Evaluate whether abiotic exposure explains differences in inherited traits by linking environmental evidence to selection pressure.
White clover (Trifolium repens) is native to Eurasia but is now a common plant found worldwide in lawns, next to roads, in pastures and similar habitats.
Some T. repens plants are able to produce the toxin hydrogen cyanide (HCN) by cyanogenesis. A study at 128 sites ( 2509 plants) in Toronto (Canada) looked at the proportion of T. repens plants producing HCN. The sites were at regular intervals from the city centre towards rural areas.
The researchers then investigated a possible correlation between cyanogenesis and exposure to freezing conditions. It had been proposed that when a cyanogenic plant freezes, its cells burst, releasing HCN which is toxic to the plant. Snow can insulate the ground and plants from freezing temperatures. However, snow is more likely to melt in cities, which then exposes plants to freezing temperatures.
All four of the cities studied receive below freezing temperatures and winter snowfall. Researchers looked at the number of days below freezing that did not have snow cover in these cities.
Using all of the data so far, suggest whether exposure to freezing temperatures in the four cities is supported as a reason for the differences in HCN production in T. repens.