When climbing a mountain, we can observe transitions in biological communities that are analogous to the changes a. in biomes at different latitudes. b. in different depths in the ocean. c. in a community through different seasons. d. in an ecosystem as it evolves over time.

Video transcript

Welcome back. Let's look at our next question. Upon checking a land cover map, you observe that one side of the mountain has less plant cover compared to the other side. What could be the possible explanation for this? So we have a mountain in a single location, it's the same height on either side in the same place. So why would you see less plant cover on one side of mountain versus the other side. So let's look at our choices here Choice A says, there are fewer animals, which makes seed dispersal difficult, but you wouldn't necessarily expect to see more animals on one side of a mountain versus the other. So that doesn't really seem like a good explanation for this difference in land cover choice B says, because the mountain blocks most of the precipitation, making the climate on the other side dry. Well, this actually does happen. A mountain can block precipitation, which would cause an unequal amount of rain on one side of the other, giving one side of the mountain a drier climate the other, and you'd see expect to see less vegetation on the drier side. Um This phenomenon actually has a name, it's called rain shadow, and sometimes you can even see the drier side on a patch of land become a desert. So this is our correct answer. Be the mountain blocks most of the precipitation, making the climate on the other side dry as to why you'd see less plant cover on one side of a mountain versus the other, but we'll just walk through our other two answers Choice C because the plants are of different species. Um Again, you wouldn't expect that to be the reason why you'd see different land cover on one side of a mountain versus the other. D because there are more herbivores on the other side. Again, not going to account for that land cover difference the way you would see a completely drier climate on one side than the other. Would Thanks for watching See you in the next video.