The following figures represent populations of a species of flowering plant that grows along a temperature gradient. The habitat on one end of the species range is very hot, and on the other end is much colder. There is variation in the traits of these plants; some individual plants show higher fitness when average temperatures are warm, whereas other individuals show higher fitness when average temperatures are cold. Based on what you know about how different evolutionary forces interact, under which of the following 4 scenarios would you expect populations of this plant species to show the highest levels of adaptation to local conditions?
Two large populations, lots of gene flow between them
Two large populations, no gene flow between them
Population size
Many small populations, lots of gene flow between them
Many small populations, no gene flow between them
Population size
Cold
H0H
Cold
Hot
Temperature
Temperature