BIO120H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Soil Texture, Parent Material, Biome
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BIO120H1 Full Course Notes
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Reductionist explanation= clear unambiguous story at the level of genes and molecules. Ultimate explanation= not as tidy, it is a complex hypothesis that rests on series of assumptions. Every feature of an organism is a trial and error process of natural selection. However, evolution should not be expected to produce perfection, all it does is select new variants to perform a little better than the one before it. Adaptive significance- beneficial qualities (such as in terms of increased survival and reproduction), any given modified trait conveys. Maladaptive traits- common in changing environments, change the fitness of pre-existing traits. Nothing in the action of natural selection prevents traits from multitasking. There can be a compromise between functions of traits, or a trade-off. Principle of resource allocation- resources invested in one function are unable to invest in other functions, we see this in traits. Form of evolutionary constraint, meaning the restrict the range of traits u might see in an organism.
