Consider a species of fern on the Hawaian islands. This species is spread across
ID: 147895 • Letter: C
Question
Consider a species of fern on the Hawaian islands. This species is spread across several different islands and inhabits a variety of habitats from low altitude mesic (i.e., dry) habitats to higher altitude, cloud forests. Although still considered the same species, these populations are genetically isolated and have been so for many generations. Which of the following statements makes the most sense biologically? The smallest population of ferns is found on the island of Maui. The largest is on the island of Oahu. Knowing this, you predict that the population on Maui has evolved more adaptations to its local environment, because its smaller size means that being unable to evolve adaptations would have lead to a quicker extinction. O The youngest population is on the island of Molokai. It was founded by a some wind- blown spores from Lanai. The population on Molokai is in much wetter conditions than on Lanai. When these ferns first arrived, natural selection created mutations that allowed this population to become better adapted to the new. wetter environment O The youngest population is on the island of Molokai. It was founded by a some wind- blown spores from Lanai. Imagine you have traveled back in time to the initial spread from Lanai to Molokai before any natural selection might have occurred on Molokai. (Why else would you ever invent time travel?) You are about to compare the DNA of the two populations. You predict that the two populations have a very similar allele frequency O None of the above is likely to be true. O The population on Kaho'olawe lives on the island that is hardest to pronounce. [Don't pick this one, all right?]Explanation / Answer
It is the 3rd option
In this it is stated that although Hawaiian ferns are from same species but they are genetically isolated which means they don’t mingle with each other due to the extrinsic or intrinsic boundaries. In the third example it is evident that the youngest population is found in Molokai that was blown from Lanai. But as they started growing on two different islands they started becoming genetically isolated due to the geographical barrier. On tracing back time and comparing the two population, they would show similar allele frequency if they were from same place