Two Species of Buttercup Are Found in a Field in North

Multiple Choice

Two species of buttercup are found in a field in North Dakota, and they tend to flower at approximately the same time in early spring. When some ecology students decide to conduct an experiment in community dynamics, they selectively remove one species from the field by hand-picking all emergent plants. When the one species is removed, the other species shows a significant increase in its population size the next season. This study demonstrates:

A) habitat fragmentation.
B) niche fragmentation.
C) niche realignment.
D) intraspecific competition.
E) interspecific competition.