Date _________________________ Professor/TA ________________________
ANSWERS
Chapter 1 Worksheet for Case Study in the Process of Science #1
How Do Environmental Changes Affect a Population of Leafhoppers?
Instructions
1. Go to www.campbellbiology.com or the Essential Biology student CDROM.
2. Select Chapter1 from the pulldown menu.
3. On the left, click on "Case Studies in the Process of Science."
4. Click on "How Do Environmental Changes Affect a Population of Leafhoppers?"
5. Read the text in the upper right, and follow the instructions. Instead of typing your
Lab Notebook
Global Warming Data Table
Number of: Size Color
Large Medium Small Black Brown
Parental 2 22 2 22 3
generation
10th 0 20 5 25 0
generation
20th 0 10 15 25 0
generation
30th 0 3 22 25 0
generation
Graph your Global Warming data, using this key:
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Campbell/Reece/Simon Essential Biology 2e and Essential Biology with Physiology © Pearson Education
1
Large leafhoppers = • Black leafhoppers = X
Brown leafhoppers = X in color
Medium leafhoppers = O
Small leafhoppers = •
Predator Change Data Table
Number of: Size Color
Large Medium Small Black Brown
Parental 1 22 2 22 3
generation
10th 1 23 1 15 10
generation
20th 1 23 1 10 15
generation
30th 0 25 0 2 23
generation
Graph your Predator Change data:
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Campbell/Reece/Simon Essential Biology 2e and Essential Biology with Physiology © Pearson Education
2
Vegetation Change Data Table
Number of: Size Color
Large Medium Small Black Brown
Parental 2 22 1 22 3
generation
10th 1 23 1 23 2
generation
20th 0 25 0 24 1
generation
30th 0 25 0 25 0
generation
Graph your Vegetation Change data:
Pesticide Application Data Table
Number of: Size Color
Large Medium Small Black Brown
Parental 2 22 1 22 3
generation
10th 5 20 0 24 1
generation
20th 10 15 0 25 0
generation
30th 23 2 0 25 0
generation
Graph your Pesticide Application data:
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Campbell/Reece/Simon Essential Biology 2e and Essential Biology with Physiology © Pearson Education
3
Lab Report
1. What role does genetics play in the variation seen in this leafhopper population?
Different forms of genes in the leafhopper population provide the variety of
characteristics seen.
2. Note the results from the 20th generation under global warming conditions. Before
continuing with the 30th generation, predict the population composition of the 30th
generation.
One would expect a loss of lighter colored (brown) and larger leafhoppers leading to a
population predominated by darker, smaller leafhoppers.
3. What happened to the proportion of each type of leafhopper in subsequent generations
under global warming conditions? Suggest a reason why the traits of the 30th generation
make this population better adapted to its altered environment.
There were fewer orange and large leafhoppers and more small leafhoppers. Perhaps the
snall leafhoppers have a metabolism better suited for global warming, e.g., smaller
leafhoppers may dissipate heat better than larger ones. Metabolic differences in the lighter
colored leafhoppers may explain their demise. Perhaps they did not survive as well as the
darker ones because they needed more calories of energy to produce offspring in a
warmer climate. Color may not always play a direct role in survival, but may be linked to
other characteristics that are passed on to subsequent generations.
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Campbell/Reece/Simon Essential Biology 2e and Essential Biology with Physiology © Pearson Education
4
4. Why would you expect a change in predators to cause a difference in the types of
leafhoppers being selected?
Each predator has a different strategy for finding its prey. Birds and snakes hunt
differently and would select leafhoppers with characteristics fitting to their foraging
strategy.
5. Note the differences between the parental, 10th and 20th generations when the predator
changed from a bird to a snake. What evidence supports the view that leafhopper size is
not affected by a change in predators?
It appears from the data that birds favor the light colored leafhoppers and snakes favor the
dark colored ones. There is no gain or loss in the proportion of small or large leafhoppers
for each generation.
6. What happened to the proportion of each type of leafhopper in subsequent generations
when the predator changed from a bird to a snake? Suggest a reason why the traits
predominant in the 30th generation make this population better adapted to the change in
predators.
There are now more light colored leafhoppers than dark colored ones. Snakes regularly
selected the dark colored leafhoppers and shifted the population characteristics from
predominantly dark colored to light colored.
7. Describe some human activities around your school that could have influenced the
natural vegetation in the area.
Examples: land clearing for housing, college buildings, commercial buildings.
8. Note the differences between the parental and the 30th generations. What happened to
the proportion of each type of leafhopper when the vegetation changed? Suggest a reason
why the traits of the 30th generation make this population better adapted to its altered
environment.
The leafhopper population was selected for uniformly medium sized dark bodied
individuals. Those individuals making up the population may possess a metabolism that
is adapted to eating the new food source. The new plants may have nutritional
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Campbell/Reece/Simon Essential Biology 2e and Essential Biology with Physiology © Pearson Education
5
components that favor these leafhoppers or they may produce poisons that prevent the
reproduction of leafhoppers with other characteristics.
9. Identify some major sources of pesticides in your area.
Examples: golf courses, parks, residential yards, farms, restaurants, grocery stores.
10. What happened to the proportions of leafhoppers in each subsequent generation when
pesticides were added to the environment? Explain why all the leafhoppers were not
killed by the pesticide application.
The smaller brown leafhoppers are selectively killed by the pesticides. Larger black
leafhoppers appear to be resistant to the pesticide applications; they probably possess
genes that protect them from the pesticides. They may avoid the pesticide application
with a behavioral adaptation or have metabolic traits that protect them from pesticide
poisoning. This type of pesticide use would ultimately change the populations of the
insects being sprayed and possibly lead to insects that tolerate pesticide applications.
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Campbell/Reece/Simon Essential Biology 2e and Essential Biology with Physiology © Pearson Education