Part C – Natural selection in monkey flowers Some monkey flowers (Mimu

Part C – Natural selection in monkey flowers Some monkey flowers
(Mimu

Part C – Natural selection in monkey flowers Some monkey flowers
(Mimulus guttatus) living near the sites of copper mines can grow
in soil containing high concentrations of copper, which is toxic to
most plants. Copper tolerance is a heritable trait. The map below
shows the area near an old copper mine, which contaminated the
nearby soil with copper. A stream flows past the mine toward the
lake at the bottom right of the map.
Use the map to determine which of the statements below are
true.
Select the three statements that are true.
The population that existed before mining must have included
both copper-tolerant and copper-intolerant plants. If you were to
test monkey flowers growing on the shore of the lake, you would
expect nearly 100% of them to be copper tolerant. Copper
contamination in the soil created copper-tolerant plants. Nearly
100% of monkey flowers growing in copper-contaminated soil are
copper tolerant. Natural selection favors copper tolerance in all
soils near the old mine, not only in the contaminated soils.
Copper-tolerant plants are found only in contaminated soils.