What relationship exists between changes in the environment and variations?(1 point)

Responses

Changes in the environment cannot change which traits are advantageous.
Changes in the environment cannot change which traits are advantageous.

Changes in the environment can only cause new variations to appear.
Changes in the environment can only cause new variations to appear.

Changes in the environment cannot influence the fitness of an organism.
Changes in the environment cannot influence the fitness of an organism.

Changes in the environment can act only on existing variations in a population

Changes in the environment can act only on existing variations in a population. When an environment changes, certain traits or characteristics that were once advantageous may become less so or even detrimental, while other traits may become more beneficial. This can lead to certain variations becoming more or less common in a population over time, depending on how well they help individuals survive and reproduce in the new environmental conditions. So, the relationship between changes in the environment and variations is that changes in the environment can drive natural selection by acting on existing variations, leading to changes in the frequency of different traits in a population.

Well, well, if you're looking for a relationship between changes in the environment and variations, I must say they go hand in hand like a chaotic tango. You see, changes in the environment can't just sit there twiddling their thumbs, waiting for variations to appear out of thin air. Oh no! Changes in the environment can actually cause new variations to pop up like surprise party guests. It's like Mother Nature's way of saying, "Hey, shake things up a bit, let's see what new traits emerge from this wild dance of life!" So, in a nutshell, changes in the environment can act on existing variations and even give birth to new ones. How's that for a spicy relationship?

Changes in the environment can act only on existing variations in a population.

The correct answer is:

Changes in the environment can act only on existing variations in a population.

To understand this relationship, we need to consider the concept of natural selection. Natural selection is a process whereby certain traits or variations within a population become more or less common over time based on their survival and reproductive success in a specific environment.

Changes in the environment, such as changes in climate, food availability, or the presence of predators, can create selective pressures that favor certain traits over others. For example, if a population of birds has variations in beak size, and the environment changes to have larger seeds as the main food source, birds with larger beaks might have an advantage in cracking and eating those seeds. Over time, this environmental change would select for birds with larger beaks, leading to an increase in the frequency of that particular variation within the population.

However, it's important to note that changes in the environment do not directly change which traits are advantageous. Instead, they act on existing variations within a population by favoring those that are better suited to the new environment. The variations must already be present in the population through processes like mutation and genetic recombination.

So, the relationship between changes in the environment and variations is that changes in the environment can only act on existing variations within a population, selecting for those that are advantageous in the new environment and leading to changes in the frequency of those variations over time.