Natural Selection vs Artificial Selection

Question 1

Artificial selection (examples)

Answer 1

Artificial selection: Artificial selection is when humans Adjust traits in a population to make them more Appealing.
ex selective breeding

Question 2

Selective pressure

Answer 2

Selective pressure: environmental conditions favoring certain traits in individuals while working against other traits in different individuals
Example: bacteria that were resistant to a particular antibiotic were selected for by their environment. They could survive the environment that changed around them (presence of antibiotic), therefore they reproduced and passed on genetic information which codes for resistance to the antibiotic

Question 3

Fitness

Answer 3

Fitness: how well an individual’s offspring can live long enough to make more offspring of their own and add to the gene pool
- Often described as number of reproductively viable offspring an organism produces
- Many viable offspring = high fitness
- No, or few, viable offspring = low fitness

Question 4

Consequences of artificial selection

Answer 4

• Genetic diversity is reduced by creating monocultures
  Monoculture: planting of the same variety of species over a large portion of land
• Drawbacks of monoculture - if a new disease is introduced to that crop all individuals will be affected in the same way and the entire population could be damaged
• Sometimes when a certain trait is selected for, it comes with other negative consequences
  Ex: bulldogs are selectively bred for their flat face but they often end up with respiratory problems and hip problems as a result of artificial selection for that one trait

Question 5

Monocultures

Answer 5

Planting of the same variety of species over a large portion of land