Claytonia virginica is a plant with flowers that vary from white, to pale pink, to bright pink. Slugs prefer to eat pink-flowering over white-flowering plants (due to chemical differences between the two), and plants experiencing severe herbivory are more likely to die. The bees that pollinate this plant also prefer pink over white flowers, so that Claytonia with pink flowers produce more seeds than Claytonia with white flowers. A researcher observes that the percentage of different flower colors remains stable in the study population from year to year. Given no other information, if the researcher removes all slugs from the study population, what do you predict will most likely happen to the percentage of flower colors in the population over time?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Removing slugs, which preferentially eat pink flowers, reduces herbivory on pink flowers. Since pink flowers are preferred by bees and produce more seeds, their proportion in the population is likely to increase without the pressure from slug predation.

Claytonia Virginica Is a Plant with Flowers That Vary from White