PT70.S1.Q12-- in a study of tropical forests

Darklord

Hi,

I know for some people this question may have been easy, but I was really stumped between B and E because of the last sentence in the stimulus. I saw the last sentence as saying that the trait that determined why the trees had different lifespans was attributed to the trees rather than the species. As a result, I chose B.
I am kind of starting to see why E is right instead of B, but I am still kinda stuck on what exactly I did wrong in interpreting the stimulus. Can anyone explain to me their reasoning about what the last sentence actually meant and why E is right?
thanks!
Best regards

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