Question

freeze tolerance
use the information and your knowledge of science to answer the questions.
doug schemske is a biologist who studies plants from around the world. doug and his research team carry out experiments with the plant species mouse - ear cress, or arabidopsis thaliana. they like this species because it is easy to grow in both the lab and field. arabidopsis is very small and lives for just one year. it grows across most of the globe and in a wide range of latitudes and climates. arabidopsis is also able to pollinate itself and produce many seeds, making it possible for researchers to grow many individuals to use in their experiments.
doug chose arabidopsis populations in scandinavia and the mediterranean for his research on local adaptation because those two locations have very different climates. the populations may have adapted to have the highest survival and reproduction based on the climate of their home location.
to deal with sudden freezes and cold winters in scandinavia, plants may have evolved freeze tolerance traits, which produces chemicals that act like antifreeze. these chemicals accumulate in their tissues to keep the water from turning into ice and forming crystals. to see whether freeze tolerance was driving local adaptation, doug set up an experiment to identify which plants survived after freezing. doug collected seeds from several different populations across scandinavia and the mediterranean.
chart content (omitted)
what factor impacted the survival of scandinavian plants in the scandinavia environment over their survival in the freezer?
a extreme temperatures that mimic the deep freezer would devastate and lead to the extinction of scandinavian plant populations.
b the scandinavian plants placed in the freezer are not adapted to the cold temperatures.
c the environmental conditions present in scandinavia do not mimic the quick drop in freezing temperatures represented by the deep freezer.
d mediterranean plants have a higher survival rate in extreme temperatures than does the scandinavian plants due to the changes in the genes present during cold temperatures.

Explanation:

The question asks why Scandinavian plants have higher survival in their native environment vs. a freezer. The text notes Scandinavian plants evolved freeze tolerance for their local cold winters, but freezers cause a sudden, extreme temperature drop that does not match the gradual, natural cold conditions of Scandinavia they are adapted to. Option A is wrong because Scandinavian plants survive their native cold; B is wrong as they are adapted to their local cold; D is irrelevant as the question focuses on Scandinavian plants, not Mediterranean ones.

Answer:

C. The environmental conditions present in Scandinavia do not mimic the quick drop in freezing temperatures represented by the deep freezer.