BIOL 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Algebraic Equation, Heritability, Microevolution
Document Summary
Selection: the favoring of some individuals over others due to traits that they exhibit. Agents of selection can be foods, predators, weather, parasites, habitats, pesticides, etc. The contribution an individual makes to the gene pool of the next generation, relative to the contribution of other individuals for the same locus or loci. How many copies am i gonna pass on. Must live long enough to become an adult. And successfully reproduce to gain any fitness. Almost all traits of organisms contribute more-or-less to fitness. Requires variation among individuals in some important traits. Does not require variation to have genetic basis. However, needs some heritability for a trait. Response to selection h2 = heritability (degree of genetic control) This is important to know, because microevolution is a change in the frequency of alleles (and therefore genotypes), but natural selection causes evolution by acting on phenotypes!
