Choose the correct statements from the following:
A. Although the term interbreeding implies sexual reproduction, a group of individuals resulting from even asexual reproduction is also generally considered a population for the purpose of ecological studies.
B. Bacteria in a culture plate and teakwood trees in a forest tract are examples of a population.
C. Although an individual organism has to cope with a changed environment, it is at the community level that natural selection operates to evolve the desired traits.
D. Population ecology is an important area because it links ecology to population genetics and evolution.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → A, B and D only
A population is a group of individuals of a species that live in a well defined area, share or compete for similar resources and can interbreed. Natural selection works on such groups, which is why population ecology is studied so closely.
Statement A: Although the term interbreeding implies sexual reproduction, a group of individuals resulting from even asexual reproduction is also generally considered a population for the purpose of ecological studies. — True. For ecological studies, a group formed by asexual reproduction, such as bacteria dividing in a culture, is also treated as a population.
Statement B: Bacteria in a culture plate and teakwood trees in a forest tract are examples of a population. — True. Both are groups of one species in one place. NCERT lists them with cormorants in a wetland, rats in an abandoned dwelling and lotus plants in a pond.
Statement C: Although an individual organism has to cope with a changed environment, it is at the community level that natural selection operates to evolve the desired traits. — False. Natural selection operates at the population level, not the community level. A community is made of many different species living together.
Statement D: Population ecology is an important area because it links ecology to population genetics and evolution. — True. Since natural selection acts on populations, studying populations connects ecology with population genetics and evolution.
NCERT Extract:
Population Attributes – “… Although the term interbreeding implies sexual reproduction, a group of individuals resulting from even asexual reproduction is also generally considered a population for the purpose of ecological studies. All the cormorants in a wetland, rats in an abandoned dwelling, teakwood trees in a forest tract, bacteria in a culture plate and lotus plants in a pond, are some examples of a population. In earlier chapters you have learnt that although an individual organism is the one that has to cope with a changed environment, it is at the population level that natural selection operates to evolve the desired traits. Population ecology is, therefore, an important area because it links ecology to population genetics and evolution.”