A rancher wants to ensure that her cattle will get sufficient food by grazing on her grassland ecosystem every year, regardless of the year's temperature and precipitation levels.She knows that to ensure this, she must maintain high species diversity in the grassland.This is because high species diversity has all the following effects except
A) making the ecosystem more stable, or more able to recover from disturbances.
B) using ecosystem resources more completely and efficiently.
C) ensuring that some species can persist even if the environment changes.
D) compensating for low abundance of one species with an increased abundance of another.
E) preventing any species from going extinct under extreme conditions.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

While high species diversity can increase the stability and resilience of an ecosystem, enhance resource use efficiency, and compensate for low abundance of one species with an increased abundance of another, it does not guarantee that no species will go extinct under extreme conditions. In fact, extreme conditions such as drought, fire, or flooding can still cause population declines or local extinctions even in the most diverse ecosystems, although some species may persist due to their adaptations or tolerances. Therefore, maintaining high species diversity is not a panacea for all ecological problems, but it can increase the chances of ecosystem functioning and biodiversity conservation.

A Rancher Wants to Ensure That Her Cattle Will Get