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本题由lindy提供

Over the last 150 years, large stretches of salmon habitat have been eliminated by human activity: mining, livestock grazing, timber

harvesting, and agriculture as well as recreationaland urban development. The numerical effect is obvious: there are fewer salmon in degraded regions than in pristine ones; however, habitat loss also has the potential to reduce geneticdiversity. This is most evident in cases where it results in the extinction of entire salmon populations. Indeed, most analysts believe that some kind of environmental degradation underlies the demise of many extinct salmon populations. Although some rivers have beenrecolonized, the unique genes of the original populations have been lost.

Large-scale disturbances in one locale also have the potential to alter the genetic structure of populations in neighboring areas, even if those areas have pristine habitats. Why? Althoughthe homing instinct of salmon to their natal stream is strong, a fraction of the fish returning from the sea (rarely more than 15 percent) stray and spawn in nearby streams. Low levels ofstraying are crucial, since the process provides a source of novel genes and a mechanism by which a location can be repopulates should the fish there disappear. Yet high rates of straying can be problematic because misdirected fish may interbreed with the existing stock to such a degree that any local adaptations that are present become diluted. Straying rates remain relatively low when environmental conditions are stable, but can increase dramatically when streams suffer severe disturbance. The 1980 volcanic eruption of Mount Saint Helens, for example, sent mud and debris into several tributaries of the Columbia River. For the next couple of years, steelhead trout (a species included among the salmon ) returning from thesea to spawn were forced to find alternative streams. As a consequence, their rates of straying, initially 16 percent, rose to more than 40 percent overall.

Although no one has quantified changes in the rate of straying as a result of the disturbances caused by humans, there is no reason to suspect that the effect would be qualitatively different than what was seen in the aftermath of the Mount Saint Helens eruption. Such a dramatic increase in straying from damaged areas to more pristine streams results in substantial gene flow, which can in turn lower the overall fitness of subsequent generations.

Which of the following does the author mention as support

for the view that environmental disturbances caused by human activity could increase straying rates?

    A. The existence of salmon populations in rivers where the elimination of salmon habitat by human activity had previously made the fish extinct
    B. The results of studies measuring the impact on straying rates of habitat loss caused by human activity
    C. The potential for disturbances in one environment to cause the introduction of novel genes into salmon populations in neighboring areas
    D. The weaknesses in the view that the extinction of entire salmon populations is the only mechanism by which human destruction of salmon habitat reduces genetic diversity in salmon
    E. The absence of any reason for believing that disturbances brought about by human activity would differ in their effects from comparable disturbances brought about by natural causes

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答案:
E

定位最后

一段:虽然人类引起的干扰对鲑鱼的迷失还没有具体的量化,但是也没有理由去怀疑,他们所带来的影响跟Mount Saint Helens火山爆发所引起的后果会有所不同。(其实是想说人类带来的影响可能跟火山爆发带来的影响没多大差别)E选项中的disturbances brought about by natural causes=原文the aftermath of the Mount Saint Helens eruption

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