Abstract
The processes of selection that I have described so far are atomistic. The characteristics that are selected are assumed to be expressed by isolated individuals, whose reproduction varies according to the relationship between their phenotype and the state of the external environment. The virtue of this approach is that it makes a clear distinction between the population that is undergoing selection and the environment in which it is selected. It is then possible to investigate selection and predict the course of evolution by studying isolated individuals, or by treating individuals as though they were isolated, and inferring the dynamics of populations from the aggregate properties of their members. This simple distinction between organism and environment, however, although clear, may be misleading. Individuals seldom, if ever, live wholly apart from all other organisms, passively transforming physical resources into offspring; rather, they live embedded in a community of other organisms, whose activities will affect their own. The physical environment, indeed, provides little more than the context for a much richer biotic environment, in which other individuals may be rivals, partners, dangers, or opportunities. These various interactions among individuals give rise to the social selection of attributes whose effect on fitness varies according to the composition of the community. The effect of social selection depends on the type of social interactions that are involved.
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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Bell, G. (1997). Social Selection. In: Selection. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5977-1_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5977-1_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7739-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-5977-1
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