Researchers have characterized the niches of Darwin’s finches by beak size (which correlates with diet) and the niches of parasitoids by size of caterpillar. How would you characterize the niches of sympatric canid species such as red fox, coyote, and wolf in North America? Or felids, such as ocelots, pumas, and jaguars in South America? What characteristics or environmental features do you think would be useful for representing the niches of desert plants? Or the plants in temperate forest or prairie?

Researchers have characterized the niches of Darwin’s finches by beak size (which correlates with diet) and the niches of parasitoids by size of caterpillar. How would you characterize the niches of sympatric canid species such as red fox, coyote, and wolf in North America? Or felids, such as ocelots, pumas, and jaguars in South America? What characteristics or environmental features do you think would be useful for representing the niches of desert plants? Or the plants in temperate forest or prairie?

Biology: The Dynamic Science (MindTap Course List)

4th Edition

ISBN:9781305389892

Author:Peter J. Russell, Paul E. Hertz, Beverly McMillan

Publisher:Peter J. Russell, Paul E. Hertz, Beverly McMillan

Chapter21: Microevolution: Genetic Changes Within Populations

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1ITD: Peter and Rosemary Grant of Princeton University have studied the ecology and evolution of finches...

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What makes the ecosystem of the Galapagos Island different than those found on large continentals? Upon what did Charles Darwin's original research on finches of the Galapagos Island focus? Describe the research Peter and Rosemary Grant conducted on the finches in the 1970's. Discuss the relationship between the finches' beak depth size and survival in terms of natural selection and fitness and the environmental causes that shaped the finch population of the islands.
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Which of the following best explains the connection between increased competition and the evolution of a species by natural selection? Individuals migrate to another area in order to avoid competition for limited resources in the current ecosystem. Individuals that have traits that allow them to outcompete others survive better and produce more offspring. Individuals must become stronger to compete for resources, and this increased strength is passed on to the next generation. Individuals that must compete for limited resources are more likely to have diseases that cause mutations.
How does an individual with a competitive advantage lead to the evolution of an entire species? Individuals that survive due to their competitive advantage are able to expand their range, similar to how the finches radiated out from one common ancestor on the mainland. Traits that are advantageous help certain individuals reproduce at higher rates, so those traits are more common within the population. Some individuals are better at competing for resources, and that allows them to survive droughts or other major ecological events, leading to the extinction of certain species and the survival of others. Those who have traits that help them survive are able to reproduce, and their offspring have those traits, leading to a change in the species over time.
Peter and Rosemary Grant of Princeton University have studied the ecology and evolution of finches on the Galapagos Islands since the early 1970s. They have shown that finches with large bills (as measured by bill depth; see Figure) can eat both small seeds and large seeds, but finches with small bills can only eat small seeds. In 1977, a severe drought on the island of Daphne Major reduced seed production by plants. After the birds consumed whatever small seeds they found, only large seeds were still available. The resulting food shortage killed a majority of the medium ground finches (Geospizafortis) on Daphne Major; their population plummeted from 751 in 1976 to just 90 in 1978. The Grants research also documented a change in the distributions of bill depths in the birds from 1976 to 1978, as illustrated in the graphs to the right. In light of what you now know about the relationship between bill size and food size for these birds, interpret the change illustrated in the graph. What type of natural selection does this example illustrate? Source: P. R. Grant. 1986. Ecology and Evolution of Darwins Finches. Princeton University Press.
Behavior influences how organisms experience the environment and thus patterns of natural selection on behavioral traits. Which of the following examples is consistent with this statement? Some lizards in complex tropical forests prefer to hang out on tree trunks and branches, rather than the ground substrate, which has resulted in selection for shorter relative limb length and toe pads that can cling to bark. Ground-burrowing mammals experience greater exposure to dust and increased selection on their respiratory system to filter these particulates. Specialist parasitoids only target a handful of different host/prey types, resulting in a predictable resource and less selection on the ability to learn new resources All of the above Imagine that scientists have just discovered a weird new marine tunicate at extreme depths of the ocean. They have a novel kind of neurotransmitter – maritonin – that binds to the “maritonin” receptor, which is permeable to negatively charged iodine ions…
Darwin’s finches have different beaks in terms of size and shape to be able to eat different food sources like insects, nectar, and seeds. Cactus finches have longer, more pointed beaks to probe cactus flowers compared to their relatives, the ground finches. If a plant disease killed a large portion of the cacti on the Galapagos islands, what would the future populations of finches look like in terms of beak size and shape? Use your knowledge of natural selection to determine which option is most likely. Ground finches would survive and pass on their shorter and wider beaks, so there would be a higher proportion of finches in future generations that have short and wide beaks. Ground finches would survive and pass on their beaks, but they would mate with the remaining cactus finches, creating a new hybrid that is somewhere between short versus long and narrow versus wide. Cactus finches would compete for food with ground finches and exhibit resource partitioning, so the beaks…
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