Practise AP Biology 7.1.A questions by explaining how heritable variation, competition and environmental pressures produce differential survival and reproduction.
Many species of corals are threatened by the increasing temperatures and decreasing pH of ocean waters. One species, Stylophora pistillata, has been found to thrive in water that is warmer and has a lower pH than the water that corals typically thrive in. Additionally, researchers have found that the tolerance for the new water conditions is heritable.
Which of the following statements best explains the changes seen in S. pistillata in response to the changing water conditions?
The corals' adaptation is an example of natural selection because the tolerance is in response to a changing environment and has a genetic basis.
The corals' adaptation is an example of the founder effect because the majority of corals do not have a tolerance for warmer water.
The corals' adaptation is an example of genetic drift because the change was a chance event and not the result of selection in response to environmental change.
A