Practice free →
HomeSATenglishinformationandideas › **Cáceres and colleagues created artificial pool…

**Cáceres and colleagues created artificial pools in a forest. They stocked some pools with high initial species diversity, others with low. After several years, the pools converged on similar levels of diversity — suggesting that current ecological factors, not historical starting conditions, primarily determine community diversity.** Which finding would WEAKEN this conclusion?

AIf pools were drained twice yearly
BIf all pools had identical chemistry
CIf the high-diversity pools remained more diverse after many years, contradicting the convergence claim
DIf the researchers used different species in different pools
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. If the high-diversity pools remained more diverse after many years, contradicting the convergence claim
The conclusion is that history doesn't matter (everything converges). If high-diversity pools STAYED more diverse, that would CONTRADICT the convergence and SUPPORT a historical-influence view. So Option A weakens the conclusion. Options B, C, D are not directly related to weakening the convergence claim.
Solve this in the app — SAT practice & 24k+ MCQs →
Related questions