|Question 10Verbal

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Chesapeake Bay Seagrass Coverage 2012–2019

Chesapeake Bay seagrass meadows constitute crucial habitats for many aquatic species. Historically, eelgrass has been predominant, but widgeon grass is proving better suited to recent increases in sea temperature, tolerating heat better and growing faster than eelgrass does. Although the increase in widgeon grass has been associated with a substantial increase in total seagrass coverage
Which statement, if true, would account for data shown in the graph and would illustrate the point made by the researchers?
In early 2018, a fungal infection that affects widgeon grass and eelgrass but does not affect other types of seagrass spread through the bay.
A
Water temperatures in the bay increased slowly from 2012 to 2018, but in early 2019 there was an unprecedentedly large increase in temperatures, which reached levels that can be tolerated by few seagrass species other than widgeon grass.
B
Between 2012 and 2017, the total area covered by widgeon grass and the total area covered by all types of seagrass increased as water temperatures in the bay increased.
C
In early 2019, unusually heavy rains washed excessive nutrients into the bay, leading to algal blooms that prevented sunlight from reaching many seagrass species.
D