CORE SUBJECT TITLE: Earth Science

CONTENT: Mechanisms for Evolutionary Change

OBJECTIVES
After this lesson, you are expected to:
1. Describe how populations have changed, and continue to change, over time showing patterns of
descent with modification from common ancestors to produce the organismal diversity observed
today;
2. Describe mechanisms that produce change in populations from generation to generation (artificial
and natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, recombination);
3. Differentiate the three mechanisms for evolutionary change to occur.

REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS LESSON

Before starting reflect on this event:

There were two species of birds that coexisted in the Philippines. One species of bird can only eat fruits, the other
can only eat greens (leaves and grass). Unfortunately, a drought occurred. The plants did not have sufficient water. Only
their leaves were able to grow. They did not have enough nourishment to produce fruits.
Describe what could possibly happen to the two species of birds in our country. What will happen to the bird species
that rely purely on greens? What will happen to the bird species that rely purely on fruits? Which species of birds will survive
and be able to reproduce?

IGNITE
In the previous lesson, you have learned the different sources of genetic variation which will make it possible for
evolution to occur. In this lesson, you will be learning the three mechanisms of evolutionary change and how each
mechanism differs from one another.
In the previous lessons, we have defined evolution as the change in the genetic frequency of a
population from one generation to the next. There are three ways or mechanisms of altering genetic
frequency of a population. These mechanisms are genetic drift, gene flow, and natural selection.

DRIFT is a process by which genetic frequencies fluctuate unpredictably from

G ENETIC
one generation to the next in a small population.

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 Figure 1. Genetic drift. Reprinted from Genetic drift,
In Wikipedia, n.d., Retrieved June 19, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_drift. Reprinted with permission.

 In the figure shown above, each bottle represents one generation of a population of bacteria. The dots
represent the number of times each bacterium will reproduce and these are randomly determined.
Genetic drift postulates that in a small population, chance events such as random reproduction (let us
say some bacteria will not receive enough nutrients and resources), can alter the genetic frequencies
of a population per generation. After five generations, the genetic composition of the population has
changed, and all bacteria are now blue species.
 There are many circumstances which may result in genetic drift. Two of these circumstances are
founder effect and bottleneck effect.
 Founder effect happens when few individuals are separated from a large population. The
individuals may be separated at random as in the case when some birds are blown away by a typhoon
towards an island; thereby, separating them from the original population. This phenomenon also
happens when a group from a large population migrates and populates a distant area where they will
establish a new genetic pool.
 Bottleneck effect happens when an environmental event drastically decreases the number of
individuals in a population. The event is referred to as a bottleneck event. This phenomenon is similar
when marbles have passed through a “bottleneck” which drastically reduces its size as reflected in the
figure below. Some genes might be overrepresented while some genes might be absent.

Figure 2. Bottleneck event. Reprinted from Population bottleneck,

In Wikipedia, n.d., Retrieved June 19, 2020, from https://
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Bottleneck_effect_Figure_19_02_03.jpg. Reprinted with permission.

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 KEY POINTS

1. Genetic drift is significant in small population.

2. Genetic drift can cause allele frequency change at random.
3. Genetic drift can cause a loss of variation in a population.
4. Genetic drift can cause harmful alleles to be fixed.

is the change in the genetic frequency due to the movement of fertile

G ENE FLOW
individuals and their gametes in and out of the population.

 Gene flow has a large contribution to the evolution of the human population through the years. Humans
today are capable of moving freely across the globe; thus, increasing the probability of random mating
and spread of genes across the whole planet.

SELECTION, a mechanism where organisms whose traits are well-suited to

the environment tend to survive and produce more offspring than other

N ATURAL
organisms whose traits are not suited to the environment, is the only
mechanism which results in adaptation.

 Natural selection is the only mechanism which results to adaptation since there is a selecting factor.
The selecting factor which determines the survivability and reproducibility of certain members of a
population is often the environment where the organism lives and mates.

 The outcome of natural selection is not random, since the outcome is determined by the
environment, and natural selection increases the reproductive and survivability advantage of certain
members of a population which will soon result to adaptation.
 Depending on which traits in a population is favored, there are three modes of natural selection; namely,
directional, stabilizing, and disruptive selection.
 In directional selection, one of the phenotypic extremes is being favored by natural selection. This type
of selection happens when an environment changes or when an organism migrates to a new
environment.
 In disruptive selection, both extreme phenotypes are being favored by natural selection.
Organisms with intermediate phenotype tend to underperform and will soon become extinct.
 In stabilizing selection, none of the phenotypic extremes is being favored in an environment. This type
of selection only favors intermediate variants, reduces variation in a population, and maintains the status
quo in a population.

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 Please refer to the link below to learn more about the different mechanisms of evolutionary change. Please
focus on the content of the videos and not on the comment section in the website.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0TM4LQmoZY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VM9YxmULuo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTftyFboC_M

In summary, there are three mechanisms which result in

evolutionary change in a population. Genetic drift is a process where
genetic frequencies fluctuate unpredictably from one generation to the next in
a small population. Gene flow, on the other hand, results from the
movement of fertile individuals from one population to another population.
Natural selection, often referred to as survival of the fittest, is the only
mechanism which results in adaptive evolution. Natural selection has three
modes, depending on which of the phenotypes are being favored by the
environment in a population.

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