Two Species of Buttercup Are Found in a Field in North

Two species of buttercup are found in a field in North Dakota, and they tend to flower at approximately the same time in early spring. When some ecology students decided to conduct an experiment in community dynamics, they selectively removed one species from the field by hand- picking all emergent plants. The remaining species showed a significant increase in its population size during the next season. This study demonstrated

A) interspecific competition.
B) niche fragmentation.
C) niche realignment.
D) intraspecific competition.
E) habitat fragmentation.