Practice question · Multiple choice
A population shifts its breeding season earlier in spring as mean temperatures rise, tracking warming locally. Why does this successful phenological adjustment still leave the population exposed to extinction risk?
Hints
- Does a single species adjusting its calendar guarantee its ecological partners do the same?
- What specific risk arises when interacting species alter their seasonal timings asynchronously?
Show the answer
A. It disrupts co-evolved timing if crucial food species advance at different rates
Why
Individual phenological tracking does not guarantee ecosystem synchrony. When mutualists or prey alter timings at different rates, mismatch breaks trophic links regardless of a single species' behavioural or physiological adjustment.
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