Final answer:
Adaptive radiation is enabled by the dispersal of a species into various habitats with distinct niches, leading to multiple speciation events as each population adapts to its unique environment, as seen in island ecosystems like the Hawaiian Islands.
Step-by-step explanation:
What enables an adaptive radiation to take place? The process of adaptive radiation occurs when a population of a single species disperses and occupies various habitats, each with distinct ecological niches. The unique challenges and lifestyle demands of these new habitats lead to multiple speciation events, with each resulting species adapting to its specific environment. For instance, island archipelagos like the Hawaiian Islands are hotspots for adaptive radiation because the geographical isolation provided by surrounding waters creates distinct environments for species to evolve separately.
The classic example of adaptive radiation is the Hawaiian honeycreeper, which evolved from one founder species into numerous species to fill different niches on the islands. Similarly, the diversification of finches observed by Darwin in the Galapagos Islands is another quintessential case of adaptive radiation caused by the need to exploit unique food resources and other environmental factors found in each isolated location.