Biodiversity And Conservation

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The variation observed among the thousands of genetically different strains of the medicinal plant Rauwolfia vomitoria growing across the Himalayan ranges represents which level of biodiversity?

RankGuru · Accepted Answer

Biodiversity is described at three hierarchical levels: genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecological diversity. The variation among different genetic strains of a single species, such as the many strains of Rauwolfia vomitoria differing in the potency and concentration of the chemical reserpine across the Himalayan range, is an example of genetic diversity, which is the diversity within a species. Species diversity is incorrect because it refers to the variety of different species in a region, not variation within one species. Ecological diversity is the diversity of habitats, communities, and ecological processes at the ecosystem level, which does not apply to differences among individuals of one species. Taxonomic diversity is not one of the three standard NCERT levels and refers loosely to classification ranks. As described in NCERT Class 12, Chapter 15 (Biodiversity and Conservation), genetic diversity allows a species to adapt to changing environments and is the raw material for evolution. Plausibility check: because all the strains belong to the same species yet differ genetically, the variation is intraspecific, which is precisely genetic diversity, confirming the answer.

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