Loss of Biodiversity NEET 2026: Why A, B and D Are True

Which statements are correct in the Loss of Biodiversity NEET 2026 question?

A, B and D are true, so mark option B, printed option 2, in this Loss of Biodiversity NEET 2026 question. The supplied question belongs to Biology, Ecology and Environment, Loss of Biodiversity.

The question bank tags it medium difficulty and sets a 60-second target. These are question-bank metadata, not measured student performance.

Select the combination containing only correct statements:

• Statement A: Replacing Amazon rainforest with soyabean fields is an example of habitat loss.
• Statement B: Human over-exploitation drove Steller’s sea cow and passenger pigeon to extinction.
• Statement C: Introducing Nile perch into East Africa’s Lake Victoria increased cichlid fish populations.
• Statement D: Water hyacinth belongs among invasive species.
• Statement E: A species disappearing leaves its associated plants and animals unaffected.

The answer combinations are:

• Option A/1: A, B and E only.
• Option B/2: A, B and D only.
• Option C/3: C, D and E only.
• Option D/4: B, C and D only.

Several statements can be true, but you select one answer combination. The bank’s “Multiple Correct Choice” label does not mean marking multiple OMR bubbles.

Why are the habitat-loss and over-exploitation statements true?

A is true because forest clearing removes habitat; B is true because excessive human exploitation caused the named extinctions. Keep each example attached to its cause: removing a habitat is different from excessively exploiting the organisms themselves.

For A, follow the causal chain: rainforest cleared → original habitat lost → habitat-loss example. Soyabean cultivation replaces the existing rainforest habitat. Land remaining under vegetation does not mean the original habitat survives.

For B, Steller’s sea cow and passenger pigeon became extinct through human over-exploitation. The cause here is excessive exploitation of the organisms, not conversion of their habitat into farmland.

The running verdict is A: true; B: true. Do not select an option yet: both option A and option B contain these statements, so they cannot settle the answer.

Why are statements C and E false but D true?

C reverses the effect of Nile perch, D correctly identifies an invasive species, and E wrongly rules out effects on dependent species. Check what each sentence claims happened, not just whether its species names sound familiar.

C is false. Nile perch introduced into Lake Victoria caused the extinction of more than 200 cichlid species, rather than increasing their populations. The number refers to species, not individual fish: it counts distinct species lost, not fish deaths.

Recognising the Nile perch–Lake Victoria association is insufficient. The location and introduced fish are correctly paired, but the claimed effect points in the wrong direction.

D is true. Water hyacinth is an invasive species. It belongs under alien-species invasion, not under over-exploitation merely because both can reduce biodiversity.

E is false. Extinction can extend to plant and animal species associated with the lost species in an obligatory way. Obligatory association means that the dependence is necessary for the dependent species’ survival or reproduction.

Do not replace E with the equally inaccurate claim that every species having any association must also become extinct. A loose association alone does not establish obligatory dependence.

The remaining verdicts are C: false; D: true; E: false. E fails because it rules out effects on associated species even when their dependence is obligatory.

Which single option matches all five verdicts?

The final answer is option B, corresponding to printed option 2. The completed sequence is A true, B true, C false, D true, E false. The true statements are A, B and D only:

• Option A/1: Reject because it includes false E.
• Option B/2: Accept because it contains A, B and D only.
• Option C/3: Reject because it includes false C and E.
• Option D/4: Reject because it includes false C.

Statement B is one true claim about over-exploitation. Option B is the answer combination to mark.

How can the wrong method lead to option A?

Option A/1, containing A, B and E, results from accepting E’s blanket claim that associated species remain unaffected. That treats extinction as an isolated event. It ignores species that cannot survive or reproduce without the species that disappeared.

Accepting E despite obligatory dependence prevents the correct distinction between A, B, E and A, B, D. Finding three apparently true statements is not enough: evaluate all five, including D, the water-hyacinth statement.

Repair the method in this order:

1. Identify the ecological relationship.
2. Check whether dependence is obligatory.
3. Reject the absolute claim that associated species remain unaffected.

Numerical check: If the marking scheme awards four marks for a correct answer and deducts one mark for an incorrect answer, the score difference between correct option B and incorrect option A is:

Can you solve three related Ecology and Environment questions?

These three original chapter-practice questions test cause matching, reversed effects and obligatory dependence. They are not additional verified PYQs. Answer each before reading its worked solution to check your reasoning without relying on the original statement letters.

Question 1, original chapter practice: Match Amazon forest clearing for soyabean cultivation, passenger pigeon extinction and introduced Nile perch with habitat loss, over-exploitation and alien-species invasion.

Worked answer:

• Amazon forest clearing: habitat loss. Cultivation replaces the existing rainforest habitat.
• Passenger pigeon extinction: over-exploitation. Excessive human exploitation drove the species to extinction.
• Introduced Nile perch: alien-species invasion. An introduced species caused the loss of native cichlid species in Lake Victoria.

Question 2, original chapter practice: What is wrong with this claim: “Introducing Nile perch increased cichlid diversity in Lake Victoria”?

Worked answer: The ecological effect is reversed. Nile perch introduction caused the extinction of more than 200 cichlid species, not an increase in diversity. The species and lake are correctly associated, but that does not make the whole sentence correct.

Question 3, original chapter practice: A hypothetical plant depends exclusively on one pollinator and cannot reproduce by another route. The pollinator disappears, and the plant subsequently becomes extinct. Which biodiversity-loss mechanism does this illustrate?

Worked answer: Co-extinction. The plant’s reproductive dependence is obligatory because no alternative route exists; losing its necessary partner leads to its own extinction.

For your next statement set, identify the cause before checking the options: habitat removed, organisms over-exploited, invasive species introduced, or obligatory partner lost.

Next step: the past-paper archive on NEET JEEnius AI and search past NEET papers by year, subject or chapter, each with a worked solution (100 free searches a month).

If that step was the hard part, work through Arrhenius Equation NEET 2026: Activation Energy Solution.