It can be inferred from the passage that the desert tortoise

[IsabellaF907]

Cat 2 #3 RC
It can be inferred from the passage that the desert tortoise mortality rate would be most likely to decrease if which of the following were true?

Desert tortoise burrows were cooler.

Male and female tortoises mated more frequently.

A law is passed requiring developers of new projects to maintain a certain distance from any existing desert tortoise burrows.

Forage plants were abundant in the habitat of the desert tortoise.

Rabbits were abundant in the habitat of the desert tortoise.

The passage says this: "Though desert tortoises are well adapted to arid habitats, and adults can survive a year without access to water, they rely heavily on moisture in the vegetation consumed in spring, when they surface from their hibernal dormancy. The loss of native plants to grazing livestock and invasive plant species, then, may lessen the tortoise’s resistance to pathogens, though the tortoises do also dig precipitation basins in the soil and linger near one when rain is impending."

But I am confused by the answer key: I was torn between D & E, however D is wrong. why is D so wrong? Not sure from the answer key.... Is Forage considered an invasive plant species?... nothing in the passage says forage is non-native...

D) The passage states that females “may only lay eggs when adequate forage is available.” If adequate forage were available, then females will be more likely to lay eggs than they would when forage is scarce. The last paragraph indicates that tortoises “rely heavily” on certain native vegetation, but also that “invasive plant species” could be harmful to the tortoises. An abundance of non-native forage plants, then, could actually be harmful to the tortoises.

(E) CORRECT. The passage states that "for protection from predators … tortoises of all ages burrow into the earth. However, if rabbits and rodents are scarce, larger predators may exhume tortoises from their burrows." If larger predators seek out tortoises specifically because rabbits are scarce, then if rabbits were more abundant, the larger predators would be less likely to seek out tortoises for food. As a result, the mortality rate might decrease.

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

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I agree that this question is confusing and admit that I got caught out the first time I answered it. The point is that answer D - forage plants - only helps out tortoises if the plants are of the right kind. Therefore, without further information, we don't know whether answer D would help reduce tortoise mortality.

One hint is that the question refers to 'tortoise mortality' not 'tortoise health'. For that reason, answer E is more direct: fewer rabbits means that predators kill tortoises. Therefore more rabbits means that predators kill fewer tortoises.