Question

A threatened species is
(a) Only endangered species
(b) Only vulnerable species
(c) Endangered and rare species
(d) Endangered, vulnerable and rare species

Answer 1

Hint: A threatened species is the species that are at high risk of extinction or is found only in a certain geographical area in the world. They threatened extinction because of various reasons for biodiversity loss. Some of them being- deforestation, pollution, natural calamity, etc.

Complete step by step answer:
A species is a group of individuals that can breed and successfully produce fertile offspring. Due to various natural and unnatural reasons, we are experiencing the loss of biodiversity in the ecosystem. Loss of biodiversity refers to the extinction or threat of extinction of a certain type of ecosystem, species, or genes adapted to different climates. A few of the causes like loss of habitat due to human invasions in the forest regions, oceans, and other parts of the world where the recent advancements in the human generation have caused the forest fires, plastic, pollution has an extreme effect on the other species living around in that niche. Other than that, overexploitation of a particular species for hunting animals and over-use of certain medicinal plants and herbs has left them vulnerable to extinction. All of such species which are on the verge of extinction, or at risk of extinction or the rare species are considered as Red List categories and come under the Biodiversity conservation plans.
Any species which are endangered (facing a high risk of extinction in near future), vulnerable or rare (small population with localized habitat) are considered to be threatened species. The threatened species are characterized by the population dynamic measure and mathematical measure of biomass related to the population growth rate.
So, the correct answer is ‘Endangered, vulnerable, and rare species’.

Note: Although endangered, vulnerable, and rare species come under the threatened species, they have different meanings. Endangered species are at a high risk of extinction in the wild, in near future. Vulnerable is a little less endangered species which pose a threat of extinction in the far future. Rare species are not necessarily on the verge of extinction but are found in few numbers usually in a restricted geographical area or a localized habitat.