Natural selection operates in different ways in nature.

Natural selection operates in different ways in nature.

Ans.

Natural selection operates in different ways in nature through various mechanisms:

1. Directional Selection: Favoring individuals at one extreme of a phenotypic range, leading to a shift in the mean of the population over time.

2. Stabilizing Selection: Favoring individuals with intermediate phenotypes, reducing variation and maintaining the status quo of the population.

3. Disruptive Selection: Favoring individuals at both extremes of a phenotypic range, leading to the formation of distinct phenotypic clusters or subpopulations.

4. Sexual Selection: Selection based on traits that improve an individual’s mating success, often leading to the evolution of traits that enhance attractiveness or competitive ability in acquiring mates.

5. Artificial Selection: Selection imposed by humans for specific traits in domesticated plants and animals, leading to rapid evolutionary changes.

These different modes of natural selection influence the genetic composition of populations and drive evolutionary change over time.