Direction for the following 4 (four) items: Read the following four passages and answer the items (31-34) that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.

Fig trees (genus Ficus ) are considered sacred in India, East Asia and Africa and are common in agricultural and urban landscapes where other large trees are absent. In natural forests, fig trees provide food for wildlife when other resources are scarce and support a high density and diversity of frugivores (fruit-eating animals). If frugivorous birds and bats continue to visit fig trees located in sites with high human disturbance, sacred fig trees may promote frugivore abundance. Under favourable micro-climate, plenty of seedlings of other tree species would grow around fig trees.

On the basis of the passage given above, the following assumptions have been made:
1. Fig trees can often be keystone species in natural forests.
2. Fig trees can grow where other large woody species cannot grow.
3. Sacred trees can have a role in biodiversity conservation.
4. Fig trees have a role in the seed dispersal of other tree species.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?

Correct Answer: 1, 3 and 4 only

Let us analyze each assumption based strictly on the provided passage:

Assumption 1: Fig trees can often be keystone species in natural forests.
Valid. The passage states: "In natural forests, fig trees provide food for wildlife when other resources are scarce and support a high density and diversity of frugivores." A species that plays a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community by providing vital food during resource scarcity fits the definition of a keystone species. Hence, this assumption is valid.

Assumption 2: Fig trees can grow where other large woody species cannot grow.
Invalid. The passage mentions that fig trees are "common in agricultural and urban landscapes where other large trees are absent." Saying that other large trees are absent does not mean they cannot grow there, nor does it imply any biological limitation of other species. Thus, this assumption goes beyond the information given in the passage.

Assumption 3: Sacred trees can have a role in biodiversity conservation.
Valid. The passage notes that fig trees are considered sacred and that "sacred fig trees may promote frugivore abundance" and help grow "plenty of seedlings of other tree species" around them. Thus, sacred trees contribute directly to supporting animal diversity and tree growth, which plays a key role in biodiversity conservation.

Assumption 4: Fig trees have a role in the seed dispersal of other tree species.
Valid. The passage mentions that frugivorous (fruit-eating) birds and bats visit fig trees, and under favorable micro-climates, "plenty of seedlings of other tree species would grow around fig trees." Frugivores attract to fig trees and deposit seeds of other tree species around them, showing that fig trees serve as catalysts/foci for seed dispersal.

Therefore, assumptions 1, 3, and 4 are valid, making 1, 3 and 4 only the correct answer.