Factors Affecting Biological Diversity Answers

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

Which of the following can result in a population looking more similar over time and can be described as selection against both extremes of a trait?

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

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

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?

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?

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?

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?

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 process drives Darwin’s theory of evolution?