Biology 9700 · AS & A Level · Natural and artificial selection

Natural and artificial selection — practice question

The monkey flower, Mimulus guttatus, is pollinated by bumblebees through cross-pollination, and it does not self-pollinate. Because bumblebee numbers are declining in many parts of the world, an experiment was done in Kansas to find out what effect the loss of pollinators would have on these plants. 1600 Mimulus plants were grown in a field. Another 1600 Mimulus plants were grown in a glasshouse that bumblebees could not enter. Seeds were collected and sown repeatedly for several generations at each site. Initially, the glasshouse plants produced few seeds, but after five generations they were able to self-pollinate and the number of seeds produced was almost the same as that of the field plants. After five generations, the flowers of the glasshouse plants were significantly smaller than those of the field plants.
(a)[3]

Explain why offspring produced by cross-pollination and self-pollination have different genetic variation.

(b)[1]

Suggest how smaller flowers could increase self-pollination.

(c)[5]

Explain how natural selection led to smaller flower size in the plants over generations in the glasshouse.

Worked solution & mark scheme

This 9-mark question has a full step-by-step worked solution and mark scheme. One marking point: Self-pollination happens

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