Question

As an ecologist studying two different communities, one with only a few individual species and the other with a great diversity of species, which community do you think would have a greater risk of extinction due to disease, habitat destruction, or other environmental changes?

a) The less diverse community would be at greater risk of complete extinction.
b) The more diverse community would be at greater risk of complete extinction.
c) The two communities would be at the same risk of complete extinction.
d) Environmental changes cannot cause extinction.

Please select the option that best represents your assessment of the risk of extinction in these communities.

Answer 1

A diverse community is at greater risk of extinction due to disease, habitat destruction, or other environmental changes.

Step-by-step explanation:

The more diverse community would be at greater risk of complete extinction.

A community with a greater diversity of species is more likely to have a higher risk of extinction due to disease, habitat destruction, or other environmental changes. This is because a diverse community relies on a larger number of species to maintain its balance and ecosystem services. If a key species goes extinct or suffers a decline in population, the effects can cascade through the community, leading to the potential collapse of the entire ecosystem.

For example, in a diverse community, different species can perform different ecological roles, such as pollination, seed dispersal, and nutrient cycling. If any of these species are lost due to disease or habitat destruction, the community may become destabilized and more vulnerable to further threats.