Given below are two statements:
Statement I: Nearly 45,000 species of plants and twice as many of animals have been recorded from India.
Statement II: Applying May's proportion of recorded species to India's diversity figures, there are probably more than 1,00,000 animal species and more than 3,00,000 plant species yet to be discovered and described in India.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Statement I is true but Statement II is false
India is one of the 12 mega diversity countries of the world. NCERT gives two sets of figures for India: the species already recorded, and the species still to be discovered, worked out from Robert May’s estimate that only 22 per cent of all species have been recorded so far.
Statement I: Nearly 45,000 species of plants and twice as many of animals have been recorded from India. — True. Twice as many animals means about 90,000 animal species recorded from India.
Statement II: Applying May’s proportion of recorded species to India’s diversity figures, there are probably more than 1,00,000 animal species and more than 3,00,000 plant species yet to be discovered and described in India. — False. The plant and animal figures are interchanged. The book estimates more than 1,00,000 plant species and more than 3,00,000 animal species yet to be discovered. This also fits Statement I: India has about twice as many recorded animals as plants, so the animals still waiting to be found are also more in number.
NCERT Extract:
How Many Species are there on Earth and How Many in India? – “… Although India has only 2.4 per cent of the world’s land area, its share of the global species diversity is an impressive 8.1 per cent. That is what makes our country one of the 12 mega diversity countries of the world. Nearly 45,000 species of plants and twice as many of animals have been recorded from India. … If we accept May’s global estimates, only 22 per cent of the total species have been recorded so far. Applying this proportion to India’s diversity figures, we estimate that there are probably more than 1,00,000 plant species and more than 3,00,000 animal species yet to be discovered and described.”