What is so special about tropics that might account for their greater biological diversity?
a) Unlike temperate regions subjected to frequent glaciations in the past, tropical latitudes have remained relatively undisturbed for millions of years and thus, had a long evolutionary time for species diversification.
b) Temperate environments, unlike tropical ones, are less seasonal, relatively more constant and predictable. Such constant environments promote niche specialisation and lead to greater species diversity.
c) There is more solar energy available in the tropics, which contributes to higher productivity; this in turn might contribute indirectly to greater diversity.

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a and c

b and c

a only

a, b and c

answer is C.

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Detailed Solution

The region near the middle of the earth between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn is considered as the tropic region. This region receives the most amount of solar energy which leads to better productivity and higher species diversity. Also, the seasonal variations in such regions are low and the environment mainly remains the same supporting high species richness and promoting niche specialisation. Species-area relationships show a rectangular hyperbolic function.

Temperate regions include the subtropics and polar circles. These regions faced glaciation during the ice age which was not observed in the tropic regions.

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