AP Environmental Science

Answer: C - Of these countries, the Philippines would have the greatest level of biodiversity.

Key Takeaway: The reason that the Philippines would have the greatest level of biodiversity is its amount of temperate rain forest and its proximity to the equator. Of all of the nine major terrestrial biomes (tundra, taiga, temperate deciduous forest, temperate rain forest, tropical rain forest, savanna, temperate grasslands, shrub lands, and desert), mature tropical rainforests have the greatest species diversity (also known as biodiversity). This biodiversity then tends to decrease as you move away from the equator, toward the poles.