The survival of some strawberries after a frost illustrates which genetic concept?

• A. Genetic variation within a population.
• B. Environmental changes alone explain it.
• C. Selective breeding is needed to explain it.
• D. All individuals sharing identical genes.

Answer: (A)

This shows that populations have genetic variation and that environmental pressures can favor certain inherited traits. In a group of strawberries, individuals differ in their genes; some carry frost-tolerant alleles while others do not. A frost acts as a selective pressure, so the frost-tolerant plants are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing those alleles to their offspring. Over generations, the population becomes more frost-tolerant because the advantageous variants become more common. The idea relies on natural differences in DNA, not just the environment alone, and it doesn’t require human-directed breeding. And remember, natural populations are not made of identical genes—variation is what allows some plants to endure a frost.