If a Healthy Ecosystem Experiences a Drought for Several Years

question 41

Multiple Choice

If a healthy ecosystem experiences a drought for several years, and then the normal rain pattern returns what would you expect to happen?

• A) A healthy and stable ecosystem will recover from the drought and quickly return to its previous state once the rains return.
• B) A healthy and stable ecosystem will recover from the drought once the rain returns, but most of the plants that were there will have been replaced by new species.
• C) Even a healthy ecosystem cannot recover quickly from an extended drought. I will recover but with an entirely new suite of species.
• D) There is no way for an ecosystem to recover from an extended drought. New drought-resistant plant species will have taken over and the original animal species will have moved out or died off.
• E) It completely depends on what the original productivity was. A previously highly productive ecosystem will quickly bounce back. An ecosystem that already had low productivity but lost it, will never get it back.

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Definitions:

Eyes on the Prize

Maintaining focus on the ultimate goal or objective, despite challenges or distractions.

Groupthink

A phenomenon where the desire for group consensus and cohesiveness leads to poor decision-making processes and outcomes.

Maintaining Harmony

The act of keeping relationships or environments peaceful and cooperative.

Critically Thinking

The process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information to reach an answer or conclusion.