The correct option is(A): Lesser interspecific competition.
Areas characterized by significant concentrations of species endemism and facing substantial habitat loss are termed ecological hotspots, commonly known as biodiversity hotspots. They constitute approximately 2.3% of the Earth's land surface and currently, there are 36 such hotspots worldwide. Meeting stringent criteria, an area becomes an ecological hotspot by harboring a minimum of 1,500 species of vascular plants that are exclusively found there (referred to as "endemic" species) and having experienced the loss of at least 70% of its original native vegetation. Due to the abundance of species in these regions, there is a noteworthy level of competition between different species for resources.
Therefore, the correct option is Lesser interspecific competition.
Among ‘The Evil Quartet’, which one is considered the most important cause driving extinction of species?
The term ‘biodiversity’ is derived from the two words- ‘bios' which means life and ‘diversity’ i.e, differentiation or variation. Edward Wilson, the sociobiologist was the first to popularise the term ‘biodiversity’ in the year 1992. The term implies the occurrence of various plants and animals along with their variants such as biotypes, ecotypes and genes on earth. In our biosphere, the immense diversity or heterogeneity remains not only at the species level but also, at every level of biological organization that ranges from macromolecules in the cells to biomes.
Biodiversity and Conservation is a topic covered under the fifteenth chapter and Unit 5 of NCERT class 12 biology.