ou are on an expedition in a tropical rainforest. You notice a tall plant with large, long, conical purple flowers that produce
nectar. When you ask your guide about the plant, she pulls out a large pink fruit from her bag and explains that it is from the plant with the purple flowers. After tasting the fruit, you decide to bring the plant back home and cultivate it in a greenhouse. You remember seeing a particular butterfly on the purple flowers during your trip to the rainforest. After obtaining a few of these insects, you release them into the greenhouse. A few weeks later, the pink fruit plant is growing! In the process, though, a few butterflies have escaped. Is this an environmentally safe situation? Yes, the butterflies eat only nectar, so the ecosystem will not be disturbed. No, the butterflies may not have a natural predator in this environment; thus, they could displace native species that consume nectar. Yes, the butterflies will aid in the pollination of several flower species, thus benefiting the ecosystem. No, the butterflies could spread the pollen of the purple flowers to native plant species.
No, the butterflies may not have a natural predator in this environment; thus, they could displace native species that consume nectar
Explanation:
The escaped butterfly are considered an exotic species in their new environment. Exotic species in a new environment can establish themselves and sometimes outcompete or have selectional advantage over native species in that environment, eventually displacing the native species.
<em>Hence, that some of the butterflies were allowed to escape into the environment is not environmentally safe for the native species in that environment.</em>
