Which of the following statements are correct about the Amazon rainforest?
I. It is called the lungs of the planet.
II. It harbours probably millions of species.
III. It is the largest tropical rainforest in South America and has the greatest biodiversity on earth.
IV. It is being cut and cleared for cultivating soya beans or for conversion to grasslands for raising beef cattle.
Choose the correct option.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → I, II, III, and IV
I. It is called the lungs of the planet. — True. The Amazon rain forest is so huge that it is called the ‘lungs of the planet’.
II. It harbours probably millions of species. — True. The book says it harbours probably millions of species, and scientists think there may be at least two million insect species there still to be named.
III. It is the largest tropical rainforest in South America and has the greatest biodiversity on earth. — True. The Amazon rain forest of South America is so huge that the book calls it the ‘lungs of the planet’, and the book says this largely tropical rain forest has the greatest biodiversity on earth, with more than 40,000 species of plants alone.
IV. It is being cut and cleared for cultivating soya beans or for conversion to grasslands for raising beef cattle. — True. This is the book’s example of habitat loss, the most important cause of biodiversity loss.
NCERT Extract:
Patterns of Biodiversity – “… The largely tropical Amazonian rain forest in South America has the greatest biodiversity on earth- it is home to more than 40,000 species of plants, 3,000 of fishes, 1,300 of birds, 427 of mammals, 427 of amphibians, 378 of reptiles and of more than 1,25,000 invertebrates.”
Loss of Biodiversity – “… The Amazon rain forest (it is so huge that it is called the ‘lungs of the planet’) harbouring probably millions of species is being cut and cleared for cultivating soya beans or for conversion to grasslands for raising beef cattle.”