ZOL 445 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Antimicrobial Resistance, Selective Breeding, Conservation Biology
Document Summary
A brief introduction to evolution, natural selection, and phylogenetics. Compare artificial selection with natural selection in regard to the domestication of crops and livestock: natural selection occurs naturally, without any human interference. Artificial selection is guided and directed by humans: e. g. through artificial selection, chickens lay more eggs, cows produce more milk. Because humans consume eggs and milk, we prioritize the reproductive success of animals that produce more of these things: a big issue in growing crops is the presence of pests that would destroy these crops. To solve this problem, we as humans prioritize crops that have higher yields (artificial selection) while creating pesticides to eliminate pests. However, natural selection favors pests that are stronger and resistant to these pesticides. As a result, humans have to constantly create different pesticides to overcome this: humans creating crops with higher yield is artificial selection, pests evolving to gain immunity to pesticides is natural selection.
