If plant life was never subjected to herbivores/predators, how would this affect plant diversity? A. Plant life would likely be more diverse. B. Plant life would likely be less diverse. C. Plant diversity would remain unchanged

Question

Jacqueline Tyler

Biology

4 October, 09:02

If plant life was never subjected to herbivores/predators, how would this affect plant diversity? A. Plant life would likely be more diverse. B. Plant life would likely be less diverse. C. Plant diversity would remain unchanged

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Answers (1)

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Roger Barnett · Answer 1

B. Plant life would likely be less diverse.

Explanation:

Variations arise in the existing species of living beings such as plants by mutations and sexual reproduction. Selection pressure such as herbivory, any disease, pathogens, limited resources, etc. allow natural selection to favor the organisms with beneficial genetic traits. This leads to an increased proportion of some organisms with beneficial traits and a reduced proportion of those that lack these adaptive features. This process results in the evolution of populations.

If there were no herbivorous, plants would not have developed several strategies to avoid them and no selection pressure would have allowed the evolution of diverse plant species.