Under environmental pressures, what happens to better-adapted plants?

• A. They are outcompeted and die.
• B. They mutate into new species with random traits.
• C. They survive without reproducing.
• D. They survive and reproduce, passing advantageous traits.

Answer: (D)

The main idea is natural selection: environmental pressures favor individuals whose traits help them survive and reproduce. Better-adapted plants are more likely to live longer, compete effectively for resources, and produce more offspring. Those offspring inherit the advantageous traits, so over generations the population becomes better suited to its environment. In other words, success is measured by reproductive fitness, not just survival.

Why the other options don’t fit: surviving and dying off under pressure doesn’t describe the advantage of being well-adapted, and choosing to die without reproducing wouldn’t pass traits to the next generation. Random mutation into a new species isn’t guaranteed or directed by the environment in the immediate term, and speciation is a longer process involving many generations with accumulated differences. Surviving without reproducing would prevent traits from spreading through the population, so it wouldn’t be the typical outcome under environmental pressures.