Practice question · Match the pairs
Match each driver of global change to its principal effect.
- Habitat fragmentation
- Ocean acidification
- Invasive species
- Nutrient runoff
- Dissolved carbon dioxide lowers seawater pH
- Disrupts the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles
- Novel competitors and predators arrive suddenly
- Isolates populations and blocks movement
Hints
- Global change has several distinct drivers beyond temperature.
- One of these follows directly from dissolved carbon dioxide, whatever the temperature does.
Show the answer
- Habitat fragmentation → Isolates populations and blocks movement
- Ocean acidification → Dissolved carbon dioxide lowers seawater pH
- Invasive species → Novel competitors and predators arrive suddenly
- Nutrient runoff → Disrupts the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles
Why
Each driver acts by a different mechanism, which is why no single intervention addresses them all. Ocean acidification is notable for proceeding directly from dissolved CO₂, it would continue even if warming somehow stopped.
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