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:

Monopolistically Competitive

A market structure where many companies sell products that are similar but not identical, allowing for some degree of market power and price control by individual firms.

Profit-Maximizing Level

The optimal point at which the difference between total revenue and total cost is the greatest, indicating the highest possible profit for a firm.

Short Run

a period in economics during which at least one input is fixed and cannot be changed, limiting a firm's ability to adjust production.

Fixed Costs

Expenses that do not change in proportion to the activities of a business within a certain range of operation, such as rent, salaries, and insurance.