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Related Concept Videos

Natural Selection and Adaptation01:15

Natural Selection and Adaptation

1.8K
Natural selection, a fundamental concept in evolutionary biology, is the mechanism by which evolution is driven, favoring organisms that are best adapted to their environments. This process enhances their chances of survival and reproduction. Adaptation, a key outcome of this process, involves genetic modifications that optimize an organism's functionality under specific environmental challenges, such as extreme cold or thinner air at high altitudes.
Beyond physical adaptations,...
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Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

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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...
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Limits to Natural Selection01:38

Limits to Natural Selection

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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.
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Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

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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.
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What is Natural Selection?01:32

What is Natural Selection?

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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.
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Genetic Drift03:33

Genetic Drift

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Natural selection—probably the most well-known evolutionary mechanism—increases the prevalence of traits that enhance survival and reproduction. However, evolution does not merely propagate favorable traits, nor does it always benefit populations.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
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Allee effects, adaptive evolution, and invasion success.

Andrew R Kanarek1, Colleen T Webb1

  • 1Department of Biology, Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO, USA.

Evolutionary Applications
|January 9, 2015
PubMed
Summary

Evolutionary adaptation can help invasive species overcome challenges like low population density. Understanding this process is key to predicting and managing biological invasions effectively.

Keywords:
Allee effectsadaptive evolutionbiological invasionreaction-diffusion equation

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Invasion Biology

Background:

  • Invasive species success is driven by ecological and evolutionary factors.
  • Understanding founder population dynamics aids in managing introduced species.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Analyze evolutionary consequences of ecological processes (e.g., propagule pressure, density effects) on colonization.
  • Investigate how evolution impacts invasive species establishment.

Main Methods:

  • Spatially-explicit modeling approach.
  • Incorporation of dispersal, density-dependent growth, and selection.

Main Results:

  • Adaptive evolution can occur in small or sparse populations.
  • Evolution can mitigate or avoid inverse density dependence (Allee effects).
  • Adaptation rate depends on genetic variance, influencing population rescue from extinction.

Conclusions:

  • Evolution plays a critical role in successful biological invasions.
  • Recognizing evolutionary processes is essential for predicting and managing invasions.