Read the following excerpt from an interview transcript:
Interviewer: Good evening, Dr. Arispe. The ecological conservation efforts in the Patagonian wetlands have garnered international attention. Many environmental groups have expressed concern that the recent influx of eco-tourism is the primary catalyst for the declining amphibian populations in the region. Has your research team reached the same conclusion?
Dr. Arispe: Good evening. It is true that the surge in human presence has introduced new variables into the ecosystem, and the public discourse has overwhelmingly fixated on this aspect. However, our comprehensive field data over the past three years contradicts that prevailing narrative. While eco-tourism has caused localized habitat disruption, the overarching driver of the demographic collapse among endemic amphibians is a specific agricultural runoff. The introduction of synthetic nitrates from the newly established soy plantations upriver has fundamentally altered the pH levels of the breeding pools. We initially suspected that an invasive fungal pathogen, commonly spread by tourists' footwear, was the culprit, but our chemical analysis conclusively proved otherwise.
Based on the interview, what does Dr. Arispe identify as the actual cause of the declining amphibian populations in the Patagonian wetlands?
- AThe localized habitat destruction caused by the recent increase in eco-tourism
- BAn invasive fungal pathogen introduced into the ecosystem via tourists' footwear
- The alteration of the breeding pools' water chemistry due to upstream farming practicesAnswer
- DThe prevailing belief among environmental groups that human presence is disrupting the ecosystem