Principles of Ecology
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INTRODUCTION
What is Evolution?
Evolution is a change in the gene pool of a population over a period of time (Introduction to evolutionary biology, 2015). The theory of both ecology and evolution was developed by Charles Darwin, in which he is known for thoroughly explaining the biological changes of natural selection. Meaning that himself discussed how certain organisms that were adapted to their environment would survive better and produce more offspring,
As Darwin (1859, p105) states “Multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die.”
that without natural selection and adaptation of organisms then reproducing offspring is not going to be as successful to survive as individuals and later mentioning how the genetics through ancestors would be passed on and changed throughout an animal’s life. This may relate to how the mechanisms may adjust or impact them.
Process of evolution (DarwinDay, 2016).
Evolution can be broken down into two sub categories: Macro and Micro evolution
Macroevolution is what refers to the major evolutionary changes over time, the origin of new types of organisms from previous existing but different ancestors. This would indicate a big decrease in evolution. Such as a fish no longer being categorised as an invertebrate, due to less demand from the concept of evolution (Morris, 2015).
Microevolution involves how traits or physical characteristics change over time within a certain population but will only be subtle changes and won’t immediately change species on a grand scale. For example, peppered moths – these were originally light coloured, however over a period of time due to their environment changes, they have become darker in colour and are harder for predators to find (Corsini, 2015).
Although both categories have their differences, evolution at both of the levels each rely on the same, established mechanisms of evolutionary changes (Berkeley, 2015).
The theory of Evolution was discovered and devlopement by Charles Robert Darwin
(See Figure 3)
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist, he studied a variation in plants and animals within the 19th century. He explained his conflicting ideas about evolution in a book called On the Origin of Species, which was published in 1859 (BBC, 2015).
Charles Robert Darwin (Bing, 2015).