Gray and red squirrels share the same habitat. Red squirrels usually eat hazelnuts. After a disease kills off hazelnut trees in their environment, they have to start eating acorns. Gray squirrels are well adapted to eating acorns. The number of red squirrels decreased over time because they were not well adapated to eating acorns. Gray squirrels gradually replaced the red squirrels because they are better adapted to the environment. This change in the populations is an example of(1 point)

Question

Gray and red squirrels share the same habitat. Red squirrels usually eat hazelnuts. After a disease kills off hazelnut trees in their environment, they have to start eating acorns. Gray squirrels are well adapted to eating acorns. The number of red squirrels decreased over time because they were not well adapated to eating acorns. Gray squirrels gradually replaced the red squirrels because they are better adapted to the environment. This change in the populations is an example of(1 point)
Responses

natural selection.
natural selection.

resource partitioning.
resource partitioning.

genetic drift.
genetic drift.

competitive exclusion.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

This change in the populations is an example of competitive exclusion.

In this scenario, the gray squirrels are better adapted to the available food source (acorns), while the red squirrels struggle to survive after the hazelnut trees are killed off. As a result, the gray squirrels outcompete the red squirrels for resources, leading to the decline of the red squirrel population. The principle of competitive exclusion states that two species competing for the same limited resources cannot coexist at constant population values; one will outcompete the other.