Potatoes as a food crop originated in South America. There a…

Pоtаtоes аs а fоod crop originated in South America. There are over 4,000 variations of potato grown there. Potatoes were brought to Europe by Spanish colonists in the late 1500s. One variety became the chief crop grown in much of Ireland by the early 1800s. Table 1 summarizes the spread of potatoes as a food crop. Table 1. Spread of potatoes as food crop from origin in South America Time Period Location Number of Potato Varieties (approximate) Pre-1567 South America 4,000 1567-1800 Europe 12 1840-1850 Ireland 1 The Irish Lumper variety of potato was introduced into Ireland in the early 1800s. The Lumper soon became the only variety of potato grown in much of Ireland. The potato blight destroyed most of the Lumper crop between 1845 and 1852 resulting in the death of about 1 million Irish from starvation. A researcher suggests that the Irish monoculture (growing a single crop) of the Lumper potato did not significantly change the overall resistance of the potato crop in Ireland to diseases. Which of the following observations best refutes this null hypothesis?