The Hawaiian state bird, the nene (“nay-nay”) or Hawaiian goose, was abundant before Europeans arrived at the archipelago in the late 1700s. By 1880, the global population was estimated to number only...

The Hawaiian state bird, the nene (“nay-nay”) or Hawaiian goose, was abundant before Europeans arrived at the archipelago in the late 1700s. By 1880, the global population was estimated to number only a few thousand birds, and subsequent decadal surveys prior to World War II tracked the trajectory of the population to only 44 geese by 1940. These historical data and analysis of the trend are plotted to the right. Fearful of the effects of the war on the already diminished goose population, biologists rushed to conduct another survey in 1945, finding only 30 birds. Which of the following best describes the likely overall impact of WWII on the resident nene population? a. The war efforts shifted attention away from persecution of nenes and the destruction of their habitat, and their populations quickly re-bounded. b. Increased military activity to protect the islands worsened the already steep population decline, pushing the nene closer to the brink of extinction. c. The further drop of nene numbers was surprising because population size had seemed to have stabilized over the past 30 years, suggesting it had reached its carrying capacity. d. Despite Hawaii being on the front line of the war, the overall ecological impact seems to have been localized and the war therefore did not alter the nene’s historical trajectory. e. It is difficult to estimate the effect of the war after only 5 years because historical surveys were conducted every 10 years.