When a scientist is conducting research about all the plants and wildlife in the mojave desert as well as the desert’s resources, such as water and soil, the scientist is studying

ecosystem

Explanation:

In this case, we have a situation where the scientist is describing an ecosystem. The ecosystem represents all the living organisms (flora and fauna), their environment, and the interactions that they all have between each other. In this case, we have the plants and animals being described, thus the flora and fauna, as well as the water and soil, thus their environment, so we have description of an ecosystem, or more specifically, the desert ecosystem of the Mohave Desert.

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