Question

A grassland in North America is very flat. It has almost no variation in geography. There are no natural barriers, and organisms can easily leave or enter the ecosystem. Name two reasons this ecosystem would have a low rate of speciation.

Answer 1

1. No safety/hiding places. Predators can't go there because there isn't anywhere to hide while they hunt, and prey will not be able to blend in and hide as well
2. Land such as this is often used as more migratory land, as a species has to keep moving in such a geography to survive.

Answer 2

Speciation can be defined as a process by new species develops from the existing species. It occurs when the parent species becomes reproductively isolated and diverge. It is of two types:

Allopatric speciation: Allo-other and patric-native land. It occurs due to separation of the population of parent species and it's evolution because of geographical barriers.

Sympatric speciation: Sym-same and patric- native land. It involves the speciation of the members of the parent species are reproductively isolated due to behavioral, and physical barriers.

In the given situation, the two reasons the ecosystem would have a low rate of speciation are:

1. There is no variation in the geography: There will be no geographical isolation. Also the area is flat which means there are no barriers among the members of the same population. Therefore, this condition will not result in allopatric speciation.

2. There are no natural barriers: The natural barriers such as behavior and physical are absent therefore, sympatric speciation will not occur in the ecosystem.