Final answer:
All of the options listed can cause changes in an environment and affect populations of organisms: the extinction of a species, human activities like deforestation, and natural disasters. Each has significant impacts on ecosystems, leading to shifts in population dynamics and affecting biodiversity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Which of the following can cause changes in an environment and affect populations of organisms? d.All of these. Changes in the environment can occur due to various factors such as the extinction of a species, human activities like deforestation, and natural disasters including fires and tornadoes. Each of these factors has a significant impact on the habitats and can lead to shifts in population dynamics of different organisms.
The extinction of a species often leads to disruption of food webs and can cause a ripple effect, affecting many other organisms. Human influences, such as the clearing of forests, have profound impacts on ecosystems, including loss of habitat and species. Natural disasters can dramatically alter landscapes and the availability of resources, leading to changes in population sizes and distributions. Additionally, issues like global climate change and pollution instigated by human actions can cause widespread harm to both local and global ecosystems.
Environmental fluctuations such as variations in rainfall, food sources, and catastrophic events like wildfires can greatly influence birth and death rates in populations, especially in already vulnerable small and isolated communities. Thus, it is clear that the combined effects of these factors contribute to changes in the environment that can affect populations of organisms.