Consider the following statements : 1. Biodiversity hotspots are located only in tropical regions. 2. India has four biodiversity hotspots i.e., Eastern Himalayas, Western Himalayas, Western Ghats and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Which of the statements g

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Q: 20 (IAS/2010)
Consider the following statements :
1. Biodiversity hotspots are located only in tropical regions.
2. India has four biodiversity hotspots i.e., Eastern Himalayas, Western Himalayas, Western Ghats and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

question_subject: 

Geography

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,165,320,70,161,89,165

keywords: 

{'biodiversity hotspots': [0, 0, 1, 4], 'tropical regions': [1, 0, 1, 2], 'andaman': [1, 0, 0, 0], 'eastern himalayas': [2, 1, 1, 1], 'western himalayas': [0, 1, 0, 1], 'nicobar islands': [3, 1, 3, 2], 'india': [8, 1, 7, 13]}

The correct answer is indeed option 4, meaning neither statement 1 nor 2 is correct.

Statement 1 is incorrect because biodiversity hotspots are not only found in tropical regions. Biodiversity hotspots refer to geographical areas that contain high numbers of endemic species, hence they are not strictly restricted to tropical regions. Examples include the Mediterranean Basin and the California Floristic Province which are outside of the tropics.

Statement 2 is also incorrect. While India is home to significant biodiversity, it has only three recognized hotspots. These hotspots are the Eastern Himalayas, Western Ghats and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Western Himalayas are not considered as a separate biodiversity hotspot.

This analysis helps to underscore the correct answer, i.e., neither statement 1 nor 2 is correct.