In: Biology
Some monkey flowers (Mimulus guttatus) living near the sites of copper mines can grow in soil containing high concentrations of copper, which is toxic to most plants. Copper tolerance is a heritable trait.
The map below shows the area near an old copper mine, which contaminated the nearby soil with copper. A stream flows past the mine toward the lake at the bottom right of the map.
The population that existed before mining must have included both copper-tolerant and copper-intolerant plants. | |
Nearly 100% of monkey flowers growing in copper-contaminated soil are copper tolerant. | |
Natural selection favors copper tolerance in all soils near the old mine, not only in the contaminated soils. | |
Copper contamination in the soil created copper-tolerant plants. | |
Copper-tolerant plants are found only in contaminated soils. | |
If you were to test monkey flowers growing on the shore of the lake, you would expect nearly 100% of them to be copper tolerant. |
These statements are true:
The population that existed before mining must have included both copper-tolerant and copper-intolerant plants.
Nearly 100% of monkey flowers growing in copper-contaminated soil are copper tolerant.
If you were to test monkey flowers growing on the shore of the lake, you would expect nearly 100% of them to be copper tolerant.