"can lead to" is the sort of statement that is only slightly more modest than "will lead to", in practice. Like, it could also be that it can lead to both heter

"can lead to" is the sort of statement that is only slightly more modest than "will lead to", in practice. Like, it could also be that it can lead to both heterogeneity and homogeneity, depending on other factors (or even chance). If the author believes the one, the author should put a probability on that outcome, rather than just assume the worst.