Question

read the following excerpt from e. o. wilsons \the environmental ethic.\ it is also easy to overlook the services that ecosystems provide humanity. they enrich the soil and create the very air we breathe. without these amenities, the remaining tenure of the human race would be nasty and brief. the life - sustaining matrix is built of green plants with legions of microorganisms and mostly small, obscure animals—in other words, weeds and bugs. such organisms support the world with efficiency because they are so diverse, allowing them to divide labor and swarm over every square meter of the earths surface. they run the world precisely as we would wish it to be run, because humanity evolved within living communities and our bodily functions are finely adjusted to the idiosyncratic environment already created. the author tries to persuade the reader to agree with his claim about the importance of ecosystems by providing facts. presenting statistics. restating his claim. using deductive reasoning.

Explanation:

The author mentions facts such as ecosystems enriching soil, creating air, and the role of green - plants, microorganisms, and small animals. There are no statistics presented, just statements of what ecosystems do. The author doesn't just restate the claim but provides reasons. Also, it's not deductive reasoning (starting from general principles to specific conclusions). Instead, it's presenting factual information about the services ecosystems provide.

Answer:

A. providing facts