Read the following scenario and answer the question below.
The western United States contains a series of tall mountain ranges that also extend far down into Mexico. The largest of these ranges are the Rockies and the Sierra Madres, but they are all part of the same mountain -building event that occurred many millions of years ago, and they all have similar features. However, the biodiversity of the southernmost mountains has more connection to that of Central America, while the biodiversity of the Rockies shares more affinity with temperate North American species. Still, much of the forest vegetation on these mountaintops is the same, or very similar, and they are often referred to as the ʺSky Islandsʺ because of their similarity to each other and their isolation from the lower, often drier, areas surrounding them. With global climate change producing increasingly visible effects, conservation biologists fear that these mountaintop ecosystems will undergo major changes in temperature and humidity and that the many endemic species that live there may literally have no place to go.
-There are groups of tropical birds, such as trogons and parrots that are usually considered to live in Central America and the mountains of southern and central Mexico. Small populations of these birds migrate into the United States each year. It is probably true that _____________.
A) these birds migrate to the United States in the winter because it is warmer here
B) these birds can live in the lower, drier elevations in the United States as well as in the mountain ranges
C) these birds have higher genetic diversity in the U.S. populations than in the populations in Central America
D) more of these birds are found in the mountains of New Mexico and Arizona than in the mountains of Colorado, Utah, or Nevada
E) more of these birds are found in the taller mountains of Colorado than in the shorter mountains in southern Arizona, even if the relative area of the mountains is the same

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The scenario mentions that the biodiversity of the southernmost mountains has more connection to that of Central America, and small populations of tropical birds migrate into the United States each year. This suggests that these birds, which are typically found in Central America and southern Mexico, are more likely to be found in the southern mountain ranges of the U.S., such as those in New Mexico and Arizona, rather than the more northern and colder ranges like those in Colorado, Utah, or Nevada.

Read the Following Scenario and Answer the Question Below