I’m Looking Over a White-Striped Clover:
A Case of Natural Selection by Susan Evarts, Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas
Alison Krufka, Department of Biological Sciences, Rowan University
Chester Wilson, Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas
Case Objectives
By the end of this case, you will:
• Understand the process of natural selection and the importance of environment-specific adaptations.
• Be able to use the terms variation, adaptation, natural selection, and evolution as they apply to this and other scientific studies.
• Gain experience with the scientific method and be able to propose hypotheses and justifications to explain the distribution of the two variants of white clover.
• Design experiments to
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Fitness is determined by the ability of an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce in a particular habitat. You have probably heard the term “survival of the fittest,” but if an organism is not able to also grow and reproduce, it will not be able to pass any of its alleles (genetic information) on to its offspring. An organism that has high fitness does well in its habitat and passes those favorable alleles onto its offspring when it reproduces.
Go back and review the habitats you described in Exercise and think about the factors that would be important for plant fitness. Then list the ecological differences between North Carolina and Minnesota that might affect the fitness of each variant. In other words which factors might increase plant growth, survival, and reproduction in each habitat, and which factors might inhibit them?
“I’m Looking Over a White-Striped Clover” by Evarts, Krufka, & Wilson
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PART III—INVESTIGATING CLOVER DISTRIBUTION
Now that you have considered the different habitats in which the white clover is found and the factors affecting fitness in clover, you
Valladares, F., E. Gianoli, and J.M. Gomez. 2007. Ecological limits to plant phenotypic plasticity. New Phytologist 174:749-763.
The process of natural selection is the reason evolution occurs, which also supports the evidences of traits that occur. And for natural selection to take effect, three elements are necessary, and variation is two of these three elements. This specific element expresses that with consideration to specific traits, individual organisms in a population are varied from one another, such as differing from reproduction, fitness, and survival. These traits can be advantages or disadvantages. For instance, an advantage can be having a higher reproductive rates which is a good quality for survival. And in the second element relating to variation, it concurs that variation is passed on from parent to child. So if the parent has traits that has higher reproduction and survival, it passed on to their offspring. And the environment itself is the critical mechanism.The environment impacts which traits
Fitness is the ability for a species of a certain genotype to reproduce and is often times equal to the proportion of the individual’s genes in all the genes of the next generation. Positive correlations have been made between the heterozygosity at the loci and fitness of the Lake Trout, which suggests that heterozygosity may be advantageous to the species (Pujolar et al. 2005). A heterozygote advantage describes the case in which the heterozygote genotype has a higher relative fitness than either the homozygous dominant or homozygous recessive genotype. The fitness of an individual can be exhibited by its phenotype. The environment can contribute to the phenotype as well as both genes on the locus. An experiment conducted by Rowe et al. analyzed the correlation between heterozygosity, fitness, and geography in Natterjack Toads (Bufo calamita). The experiment involved taking samples of populations of the Natterjack Toad from different parts of Great Britain. These populations all varied in census size, degree of isolation and distance from the distributional range edge. The fitness was measured, notably larval survival and growth rates, for the toads under standardized conditions. The results of the experiment
According to Darwin, a “struggle for existence” is a crucial factor for a species’ survival. Any organism needs challenges to strengthen themselves and be prepared for any unexpected severe hardships. They need to adapt themselves to the changing environment. The developing traits are thus passed down to offspring, producing stronger and stronger traits throughout generations. The struggle is necessary not only for the individual’s life but also for later generations. This process is known as natural selection. For example, a mistletoe struggles with other trees for nutrition, water and light. However, without those trees, the mistletoe is more likely to die if there are too many parasites
Natural selection refers to the way that the conditions of nature constantly select who survives and who dies. If survival depends on speed to run from a predator, then the faster individuals survive and the slower ones get eaten. In a drought those plants with slightly thicker cuticle on their leaves conserve water and survive, while others die.
I would need evidence that clovers of the same species in North Carolina are different than those from Minnesota and those differences are useful for that environment but not necessarily useful in the other. For example, striped clover in Minnesota may be shorter than striped clover in North Carolina, to protect itself from cold weather. While that is useful in Minnesota, it’s not necessarily useful in North Carolina. The striped clover in Minnesota, an area that it is not built to survive in, has evolved to survive.
The genotype with the highest fitness has a relative fitness of one.For example seal males have greater fitness than smaller ones.They are more likely to survive to reproductive age because their size helps them get food,claim territory,and evade predators, they also dominate over the males in fights for the females.
This signifies the year of publication of Charles Darwin’s novel On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. After 20 years of intensive research and studies, Darwin finally published his findings in this controversial theory. His hypothesis that the world revolved around natural selection intrigued many. The purpose of this study/lab was to understand the process of natural selection posed by Charles Darwin through a simulation involving competition of various preys and predators. It is important to study this because it can expand the knowledge of natural selection and show how survivorship can influence evolution amidst individuals in a population. By focusing on phenotypic selection, we can understand why some live longer than others, or why some species have gone extinct. Environmental factors, biological and non-biological—such as predators, parasites, and weather directly affect natural selection (Kingsolver and Pfennig, 2007). As climate change continues to increase annually, the urgency of comprehending how living things adjust to these new ecological settings is becoming vital. Botero et al. (2014) studied coping mechanisms of organisms under changing environmental conditions and discovered a successful method—phenotypic plasticity, the ability to modify genotypic express either during early development or throughout life in response to environmental cues.
Based on one or more organisms have heritable traits. The molting success individuals have based on trait their ability to survive. A natural selection can favor ability for individuals to survive and reproduce with others.
I would need evidence of how the clovers in North Carolina are the same specie but are still different than the clovers in Minnesota, and if the differences are useful in one environment but not useful in the other. For example, a striped clover in Minnesota may be shorter than one in North Carolina to protect itself from the cold, while this is useful in Minnesota, it’s not really useful in North Carolina because it the winters aren’t that cold or long. The striped clover in Minnesota was not built to survive there, but it has evolved to survive.
"Natural Selection." UXL Encyclopedia of Science, edited by Amy Hackney Blackwell and Elizabeth Manar, 3rd ed., UXL, 2015. Student Resources In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/KEUMWM876231840/SUIC?u=j101902&sid=SUIC&xid=a9f96d62. Accessed 21 May 2018.
Life on Earth is made up of a diverse array of plants, animals and microorganisms. The slow, diverse process of evolution results in such diversity. Natural selection is a process that drives evolution by selecting for traits that allow an organism to adapt and survive (and thereby reproduce) in its environment. Though adaptations help an organism survive in its environment, every adaptation either results in the loss of some other trait or reduces the performance of the other trait(s) (Freeman, 2013). Adaptation as a result of evolution by natural selection may result in anatomical alterations and/or changes in behavior (Schussler, 2014).
Principle of selection. Some individuals are more successful at surviving and reproducing than others under the existing environment.
In biology, adaptation is the process by which an organism changesto become better suited to survive in their environment. It canalso refer to a physical or genetic trait that helps an organism tobe better suited to survive in their environment. For example, polar bears are adapted to living in the cold becausethey grow thick fur that keeps them warm, and thus allows them tosurvive in their frigid environment. The color of their fur is alsoan adaptation. Because the environment they live in is mostlywhite, they have produced white fur to blend in, so they are notseen by the prey they hunt. Adaptation is powered by natural selection. When a trait arisesthat allows an organism to better adapt to their environment, itwill be passed on to the next
about natural selection “Survival of the fittest”. It is the process whereby organism adapt to their