Field mustard is an annual plant that grows wild in many regions of the world. It has small yellow flowers and is pollinated by
insects. Field mustard has to flower and produce seeds to give rise to the next generation. Southern California experienced a severe drought between 2000 and 2004. Plants that flowered earlier reproduced. Those that flowered later died without producing seeds. This led to more early-flowering field mustard plants. This change in population characteristics took only a few generations. How do you think scientists discovered that the flowering time of the field mustard had changed?
The scientists discovered that the flowering time of the field mustard had changed by observing more mustard plants which produces earlier flowers. The behaviour of the mustard plant change due to the change that occur in the environmental conditions that leads to early flowering in mustard plant. If this early flowering occurs for more generation, then the mustard plant will adopt this type of behaviour in normal environmental conditions that experience by the mustard plant.
