Natural Selection Patterns in Populations

Natural selection can change how alleles and traits appear in a population. The main patterns are directional selection, stabilizing selection, and disruptive selection. Each pattern favors a different range of phenotypes, or observable traits.

Directional selection favors one extreme of a trait....

Natural selection changes the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within a population through directional, stabilizing, and disruptive selection.

In a typical population, most individuals have intermediate traits, while a few individuals have extreme traits. In directional selection, environmental or sexual pressures fa...