Adaptation

Keywords

Ecosystem, environmental change, genetic change, mutation, phenotype, selection

Definition

Adaptation is a dynamical process whereby populations become better suited to their habitat. It is promoted by environmental changes, be they abiotic (climatic change, e.g.,) or biotic (the appearance of a new trait in a predator or the extinction of a competitor species, e.g.,). Adaptation is the outcome of natural selection acting on heritable variation and leading to a change in the genetic make-up of a population. It may involve changes in any phenotypic trait, among others, in morphology, physiology, dispersal, defense and attack mechanisms, development and growth, reproduction, behavioral patterns, and ecological interactions.

Overview

Adaptation has been an on-going process ever since the emergence of the first self-replicating molecules. Populations of replicating entities generate continuous variability chiefly due to mutations and (in the case of organisms) to the migration of genes...