Read the scenario. A botanist (a biologist who specializes in plant biology) is researching the enormous biodiversity of plants found in the tropical rainforest. As she hikes through the forest, she finds a section of forest that contains several types of flowering plants that are unidentified, meaning they have yet to be named and classified into a scientific group. She observes several different examples of this plant over several acres of forest and notes that the leaves and stems of these plants look very similar. The only part of the plant that varies is the flower. She notes that on the southern side of the forest, the flowers are bright pink and have 18 petals per flower. On the northern side of the forest, the flowers are white and have nine petals per flower. The botanist wants to determine if the plants she has discovered are of the same species or different species. How would she be able to determine this? a If they are two different species, she could grow them next to each other to see if one outcompetes the other for light or water. b She could cross-pollinate the white-flowered plant and the pink-flowered plant, and see if they reproduce and create fertile seeds. c She could collect seeds from both types of plants, take them back to her laboratory, and study the seeds under a microscope to see if they have the same internal structure. d She could cut the stems of two plants (one white-flowered plant, and one pink-flowered plant) and graft them together in order to determine if they are compatible.

Biology Today and Tomorrow without Physiology (MindTap Course List)

5th Edition

ISBN:9781305117396

Author:Cecie Starr, Christine Evers, Lisa Starr

Publisher:Cecie Starr, Christine Evers, Lisa Starr

Chapter1: Invitation To Biology

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1FIO: Figure 1.7 Taxonomic classification of five species that are related at different levels. Each...

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Read the scenario.

A botanist (a biologist who specializes in plant biology) is researching the enormous biodiversity of plants found in the tropical rainforest. As she hikes through the forest, she finds a section of forest that contains several types of flowering plants that are unidentified, meaning they have yet to be named and classified into a scientific group. She observes several different examples of this plant over several acres of forest and notes that the leaves and stems of these plants look very similar. The only part of the plant that varies is the flower. She notes that on the southern side of the forest, the flowers are bright pink and have 18 petals per flower. On the northern side of the forest, the flowers are white and have nine petals per flower.

The botanist wants to determine if the plants she has discovered are of the same species or different species. How would she be able to determine this?

a	If they are two different species, she could grow them next to each other to see if one outcompetes the other for light or water.
b	She could cross-pollinate the white-flowered plant and the pink-flowered plant, and see if they reproduce and create fertile seeds.
c	She could collect seeds from both types of plants, take them back to her laboratory, and study the seeds under a microscope to see if they have the same internal structure.
d	She could cut the stems of two plants (one white-flowered plant, and one pink-flowered plant) and graft them together in order to determine if they are compatible.

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