Read the following passage and answer the items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only.
Ecological-research over the last quarter of the century has established the deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation due to the mining, highways and such other intrusions on forests. When a large block of forests gets fragmented into smaller bits, the edges of all these bits come into contact with human activities resulting in the degradation of the entire forests. Continuity of forested landscapes and corridors gets disrupted affecting several extinction prone species of wild life. Habitat fragmentation is therefore considered as the most serious threat to biodiversity conservation. Ad hoc grants of forest lands to mining companies coupled with rampant illegal mining is aggravating this threat.
What is the central focus of the passage?
The passage primarily focuses on the concept and consequences of habitat fragmentation. It describes how this phenomenon, caused by activities such as mining and highway construction, disrupts forest continuity and is deemed the "most serious threat to biodiversity conservation." Therefore, "disruption of habitat" accurately encapsulates the central theme discussed.
Option (a) Illegal mining in forests: While illegal mining is mentioned in the passage, it is presented as an aggravating factor that intensifies the threat of habitat fragmentation, rather than being the central focus itself. It is a specific cause contributing to the broader problem.
Option (b) Extinction of wildlife: The passage states that habitat fragmentation affects "several extinction prone species of wild life." Wildlife extinction is depicted as a significant consequence or effect of habitat fragmentation, not the overarching central subject of the entire passage.
Option (c) Conservation of nature: This option is too broad. While the passage relates to biodiversity conservation, its specific emphasis is on the threat to biodiversity-namely, habitat fragmentation-rather than a general discussion of nature conservation strategies or principles. The passage details a specific problem within the larger context of nature conservation.