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6 - Central Concepts

Evolution, Adaptation, and Extinction

from Part II - Protecting and Restoring Populations and Habitats: A Preservationist Approach to Conservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2023

Bertie J. Weddell
Affiliation:
Washington State University
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Summary

Darwin and Wallace proposed that natural selection is the process responsible for the evolution of adaptive features. Mutations provide the raw material of evolution. Interacting species influence each other’s evolution through coevolution. Evolution offers insight into many past and current controversies including Proximate (extrinsic) and ultimate (intrinsic) factors influence species’ vulnerability to extinction. Going through a bottleneck results in low genetic diversity and the high risk of becoming extinct due to inbreeding, catastrophes, and fluctuations in birth and death rates and the sex ratio. The theory of island biogeography states that extinction risk is high in small, isolated populations. Understanding evolution has practical implications for managing the evolution of resistance to pesticides, problems from hybridization, and populations at risk of extinction.

Type
Chapter
Information
Conservation in the Context of a Changing World
Concepts, Strategies, and Evidence
, pp. 141 - 172
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Central Concepts
  • Bertie J. Weddell, Washington State University
  • Book: Conservation in the Context of a Changing World
  • Online publication: 28 September 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108985987.010
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  • Central Concepts
  • Bertie J. Weddell, Washington State University
  • Book: Conservation in the Context of a Changing World
  • Online publication: 28 September 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108985987.010
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Central Concepts
  • Bertie J. Weddell, Washington State University
  • Book: Conservation in the Context of a Changing World
  • Online publication: 28 September 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108985987.010
Available formats
×