Abiologist studying alpine wildflowers notices that two populations of similar species are able to occupy the same niches. however, species a is mostly found at lower altitudes, while species b is mostly found at higher altitudes. what has most likely caused the realized niches of these two wildflower populations to be smaller than their fundamental niches? a. competition has restricted the ranges of both species. b. the species are involved in a mutualistic relationship. c. species a is capable of growing faster than species b. d. species b requires fewer resources than species a.

Option A, Competition has restricted the ranges of both species

Explanation:

When two species which depend on the exactly same kind of resources, get into a mode where they prefer to stay in two different ecosystems without interfering each other’s circle and thus they get excluded from each other due to competition. This phenomenon of the ecosystem is called Competitive exclusion

According to Gause's Law of competitive exclusion two species which are competing for similar kind of resources are unable to stay together.  

Hence, option A is the correct choice.

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