Complete question:Being able to adapt to an environment is important if a population of organisms is to survive. Which of the following most accurately describes the adaptation needed to live in a lake?
A. At the surface, organisms must have adaptations that help them survive under great pressure and warmer waters.
B. To live at the middle depths of a lake, fish must have adaptations that allow them to survive in areas with an abundance of nutrients.
C. Organisms that live at the bottom of the lake must be able to survive colder temperatures and a decrease in oxygen availability.
D. Photosynthetic organisms survive using available light at the middle and deep depths of the lake.
Answer: The correct option is C (Organisms that live at the bottom of the lake must be able to survive colder temperatures and a decrease in oxygen availability.)
Step-by-step explanation:
Adaptation is the ability of an organism to survive and multiply in its environment through alterations in structure and function of any of its parts. This is greatly influenced by the environment the organism lives in.
Aquatic habitats are broadly divided into two:
- Fresh water ( eg lake, ponds) and
- salt water ( sea and ocean).
Fresh water habitats like lake is divided into many zones and organisms the live in each zone are able to survive there because they possess structures that can tolerate the features of the immediate environment. These zones includes:
- surface edge zone
- surface zone( rich in oxygen,high temperature and lower pressure)
- middle zone
- BOTTOM ZONE( cooler temperature,high pressure, very low light intensity and decreased oxygen). Therefore Organisms that live at the bottom of the lake must be able to survive colder temperatures and a decrease in oxygen availability.