Write your answers in the spaces provided. Refer to the figure or diagram to answer the question. Where explanation or discussion is required, support your answers with relevant information and/or specific examples. A United States Forest Service ecologist periodically sampled plant biodiversity on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, between the years 2000 and 2012, during a -year period of drought, to determine the relative abundances of native hardstem lovegrass versus nonnative fountain grass. (a) Describe TWO characteristics of invasive plants that help them outcompete native plants. (b) The research findings are summarized in the graph above.
(i) Based on the data in the graph, identify the year in which the abundance of native plants versus invasive plants is nearly equal.
(ii) Describe the change in overall plant abundance from , using the data in the graph.
(iii) Explain what the trend in relative abundance of native hardstem lovegrass and the invasive fountain grass over the -year period implies about each species ability to withstand drought conditions.
(c) Explain how a loss of species diversity would affect the stability of an ecosystem.