognised basis for declaring a biodiversity hotspot — a region qualifies on the strength of the species it holds and, above all, on how many of them are found nowhere else, together with how much of its natural vegetation has already been lost. Species richness and endemism are therefore central criteria, and UPSC has keyed exactly that combination. Statement 2 is the latitudinal diversity gradient, one of the oldest generalisations in ecology: the tropics carry far more species per unit area than the temperate zone, and diversity thins steadily as one moves away from the equator towards either pole, so a hectare of Amazon or Western Ghats forest holds many times the species of a hectare of tundra. Statement 3 records the two complementary approaches to conservation — protecting species where they naturally live, in national parks, sanctuaries, biosphere reserves and sacred groves, or maintaining them away from their habitat in zoos, botanical gardens, seed banks and gene banks. With no statement false, the answer is option (c).

• (a)1 only — Accepts the hotspot criteria but rejects two statements that are standard textbook content. The thinning of species diversity from the equator to the poles and the pairing of on-site and off-site conservation are both uncontroversial.
• (b)2 and 3 only — Rejects statement 1, which is the definition of a hotspot. A candidate may hesitate because habitat loss is also part of the criteria, but the statement claims only that richness and endemism are important criteria, and they are.
• (d)1 and 3 only — Rejects the latitudinal gradient. The phrase 'decreases down the poles' is awkwardly printed, but it means diversity falls as one moves towards the poles, and that is exactly what the data show.

A biodiversity hotspot is a region that combines exceptional endemism with severe threat: the standard test asks for at least fifteen hundred endemic vascular plant species and for the loss of at least seventy per cent of the original natural vegetation. Around three dozen such regions were recognised worldwide by the time of this exam. Conservation itself works along two tracks — protecting habitat so that species survive in place, and maintaining populations or genetic material away from the habitat as insurance.

Multi-statement questions are best worked by hunting for a false statement rather than by trying to confirm each true one, because the options are usually built around a single planted error. Here nothing is planted, which candidates often find harder to believe than an obvious mistake — the temptation is to reject one statement merely because the option 'all of the above' feels too easy. Read each statement for what it actually claims. Statement 1 says richness and endemism are important criteria, not the only criteria, so it survives. Parts of India fall within the Himalaya, Indo-Burma and Western Ghats and Sri Lanka hotspots, and the Nicobar Islands are usually placed in Sundaland, so the Indian count is quoted as three or four depending on the source.

• A hotspot must have at least fifteen hundred endemic vascular plant species and must have lost at least seventy per cent of its original vegetation.
• The term 'biodiversity hotspot' was coined by Norman Myers in 1988, and around three dozen hotspots are recognised worldwide.
• Species diversity is greatest near the equator and falls towards both poles, a pattern known as the latitudinal diversity gradient.
• Conservation in the natural habitat uses national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, biosphere reserves and sacred groves.
• Conservation away from the habitat uses zoos, botanical gardens, seed banks, gene banks and cryopreservation.

• Rejecting a true statement simply because the option that accepts everything looks too generous.
• Assuming hotspots are defined by species numbers alone, when threat and habitat loss are equally part of the test.

Biodiversity and conservation supply at least one NDA GAT item most sessions, usually as a multi-statement question, so learn the definitions precisely enough to judge each statement on its own wording.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Conservation of a species in a zoo or a seed bank, away from its natural habitat, is described as

  • (a)in situ conservation
  • (b)ex situ conservation
  • (c)habitat restoration
  • (d)rewilding

  Answer(b) ex situ conservation — protecting the species outside the place where it naturally lives.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The term 'biodiversity hotspot' was coined by

  • (a)Norman Myers
  • (b)Charles Elton
  • (c)Walter Rosen
  • (d)Eugene Odum

  Answer(a) Norman Myers — in 1988; Walter Rosen had coined the word 'biodiversity' itself two years earlier.