Over the Last 150 Years, Large Stretches of Salmon Habitat have been Eliminated by Human Activity.

Reading passage question

Question: Over the last 150 years, large stretches of salmon habitat have been eliminated by human activity: mining, livestock grazing, timber harvesting, and agriculture as well as recreational and urban development. The numerical effect is obvious: there are fewer salmon in degraded regions than in pristine ones; however, habitat loss also has the potential to reduce genetic diversity. This is most evident in cases where it results in the extinction of entire salmon populations. Indeed, most analysts believe that some kind of environmental degradation underlies the demise of many extinct salmon populations. Although some rivers have been recolonized, the unique genes of the original populations have been lost.

Large-scale disturbances in one locale also have the potential to alter the genetic structure of populations in neighboring areas, even if those areas have pristine habitats. Why? Although the homing instinct of salmon to their natal stream is strong, a fraction of the fish returning from the sea (rarely more than 15 percent) stray and spawn in nearby streams. Low levels of straying are crucial, since the process provides a source of novel genes and a mechanism by which a location can be repopulated should the fish there disappear. Yet high rates of straying can be problematic because misdirected fish may interbreed with the existing stock to such a degree that any local adaptations that are present become diluted. Straying rates remain relatively low when environmental conditions are stable, but can increase dramatically when streams suffer severe disturbance. The 1980 volcanic eruption of Mount Saint Helens, for example, sent mud and debris into several tributaries of the Columbia River. For the next couple of years, steelhead trout (a species included among the salmonids) returning from the sea to spawn were forced to find alternative streams. As a consequence, their rates of straying, initially 16 percent, rose to more than 40 percent overall.

Although no one has quantified changes in the rate of straying as a result of the disturbances caused by humans, there is no reason to suspect that the effect would be qualitatively different than what was seen in the aftermath of the Mount Saint Helens eruption. Such a dramatic increase in straying from damaged areas to more pristine streams results in substantial gene flow, which can in turn lower the overall fitness of subsequent generations.

“Over the last 150 years, large stretches of salmon habitat have been eliminated by human activity.”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 6 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analysing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation 

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) argue against a conventional explanation for the extinction of certain salmon populations and suggest an alternative
(B) correct a common misunderstanding about the behavior of salmon in response to environmental degradation caused by human activity
(C) compare the effects of human activity on salmon populations with the effects of natural disturbances on salmon populations
(D) differentiate the particular effects of various human activities on salmon habitats
(E) describe how environmental degradation can cause changes in salmon populations that extend beyond a numerical reduction

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the occasional failure of some salmon to return to their natal streams in order to spawn provides a mechanism by which

(A) pristine streams that are near polluted streams become polluted themselves
(B) the particular adaptations of a polluted stream’s salmon population can be preserved without dilution
(C) the number of salmon in pristine habitats decreases relative to the number in polluted streams
(D) an environmentally degraded stream could be recolonized by new salmon populations should the stream recover
(E) the extinction of the salmon populations that spawn in polluted streams is accelerated

3. According to the passage, human activity has had which of the following effects on salmon populations?

(A) An increase in the size of salmon populations in some previously polluted rivers
(B) A decline in the number of salmon in some rivers
(C) A decrease in the number straying salmon in some rivers
(D) A decrease in the gene flow between salmon populations that spawn in polluted streams and populations that spawn in pristine streams
(E) A decline in the vulnerability of some salmon populations to the effects of naturally occurring habitat destruction

4. The author mentions the “aftermath of the Mount Saint Helens eruption” most likely in order to

(A) provide an example of the process that allows the repopulation of rivers whose indigenous salmon population has become extinct
(B) indicate the extent to which the disturbance of salmon habitat by human activity in one stream might affect the genetic structure of salmon populations elsewhere
(C) provide a standard of comparison against which the impact of human activity on the gene flow among salmon populations should be measured
(D) show how salmons’ homing instinct can be impaired as a result of severe environmental degradation of their natal streams
(E) show why straying rates in salmon populations remain generally low except when spawning streams suffer severe environmental disturbance

5. The author's argument that increased straying can "lower the overall fitness of subsequent generations" (see hightlited text) is based on which of the following assumptions?

(A) A disturbance of salmonid spawning streams caused by human activity could increase the straying rate of affected salmonid populations as much as the aftermath of the Mount Saint Helens eruption did.
(B) In the streams in which the straying salmonids spawn, these straying salmonids would amount to no more than 40 percent of the total spawning population
(C) Salmonids in some streams benefit from particular local adaptions.
(D) Nonenvironmental factors have no effect on salmonid straying rates.
(E) At least some of the streams in which straying salmonids would spawn are pristine, affected by neither natural nor artificial disturbances.

6. Which of the following does the author mention as support for the view that environmental disturbances caused by human activity could increase straying rates?

(A) The existence of salmon populations in rivers where the elimination of salmon habitat by human activity had previously made the fish extinct
(B) The results of studies measuring the impact on straying rates of habitat loss caused by human activity
(C) The potential for disturbances in one environment to cause the introduction of novel genes into salmon populations in neighboring areas
(D) The weaknesses in the view that the extinction of entire salmon populations is the only mechanism by which human destruction of salmon habitat reduces genetic diversity in salmon
(E) The absence of any reason for believing that disturbances brought about by human activitiy would differ in their effects from comparable disturbances brought about by natural causes

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