18.3 - Natural selection

• What is the name for the environmental factors that limit the population of a species ?

  Selection pressures
• Give 3 examples of selection pressures ?

  Predation, disease, competition
• Describe the process of natural selection

  • In a population there‘s genetic variation and a large gene pool
  • Spontaneous and random mutations occur, resulting in a new allele of a gene
  • If this allele produces a phenotype that provides selective advantages to the individual, they will be more likely to survive
  • They will successfully reproduce and pass on the favourable allele to the next generation
  • This repeats over generations and the frequency of the allele will increase within the gene pool