Chapter 4 review
1. a population of small, flowering plants lives in a rainforest. which allele would most
likely become more frequent in this population?
a an allele for longer roots for water uptake
d an allele for smaller flowers for reproduction
© an allele for broader leaves for photosynthesis
d an allele for shorter stems for resource conservation

C

Explanation:

A rainforest is humid, therefore, water uptake would likely not be an issue. However, rainforests have a huge number of trees, often these are very tall. These large trees might block out the sun from the smaller plants nearer the ground. This means they would struggle to properly photosynthesise, as they wouldn't have the necessary light energy.

Therefore, as a survival adaptation, it is likely that an allele that produced broader leaves for photosynthesis would be selected for in this population. Broader leaves would give a larger surface area for the plant to absorb light energy to perform photosynthesis.

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