Question

some studies of migrating animals measure how far the animals travel in a year by fitting individuals with gps tracking collars. other studies track annual round - trip distance (rtd), which is equal to double the distance separating the two habitats a population migrates between each year. a researcher argues that since gps records all of an animals movements, using the gps method to track a population would result in significantly higher recorded travel distances than using the rtd method would. for example, its very likely that the distance reported for the______
which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the example?
a caribou would be greater than 2,156 kilometers if the rtd method had been used.
b caribou would be less than 3,807 kilometers if the rtd method had been used.
c white - eared kob would be less than 400 kilometers if the gps method had been used.
d white - eared kob would be greater than 3,807 kilometers if the gps method had been used.

Explanation:

The researcher's argument is that GPS (which records all movements) would give higher distances than RTD (double the distance between two habitats). Looking at the table, for caribou: GPS distance is 3807 km (using GPS method). RTD is double the distance between habitats. If we assume RTD is calculated as double the one - way (since RTD = 2×one - way). If we use the RTD method, the distance would be less than the GPS - recorded 3807 km.

Answer:

B. caribou would be less than 3,807 kilometers if the RTD method had been used.