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Among 'The Evil Quartet', which one is considered the most important cause driving extinction of species?
Among all four drivers of "The Evil Quartet", NCERT explicitly states: "Habitat loss and fragmentation is the most important cause driving animals and plants to extinction." Instant 3-second recall!
The Evil Quartet comprises four major anthropogenic drivers responsible for accelerated species extinction rates:
Habitat loss directly destroys home ranges, breeding territories, and foraging habitats. NCERT notes that tropical rain forests once covering over of the earth's land surface now cover no more than . Fragmentation isolates populations, leading to inbreeding depression and local extinctions.
While over-exploitation (Steller's sea cow, passenger pigeon), alien invasions (Nile perch, water hyacinth), and co-extinctions (obligate mutualists) cause extinctions, habitat destruction universally affects the largest number of taxa simultaneously.
Diagnose every choice: Know exactly why the right option works and why distractors fail.
Co-extinction is a secondary consequential driver occurring when a host or obligate partner becomes extinct.
Matches NCERT verbatim as the single most critical driver of modern species extinctions.
Over-exploitation drives specific targeted species to extinction (e.g., passenger pigeon), but is not the overall leading cause across ecosystems.
Invasive species disrupt local niches and cause native species decline, but rank behind habitat destruction.
All 4 options are genuine components of "The Evil Quartet", so reading carelessly without noting the superlative "most important" leads to random guessing.
"Habitat loss and fragmentation: This is the most important cause driving animals and plants to extinction."
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