What Process Resulted in the Loss of Heath Hens in North

Question

What process resulted in the loss of heath hens in North America?
A) competitive exclusion
B) an extinction vortex
C) a mutualism
D) the negative effect of heterozygosity on fitness

Accepted Answer

The loss of heath hens in North America is a classic example of an extinction vortex. An extinction vortex is a process that occurs when a small population size leads to a reduction in genetic diversity and an increase in genetic drift, inbreeding, and deleterious mutations, which ultimately lead to a population's extinction. In the case of the heath hen, the population size was greatly reduced due to hunting and habitat destruction, which over time led to decreased genetic diversity and other negative population genetic effects, ultimately resulting in the species' extinction.