Florida orange growers often have hundreds of trees in their orchard, similar to those shown here. Florida temperatures can be
mostly tropical or temperate. However, even areas of southern Florida can be exposed to freezing temperatures in the winter.
Suppose that an extreme frost affected an area where the orange orchard is growing. Predict the impacts of this event on the
orange trees. Select ALL that apply.
A)
The trees will undergo mutations that enable them to survive harsher and
colder winters in the future.
B)
This could result in a population bottleneck, where few trees survive,
resulting in lowered genetic diversity
C)
The trees will undergo artificial selection which results in only trees that
are better adapted to freezing temperatures
D)
Trees with the ability to survive the freezing temperatures will reproduce
and create offspring with similar genetic makeup.
E)
The trees in the orchard may all be of similar genetic origin, resulting in a
common tolerance or susceptibility to the freezing weather.