PT11 S3 Q17 (Amazon Climate)

jwooooon

Hi, I’m confused about Q17, where the video mentions that (C) and (E) is part of Haffer’s hypothesis, but I don’t think it is? No where in the passage does it state that upland is more diverse or more dense than low land. It says that low land is drier (which could imply that rain forest-like organisms likely prefer upland), but this feels like overstepping the bounds of the types of assumptions that we as readers can make. The only thing that Haffer says about the difference between lowland and upland currently is that (1) low land is drier and (2) they differ in terms of species.

ntrepanier5

What I think JY's saying is "C and E are part of Haffer's hypothesis . . . relative to what was true millenia ago in the Amazon." So they're not useful points in evaluating the current state of the Amazon, but they're still part of Haffer's hypothesis about the Amazon a long time ago.

I also think "he proposed . . . the rain forest" (L38-43) is pretty fair support for C's claim that the uplands had greater species diversity. If the lowlands were arid & desertlike and the uplands were a "refuge", I don't think it's a far leap to say the uplands had greater species diversity. Does the current Amazon have greater species diversity than the Gobi Desert? Probably.

E is kinda the same point. If the lowlands were an arid desert, then they didn't have much life going on, whereas the uplands did. Desert vs tropical paradise seems fair to me.

jwooooon

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks!