Long-Term Studies of Belding's Ground Squirrels Show That Immigrants Move

question 41

Multiple Choice

Long-term studies of Belding's ground squirrels show that immigrants move nearly 2 kilometers from where they are born and become 1%-8% of the males and 0.7%-6% of the females in other populations. On an evolutionary scale, why is this significant?

• A) These immigrants make up for the deaths of individuals, keeping the other populations' size stable.
• B) These immigrants provide a source of genetic diversity for the other populations.
• C) Those individuals that emigrate to these new populations are looking for less crowded conditions with more resources.
• D) Gradually, the populations of ground squirrels will move from a clumped to a uniform population pattern of dispersion.