The correct option is B 1 - d, 2 - b, 3 - a, 4 - c
Biodiversity refers to the huge variety and variability that exists at different levels of biological organisation.
The global species diversity of earth is estimated to be around 7 million by Robert May. But, the rapid loss of biodiversity due to extinction (complete disappearance of a species from the surface of earth) of species in the past 500 years is alarming.
Biodiversity loss is primarily an outcome of human activities. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has recorded the extinction of a total 784 species in the past 500 years. Around 15,500 species throughout the world are facing the threat of extinction which includes - 12% of all bird species, 23% of all mammalian species, 32% of all amphibian species and 31% of all gymnosperm species.