Factors Affecting Biological Diversity Answers

Which type of selection occurs when a population experiences a shift in diversity toward the larger organisms?

A population contains short plants and tall plants. The short plants are not able to compete with tall plants for sunlight. The tall plants, however, are more susceptible to wind damage. Which type of selection will this population of plants most likely experience?

A scientist wrote a paper titled “Directional Selection in Action” after observing a population of mice for 15 years. The mice typically preferred to eat berries, although a few would also eat insects. After a drought in year 3, the scientist observed that more mice were eating insects. By year 10, most of the mice in the population ate insects in addition to berries. Which best describes her article?

A population of pigs lives on an island together with burrowing termites. Pigs that have the longest snouts tend to survive more frequently than those with shorter snouts. Over time, most of the pig population is made up of individuals that have very long snouts. This is an example of which type of selection?

Your teacher describes a population of fish that live in a coral reef. Some fish are dark orange (the same color as the coral). Some fish are nearly white. Most of the fish exhibit a color between dark orange and nearly white. Human activity has led to the bleaching of the coral reefs, making them very pale in color. Over time, the population of fish will be affected. Which graph represents the type of selection that you expect to occur?

Two insect groups vary genetically by two genes. When put together, they were able to reproduce and produce offspring that could also breed. Which best describes this insect population?

Which process drives Darwin’s theory of evolution?

In a bird population, 50 % of the individuals had white feathers, and 50% had colored feathers. Over time, it was observed that 98% of the population had colorful feathers. The rest had white feathers. How did the type of selection in this example affect the population’s biodiversity?

Stick insects, also called walking sticks, are typically found in tropical and subtropical forests and grasslands. The insects are able to camouflage themselves by living among twigs in their environment.What is this an example of?

A population of squirrels lived together in a forest. An event occurred that caused the population to diverge into two different species over a long period of time. Which of the following is most likely the event that occurred?

Which graph represents selection that may lead to reduced variation in a population?

Imagine a population of rabbits with fur color that ranges from black to white. If this population were put in an area that has dark rocks that camouflage the black rabbits, as well as light stones that hide the white rabbits, what would most likely happen to the gray rabbits?

Which organisms are most likely to survive in a population in which disruptive selection is occurring?