I’m Looking Over a White-Striped Clover: A Case of Natural Selection
Exercise 1
Habitat is defined as the place and conditions under which an organism lives. Is includes physical factors such as temperature, soil type, availability of nutrients, and availability of moisture and biological factors such as the presence of herbivores, competitors for nutrients, and pathogens. Using the information in Table 1, briefly summarize the habitat features for white clover in each state.
Clovers have unique and special features in different regions of North Carolina and California. In Minnesota, the clovers are characterized by a poor attitude of below 50 degrees. The height above sea level is low as the altitude does not even exceed half a kilometer. The temperature is low compared to California. Annual precipitation for North Carolina is lower in comparison with California. There is a low likelihood of herbivores like slugs and snails to predate the plants in North Carolina regions. Simultaneously, the predators appear in significant numbers in California where clovers are highly risked to destruction by the herbivores.
Exercise 2
- Why do you think the two gene products are stored in different parts of the cell?
The two genes are stored in different cells because of the difference in types of cyanides contained. On one type, genes do encode a dormant cyanide-sugar complex, whereas the other type can encode enzymes that cleave sugar to active cyanide. The two are likely to break suddenly if put to shallow temperatures or get killed in a cold environment.
- Suggest at least two ways these products might come together to make active CN in nature
They can ally by poisoning the herbivores like snails and other predators in the sense that when the herbivores consume the plant would quickly die. Consequently, the two withstand freezing temperatures while the plant exists as well.
- Suggest a reason that clover may produce cyanide. At is, what advantage does a plant gain by producing cyanide? Also, suggest a possible disadvantage of having cyanide. Or might there be no advantage?
Clovers do yield a product known as cyanide, which protects them against strict herbivores, for example, voles, snails, and slugs. Production of large doses of cyanide bar cells from using oxygen, therefore, killing the plant.
- It takes energy for an organism to produce a particular structure such as a stripe on an otherwise plain cloverleaf. Why might cyanide-producing clover have striped leaves?
Clover releasing cyanide typically generates striped leaves as a caution to herbivores not to eat them since they are poisonous if the clovers lacking stripes are inclined to get consumed by predators without being alert.
- To explore this idea a little further, consider the following results of the hypothetical experiments shown below. In each situation, snails that have been taken from a wild habitat where both types of clover are present were put in a Petri dish containing varying types of clover. How would you interpret each result?
I can interpret that clovers given to the herbivores with straight leaves were eaten because the snails noticed that are harmful from the way they appear and that if they consume, the clovers can be killed due to the poison contained. From the other scenario, we can learn that striped leaves are mixed with straight leaves; the herbivore would avoid striped leaves and eat the plain ones to prevent harm.
Exercise 3:
Go back and review the habitats you described in Exercise and think about the factors that would be important for plant fitness. Then list the ecological differences between North Carolina and Minnesota that might affect the wellness of each variant. In other words, which factors might increase plant growth, survival, and reproduction in each habitat, and which factors might inhibit them?
Factors that are important for clover fitness in the two regions are; nutrients and species interactions, such as predators, and so forth. Environmental variations occurring in both areas are;
The level of temperature determines various processes in the fitness of clover plants. Photosynthesis, transpiration, flowering, respiration, and germination are a good example. Temperature rising in North Carolina, for example, means that respiration, photosynthesis and other processes increase. Clover being a leafy plant, temperature influences reproductive growth for the clover plants. The other phenomena inhibiting growth are water and humidity, hardiness, crop quality, and clover plant nutrition.
Exercise 4
Propose a hypothesis to explain each of the following:
- The higher frequency of plain clover in Minnesota,
My theory is that striped clovers are low in North Carolina because of too high temperatures. High temperature favors clover leaves, although striped variants would lead to high CN to be generated and clear the clover plant. There is an increased number of herbivores; therefore, straight leaves of clovers will be eaten out, giving room for striped ones to thrive in the region.
- b) The higher frequency of cyanide producing/striped clover in North Carolina.
As per my checking, North Carolina has more herbivores like slugs and snails, which means that plain clovers will pave the way for the striped clovers to grow as they are not vulnerable to predatory animals.
Exercise 5
Explain why individuals or populations from the same species may show different traits in different habitats. Use the term “selection pressure” in your explanation
My hypothesis is the same for both cases. Individuals have a difference because selection pressure happens when factors like mating patterns influence a trait’s choice. If interbreeding happens between populations, nonrandom mating sometimes happens because organisms will pick a mate based on individual behaviors.
Exercise 6
Design experiments to test at least one hypothesis for each habitat.
We can set clovers from both varieties that grow in one region and take them in a specific laboratory to experiment with this. Grow various generations differently. Set the types not to freeze at all, then follow by setting a short time for while freezing and lastly freeze for a long time.
Exercise 7
For each of the experiments, you proposed in Exercise 6, describe data
Striped clovers, when subjected to high temperatures, will sprout out tremendously and make the environment conducive for the clovers to be fit. In that way, I prove my hypothesis. To falsify my theory, the stripped clover must survive to the best in low temperatures.
Exercise 8
- a) What are the examples of variation in the clover?
The difference in leaves’ appearance is an example of variation in both clovers. Clovers appear striped or plain.
- Refer back to Figure showing the relative frequency of plain and striped clover in Minnesota and North Carolina. Explain why there is variation in the frequency of each type of white clover between each of these areas
Due to adaptation with environmental factors for every type of clover in North Carolina and Minnesota.
- Adaptation in the white clover means that over time there is an increase in the frequency of particular traits that would help individuals in that white clover population survive and reproduce for that specific habitat. What are the examples of possible adaptations in the clover? Remember, adaptations are specific to a particular habitat
White clovers do well in low latitudes and in regions with mean elevation whereby stripped clovers do not resist precipitation.
- Comparing the white clover populations in Minnesota and North Carolina, what would you need evidence that evolution has occurred.
Data for the previous population of clovers in recent years will be needed.
- Several factors may exert selection pressure on different traits in white clover in each habitat. What element would you propose is exerting the strongest selection pressure on the production or nonproduction of CN in white clover in Minnesota? In North Carolina?
As per the table, we can see that temperature and precipitation exert immense selection pressure.
Exercise 9
Explain why each of the correct statements is true or correct each of the false statements to produce a true information.
- Natural selection can fully be explained by the phrase “survival of the fittest.”
Yes, it is true. Natural selection for organism reproduces by adaptation to the environment from alterations that occur in the genetic configuration.
- Variation is necessary for natural selection to occur.
Sure, because for the natural selection to happen, several things must vary so that organisms can pick the best choice for their change.
- Adaptation is defined concerning local environmental conditions (e.g., heat, cold, rainfall, competitors, and herbivores)
I agree ecological changes must exist for an organism to adapt to a new habitat.
.
- Natural selection acts on populations, not individuals
False, natural selection must occur for specific individuals who later form a population.
Exercise 10
- Predict which variant of white clover would be most frequent in each of the microhabitats on Long Island (refer to Part I).
The white clover seems to oppose serious ecological factors; therefore, I predict it can be frequent on the long island.
- Write a paragraph that describes the distribution of clover in the microclimates of Long Island using the terms variation, adaptation, natural selection, and evolution. Be sure to fully describe each of these terms in your detailed paragraph.
In long island, white clovers will undergo a different form of the same behavior due to species variations. Because white clover can endure acute conditions, it will bear the other way natural selection must happen to survive. The clovers will tend to increase while changing genetically, therefore, bringing evolution over several years. The chances that white clover will stay in the long island will depend on the plant’s adaptation feature to get used to the new environment of long island.