Assertion : Prolonged intraspecific competition causes an increases in the size of the niche of a population.
Reason : In such a population, use of a new type of resource will increase through the generations.

Answer

A

Explanation

Prolonged intraspecific competition causes an increase in the size of the niche of a population. A population at its carrying capacity does not have enough of the limiting resources to go around and any individual who makes use of a new type of resource will experience less competition and so be able to produce more offsprings. Use of the new resource will increase through the generations and the niche thus will become larger.