The medicinal plant Rauwolfia vomitoria, found in the Himalayan ranges, exhibits variation in the potency and concentration of the chemical compound reserpine that it produces. This is an example of:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → genetic diversity
Biodiversity is seen at three levels: genetic diversity within a species, species diversity among species, and ecological diversity among ecosystems. Differences between plants of the same species, caused by differences in their genes, are genetic diversity.
Option (1) genetic diversity — Correct. All the plants are of one species, Rauwolfia vomitoria. They differ in the potency and concentration of reserpine from one Himalayan range to another. This variation within one species is genetic diversity.
Option (2) species diversity — Incorrect. Species diversity compares different species in an area, for example the Western Ghats having more amphibian species than the Eastern Ghats. Here only one species is involved.
Option (3) ecological diversity — Incorrect. Ecological diversity is diversity at the ecosystem level, such as deserts, rain forests, mangroves and wetlands. A change in a chemical inside one plant species is not this.
NCERT Extract:
Biodiversity – “… (i) Genetic diversity : A single species might show high diversity at the genetic level over its distributional range. The genetic variation shown by the medicinal plant Rauwolfia vomitoria growing in different Himalayan ranges might be in terms of the potency and concentration of the active chemical (reserpine) that the plant produces. India has more than 50,000 genetically different strains of rice, and 1,000 varieties of mango.”