Question

According to Dobzhansky, in response to environmental change, natural selection causes a species to respond with......

Answer 1

In response to environmental change, natural selection leads to adaptation in a species, with traits that provide survival advantages becoming more prevalent within the population over time.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Dobzhansky, in response to environmental change, natural selection causes a species to respond with adaptation. Environmental changes prompt a differential in survival and reproduction among individuals within a species due to the variability in their genetic traits.

Those individuals whose traits are better suited to the new conditions are more likely to survive and reproduce, spreading their genes through the population, leading to an evolutionary change known as descent with modification. This process enhances the overall adaptation of the population to its local environment, and is considered the primary mechanism for adaptive evolution.

Answer 2

Natural selection causes species to adapt to environmental changes through evolutionary changes, where beneficial traits become more common in the population over time.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Dobzhansky, in response to environmental change, natural selection causes a species to respond with evolutionary adaptations. Natural selection, often described as 'survival of the fittest', refers to the process where individuals with traits that confer an advantage in their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. Over time, these traits become more common in the population, leading to evolutionary change.

An example of this is the well-documented case of the peppered moth in England. During the Industrial Revolution, soot darkened the trees where the moths rested during the day.

In response to this change, moths that were darker in color had better camouflage against predators, thus they survived more and reproduced at a higher rate than the lighter-colored moths. Eventually, the population shifted to predominantly dark-colored moths. This change in the population's characteristics is a direct consequence of natural selection