Describe natural selection as a process that results in adaptation to the enviorment.?

Answer 1

say it's about rabbits. rabbits are small animals eaten by foxes and other preditors. one day, a rabbit is born with a mutation, in this case it's hearing is sharper by some kind of genetic mutation. because of better hearing this particular rabbit can hear preditors come before the others can. therefore it's chances of escpaing are greater and therefore it's chances to survive also increase. this rabbit has a better chance for survival then the other rabbits in it's environment and is therefore more likely to mate, and will probably produce more offspring. because it produces more offspring the chances of that one mutation occuring in several of them increases, and so the allelfrequency for that allel/ mutation increases through the generations, until it has become a feature almost all the rabits (of that population) has.
the increased hearing has been selected for the future = natural selection. first he individual and eventually the population have adapted to their environment by hearing a predator come.
the same goes for an individual's resistance to something, say heat, temperature rises and one or more individuals can stand the heat better than the rest of the population becuase of a certain feature/adaption. natural selection will increase the allelfrequency for this allele and thus the population adapts to the warmer environment.

Answer 2

Natural selection is a simple concept. It can be subtle, though. Here's the basic idea.

To "win" you must procreate better, more often, perhaps even to the exclusion of your rivals. OK, so the goal is procreation.

Now, natural selection says that whoever (whatever) has even a slight advantage - or the least DISadvantage - will have more or better chances to procreate. Whatever this difference happens to be, it is in the "winner" genes and gets passed along. The "loser" genes either do not get passed at all, or get passed to a much lesser degree.

Often, the difference is incredibly minor. It can be visual - such as the peacock's tail display attracting more peahens. It can be the shape and strength of a beak - for a bird that must dig for worms in rotted wood, the longer and stronger, the better. It can be camouflage. Zebras and tigers both get lost in the tall grasses of a savannah. They live longer because they hide better and as a result have a better long-term shot at procreation.

The bottom line is that if you have a minor positive variation from the norm by even just a little bit, you have an edge. And nature multiplies that edge along the generations to favor it as a survival trait.

So... if you are in a cold environment, your skin gets furry and lighter in color. (Dark colors absorb heat faster, true... but they ALSO radiate heat faster. That's two sides of the same coin.) If you are in a really hot environment, you would get thinner and your sweat capabilities would increase, since both contribute to cooling issues.

Adaptation to the environment, like all other issues, is really just a matter of procreating better than your competition in that particular environment. Whether the difference relates to food gathering, attracting a mate, or evading predators, every little difference multiplies itself over the generations.

Answer 3

Selection adapts a population to its environment by
increasing or maintaining favourable genotypes in
the gene pool.
Natural selection increases the frequencies of
favourable genotypes and fits organisms to their
environment.