Answer: Multiple phytoplankton species coexisting in seemingly homogeneous water, violating competitive exclusion principle -- explained by fluctuating environments and multiple limiting resources.
- A Plankton organisms are simply too microscopically small to be observed without magnification, an observational limitation unrelated to the competitive coexistence puzzle this paradox describes
- B Multiple phytoplankton species coexisting in seemingly homogeneous water, violating competitive exclusion principle -- explained by fluctuating environments and multiple limiting resources
- C The remarkable way in which plankton populations are able to adapt to chemical pollution over time, a pollution-adaptation description unrelated to the niche-overlap puzzle this paradox actually addresses
- D The disproportionately large amount of atmospheric oxygen that plankton are responsible for producing, an oxygen-production fact that has no bearing on the species-coexistence puzzle this paradox addresses
Correct answer: B. Multiple phytoplankton species coexisting in seemingly homogeneous water, violating competitive exclusion principle -- explained by fluctuating environments and multiple limiting resources
Explanation: Hutchinson paradox: many phytoplankton species coexist competing for same few resources in open water. Explained by: temporal/spatial heterogeneity, multiple limiting resources, herbivory, and chaotic dynamics preventing equilibrium.
Energy pyramid showing a simple food chain (producer to herbivore to carnivore) with energy decreasing roughly tenfold at each trophic level.
Concept context
Ecosystems, food chains, energy flow, nutrient cycles, biodiversity, and conservation.