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Related Concept Videos

Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
Limits to Natural Selection01:38

Limits to Natural Selection

Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.
What is Natural Selection?01:32

What is Natural Selection?

Natural selection is an evolutionary process in which individuals with survival-promoting traits reproduce at higher rates. These favorable traits become more common within a population or species. Naturally selected traits initially arise via random genetic mutations. In order for selection to occur, there must be variation within a population, the trait controlling the variation must be heritable, and there must be an evolutionary advantage for variation in the trait.
Evolution of New Traits in Microbes01:24

Evolution of New Traits in Microbes

Microorganisms evolve rapidly due to their large population sizes and short generation times, often exhibiting measurable changes within days under laboratory conditions. Natural selection acts on standing genetic variation, enabling the retention and amplification of beneficial traits that confer fitness advantages in changing environments.Adaptive Pigment Regulation in RhodobacterIn Rhodobacter, a genus of purple non-sulfur bacteria, light-harvesting pigments such as bacteriochlorophyll and...
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences01:06

Natural Selection and Mating Preferences

The principle of natural selection posits that organisms better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. This principle is closely intertwined with mating preferences, a key aspect of sexual selection, which evolutionary psychologists believe is driven by instincts to propagate one's genes. Such instincts significantly influence mating behaviors and preferences between genders.
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing, inherently...

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Updated: May 12, 2026

The Use of Chemostats in Microbial Systems Biology
13:19

The Use of Chemostats in Microbial Systems Biology

Published on: October 14, 2013

Self-extinction through optimizing selection.

Kalle Parvinen1, Ulf Dieckmann

  • 1Department of Mathematics and Statistics, FIN-20014 University of Turku, Finland. kalparvi@utu.fi

Journal of Theoretical Biology
|April 16, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Evolutionary suicide, where natural selection drives a population to extinction, can occur even with optimizing selection. This study demonstrates self-extinction under both optimizing and frequency-independent selection pressures.

Keywords:
Adaptive dynamicsEvolutionary suicideFrequency-dependent selectionLife-history evolutionTragedy of the commons

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Population dynamics
  • Theoretical ecology

Background:

  • Evolutionary suicide models traditionally involve frequency-dependent selection, leading to a tragedy of the commons scenario.
  • Previous research suggested that optimizing selection prevents selection-driven self-extinction.
  • A misconception exists that optimizing selection cannot cause evolutionary suicide.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the notion that optimizing selection precludes evolutionary suicide.
  • To present novel models demonstrating self-extinction under optimizing selection.
  • To investigate self-extinction under frequency-independent selection.

Main Methods:

  • Mathematical modeling of evolutionary dynamics.
  • Analysis of selection pressures and population outcomes.
  • Development of theoretical examples of self-extinction.

Main Results:

  • Optimizing selection can, contrary to prior assumptions, drive populations to extinction.
  • Evolutionary suicide is demonstrated to be possible even without frequency-dependent selection.
  • Self-extinction can occur under frequency-independent selection pressures.

Conclusions:

  • The established understanding of evolutionary suicide needs revision.
  • Optimizing selection does not inherently prevent self-extinction.
  • Selection-driven extinction is a broader phenomenon than previously understood.