Copyright © 2003 American Institute of Biological Sciences. (Foster, D. R., F. Swanson, J. Aber, D. Tilman, N. Brokaw, I. Burke, and A. Knapp. 2003. The importance of land-use and its legacies to ecology and environmental management. BioScience 53:77-88.)
Based on the accompanying figure, what can you conclude about the history of land use in the southern Yucatán?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The figure shows a correlation between the increase in Mayan population and deforestation, suggesting that as the population grew, more forest was cleared. This likely led to increased soil erosion, which could have contributed to the decline of the Mayan population. Therefore, option C is the best choice. Option A is incorrect because there is no evidence of massive soil erosion causing the population crash. Option B is incorrect as there is no clear evidence that reduction in forest cover alone caused the population crash. Option D is not supported by the information in the figure, as it only shows the history of land use and does not provide evidence of sustainability practices.