Question

part a
how does the biodiversity of frog species most likely affect the stability of the ecosystem?

• by making the ecosystem more vulnerable to population losses
• by increasing the ecosystem’s ability to stay healthy when conditions change.
• by reducing the ability of individual organisms to adapt to changing conditions.
• by making individual organisms less vulnerable to competition from invasive species

part b
which statement best supports the answer to part a?
when species are numerous, an alternative species may be able to fill the role of a spe

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze Part A question

We evaluate how frog biodiversity impacts ecosystem stability. Biodiversity increases ecosystem resilience; lower biodiversity (fewer frog species) makes ecosystems more vulnerable to population losses, as there are fewer species to fill ecological roles if one declines.

Step2: Analyze Part A options

• Option 1 aligns with the above logic: reduced frog biodiversity removes redundancy in roles, making the ecosystem more vulnerable to population losses.
• Option 2 is incorrect: lower biodiversity reduces, not increases, ecosystem health during change.
• Option 3 is incorrect: biodiversity affects ecosystem-level adaptation, not individual organism adaptation directly.
• Option 4 is incorrect: lower biodiversity increases, not decreases, vulnerability to invasive species.

Step3: Analyze Part B question

We need a statement that supports the Part A answer. The Part A answer is that lower frog biodiversity makes the ecosystem more vulnerable to population losses. The statement "When species are numerous, an alternative species may be able to fill the role of a species that declines" supports this, as it explains that high biodiversity (numerous species) provides redundancy, so the inverse (low biodiversity, like fewer frog species) removes this redundancy, increasing vulnerability.

Answer:

Part A:

A. By making the ecosystem more vulnerable to population losses

Part B:

When species are numerous, an alternative species may be able to fill the role of a species that declines