Given below are two statements:
Statement I: Even a plant species, which makes its own food, cannot survive alone; it needs soil microbes to break down the organic matter in soil and return the inorganic nutrients for absorption.
Statement II: For any species in a natural habitat, the minimal requirement is one more species with which it can compete.
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct 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.
No natural habitat on earth has just a single species living in it. Every species depends on at least one other species, and even plants need other organisms to survive.
Statement I: Even a plant species, which makes its own food, cannot survive alone; it needs soil microbes to break down the organic matter in soil and return the inorganic nutrients for absorption. — True. A plant makes its own food, but the soil microbes decompose organic matter and give back the inorganic nutrients that the plant absorbs. The plant also needs an animal agent for pollination.
Statement II: For any species in a natural habitat, the minimal requirement is one more species with which it can compete. — False. The minimal requirement is one more species on which it can feed, not one with which it can compete. A species needs food to live; a competitor is not something it needs.
NCERT Extract:
Population Interactions – “… Can you think of any natural habitat on earth that is inhabited just by a single species? There is no such habitat and such a situation is even inconceivable. For any species, the minimal requirement is one more species on which it can feed. Even a plant species, which makes its own food, cannot survive alone; it needs soil microbes to break down the organic matter in soil and return the inorganic nutrients for absorption. And then, how will the plant manage pollination without an animal agent?”