In the IUCN Red List, which of the following categories indicates the highest risk of extinction in the wild?
- A.Vulnerable
- B.Endangered
- C.Critically Endangered
- D.Near Threatened
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Critically Endangered. Among species that still survive in the wild this is the most serious category, given to those facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future.
Option B, Endangered, comes next, and option A, Vulnerable, next after that; these three together are called the threatened categories. Option D, Near Threatened, is a milder warning for a species that is close to qualifying as threatened but does not yet. The full sequence in descending order of threat is Extinct, Extinct in the Wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened and Least Concern, with Data Deficient and Not Evaluated for species that cannot yet be placed. The list is maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, founded in 1948 and based at Gland in Switzerland.
Read the full article: Biodiversity and Its Conservation: Hotspots and Laws
Practice Questions
View allThe concept of biodiversity hotspots was given by which scientist?
- A.Norman Myers
- B.Charles Darwin
- C.Robert Whittaker
- D.Alexander von Humboldt
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A region qualifies when it is exceptionally rich in species found nowhere else and has already lost most of its original vegetation.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following is not a biodiversity hotspot extending into India?
- A.The Himalaya
- B.Indo-Burma
- C.The Eastern Ghats
- D.The Western Ghats and Sri Lanka
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They are a broken and comparatively dry hill chain and do not meet the twin tests of exceptional endemism and severe threat that define a hotspot.
Read the full explanation →The Convention on Biological Diversity was signed at which conference?
- A.The Stockholm Conference of 1972
- B.The Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in 1992
- C.The Kyoto Conference of 1997
- D.The Ramsar Conference of 1971
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The Convention has three objectives: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.
Read the full explanation →Which was the first biosphere reserve to be set up in India?
- A.Nanda Devi
- B.Nilgiri
- C.Sundarbans
- D.Gulf of Mannar
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It spreads across the meeting point of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka in the Western Ghats and takes in several well known national parks and sanctuaries within its area.
Read the full explanation →A biosphere reserve is divided into which three zones?
- A.Core, buffer and transition
- B.Core, sanctuary and park
- C.Inner, middle and outer
- D.Protected, restricted and open
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The core zone is legally protected and left undisturbed, with no human activity allowed. The buffer zone around it permits research, education and limited use of resources that does not damage the core.
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