Read the Following Scenario and Answer the Question Below

question 44

Multiple Choice

Read the following scenario and answer the question below.
The western United States contains a series of tall mountain ranges that also extend far down into Mexico. The largest of these ranges are the Rockies and the Sierra Madres, but they are all part of the same mountain -building event that occurred many millions of years ago, and they all have similar features. However, the biodiversity of the southernmost mountains has more connection to that of Central America, while the biodiversity of the Rockies shares more affinity with temperate North American species. Still, much of the forest vegetation on these mountaintops is the same, or very similar, and they are often referred to as the ʺSky Islandsʺ because of their similarity to each other and their isolation from the lower, often drier, areas surrounding them. With global climate change producing increasingly visible effects, conservation biologists fear that these mountaintop ecosystems will undergo major changes in temperature and humidity and that the many endemic species that live there may literally have no place to go.
-Large predators and omnivores, such as mountain lions and bears, roam these mountain ranges. Which of the following statements is true?

• A) Because of habitat fragmentation and alteration, the individual populations of these Sky Islands have more biodiversity than they did in the past.
• B) Because of habitat fragmentation and alteration, the individual populations of these Sky Islands have less genetic diversity than they did in the past.
• C) Because of immigration and emigration, the individual populations of these Sky Islands have less biodiversity than they did in the past.
• D) Because of extirpation, many of these individual populations have more biodiversity than they did in the past.
• E) Because of immigration and emigration, the individual populations of these Sky Islands have more genetic diversity than they did in the past.

---

Definitions:

Flooding

An overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry, usually caused by heavy rainfall or other hydrological phenomena.

Price Restrictions

Regulations or limitations placed on the pricing of goods and services, often to control inflation or protect consumers.

Excess Demand

Excess Demand occurs when the quantity demanded of a good or service exceeds its quantity supplied at a particular price.

Government Intervention

Actions taken by a government to influence or directly regulate the economy, markets, or specific industries, often to correct market failures or promote social welfare.