Question

ntroduction: The 19th century was the time of the Industrial Revolution in England. Most of the new industries used coal for energy, and the air was polluted with black soot. In forests near factories, the soot coated trees and killed lichens. As a result, tree trunks became darker. Experiment: Click Play and hunt peppered moths on dark tree trunks for five years. In each year, try to capture as many moths as you can. Why did the changes you observed in the moth populations happen

Answer 1

The shift in moth population coloration from light to dark during the Industrial Revolution in England is an example of industrial melanism and directional selection, illustrating Darwin's theory of natural selection. As the environment changed due to pollution, dark moths became better camouflaged and more likely to survive, until pollution levels decreased and the trend reversed.

Step-by-step explanation:

The changes observed in the moth populations during the 19th century were a result of industrial melanism, which is an example of directional selection. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, light-colored peppered moths were camouflaged against the pristine environment making them less visible to predators. However, as the Industrial Revolution advanced and soot from coal industries blackened the tree trunks, the darker colored moths became better camouflaged and thus had a higher survival rate compared to their lighter counterparts.

This shift illustrates a principle of Darwin's theory of natural selection: individuals with characteristics that are better suited to the environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. As the environment changed due to pollution, the advantageous characteristics shifted from light to dark coloring in the moths, leading to a predominantly dark moth population in sooty areas. When England later reduced its pollution levels and tree bark color returned to light, light-colored moths again became more common, demonstrating that natural selection can be reversible with changes in environmental conditions.

Answer 2

Light colored peppered moths decreases in number and dark colored peppered moths increases.

Step-by-step explanation:

The population of light colored peppered moths decreases whereas the dark colored peppered moths increases in number because the light colored peppered moths are visible to the predator birds whereas the dark colored peppered moths are not visible due to dark coating of the trees so they are saved from the birds and therefore, increase in population of dark colored peppered moths occurs and decrease occur in light colored peppered moths population.