Question

just condition 2 please

Crepis sancta, commonly called hawksbeard, is an annual weedy plant, native to the Mediterranean region. As the figure below shows, Individual plants produce a mixture of two kinds of seeds: (1) DISPERSERS, with parachutes that catch the wind, and that can travel long distances. (2) NON- DISPERSERS that do not have parachutes, and that remain close to their parental plant. Individual plants produce varying proportions of dispersing: non-dispersing seeds. DISPERSING SEED NON-DISPERSING SEED The figure below compares the observed nronortions of non-disnersing

Answer 1

As already noted, individual plants produce a mixture of the dispersing and non-dispersing type of seeds.

From the graphs, we can see that in the continuous habitats, the sampled plants show a greater variability in seed ratios. On the contrary, when compared, the plants in the fragmented or urban populations show less variability, with higher proportaions of non-dispersing seeds.

The argument made here is that since seed dispersal is beneficial in a continuous habitat, to increase chances of survival, the plants here show higher proportion of dispersing seeds.

In the urban settings, however, dispersing seeds could land on the concrete and die, whereas, if they are non-dispersing, they will fall on the soil, nearby the parent plant and therefore, their chance of survival is higher.

Now, if a plant that produces higher proportion of non-dispersing seeds grows in an urban environment and passes its genes to its progeny, that would appear in the form of the progeny also producing a higher proportion of non-dispersing seeds.

Given the two conditions: 1) less variability seen from samples collected in the urban habitat as seen in the graph and 2) non-dispersing seeds falling near teh parent plants and having a greater chance of survival,

we can infer that the individual plants have indeed passed on their genes to their offspring (inheritance).