How does Figure 4 in the Storz (2007) paper communicate the role that natural se
ID: 258636 • Letter: H
Question
How does Figure 4 in the Storz (2007) paper communicate the role that natural selection has played in deer mice populations?
28 JOURNAL OF MA 38 a rubidus O gambeli 37 A bard v austerus luteus 36 ? rufinus 34 32 30 0 500 1000 500 2000 2500 3000 3500 Altitude (m) Fic. 4-Variation in blood oxygen affinity (as measured by half- saturation of hemoglobin [Psol) among subspecies of Peromyscus maniculatus from different altitudes across western North America. Based on data compiled by Snyder ct al. (1988).Explanation / Answer
The graphical data represents the distribution of several species across varying altitudes and hence varying partial pressure of oxygen at 50% range. Here, it is important to note that as the altitude increases, the partial pressure of oxygen also decreases thus making the individuals difficult to breath as the availability of oxygen has decreased. Under such conditions, if an organism bears high affinity for oxygen, it would be strongly bound to the hemoglobin and hence better transport of oxygen would take place. This means that the organisms having low affinity for oxygen would reach saturation quickly as compared to those having high affinity. Thus, having low affinity for oxygen would be a preferreda acclimatization strategy and such organisms would be selected naturally.
Thus, it can be seen that the lower part of the graph shows that these varities have lower affinity for oxygen and hence are better acclimatized to high altitude environment. Thus, they are naturally selected from their sub-species counterparts.
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