Final answer:
Artificial selection is the human-driven process of breeding plants and animals to promote desired traits. This is shown in historical practices such as selective breeding of livestock for better milk production or dogs for specific tasks. The process greatly contrasts with natural selection, which is driven by environmental factors.
Step-by-step explanation:
Artificial selection is a process where humans influence the breeding of animals or plants to enhance or perpetuate traits deemed desirable. This contrasts with natural selection, where environmental pressures and survival advantages determine which traits persist in a population over time. The Bakewell selective breeding experiment underscores this by showing how humans could manipulate species development through controlled breeding.
Historically, selective breeding was commonly practiced in agriculture and animal husbandry. For example, farmers would selectively breed livestock like cattle to yield better milk production or sheep for finer wool quality. Similarly, domesticated dogs have been bred for various purposes, resulting in a wide variety of breeds with different attributes, shapes, and sizes all tracing back to their wolf ancestors.
The practice of avoiding inbreeding among domesticated animals is beneficial because it increases genetic diversity, which can reduce the prevalence of inherited diseases and improve the overall health and viability of a population. In a real-world application, this might manifest in a farmer choosing and mating two yellow pea plants to perpetuate the yellow trait, eventually eliminating the recessive green trait in the progeny.