Scientists Describe the Recent Decline in Global Biodiversity as Earth's

question 34

Multiple Choice

Scientists describe the recent decline in global biodiversity as Earth's sixth mass extinction.They are having difficulty determining exactly how rapidly species are disappearing, but most scientists fear they are underestimating the rate and number of species being lost.This underestimation would most likely occur because

• A) an unknown number of species have not yet been discovered and described.
• B) some species listed as extinct may not actually be extinct.
• C) scientists are not looking for rare species that are likely to go extinct.
• D) species losses due to economic uses such as overharvesting are not counted.
• E) scientists have no measurements of background rates or past extinction rates.

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Definitions:

Average Product

The output per unit of input, calculated by dividing total production by the number of units of input.

Marginal Product

The additional output that is produced by adding one more unit of a particular input, keeping other inputs constant.

Short-Run Curve

Refers to a period in economics during which at least one factor of production is fixed, affecting production and cost decisions.

Marginal Product

The change in output resulting from employing one more unit of a particular input while holding all other inputs constant.