"Any cause that reduces or increases reproductive success in a portion of a population potentially exerts evolutionary pressure..."
External factors that influence the survival and reproduction of organisms, leading to natural selection.
Natural selection: The process by which organisms with traits that make them better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.
Artificial selection: Breeding of plants or animals by humans for specific traits.
Genetic drift: Random changes in the frequency of traits in a population due to chance events.
Mutation: A change in the DNA sequence of an organism that results in a new trait.
Adaptation: A trait that allows an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.
Fitness: The ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment.
Reproductive success: The number of offspring an organism produces that survives to reproduce.
Gene flow: The movement of genes between populations through interbreeding.
Co-evolution: The process where two or more species influence each other's evolution over time.
Selective pressures: Any environment or factor that affects the fitness of an organism.
Biogeography: The study of how species are distributed in space and time.
Phylogenetics: The study of evolutionary relationships between species.
Molecular evolution: The study of how genetic sequences change over time.
Ecology: The study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment.
Paleontology: The study of ancient life and fossils.
Behavioral ecology: The study of how behavior is shaped by evolutionary processes.
Microbial evolution: The study of how bacterial, viral, and other microbial populations evolve over time.
Evolutionary medicine: The study of how evolution has shaped our current health and disease risks.
Evolutionary psychology: The study of how evolutionary processes have shaped human behavior and cognition.
Comparative anatomy: The study of the similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species.
Predation pressure: The pressure placed on prey species to develop traits that allow them to avoid or defend against predators.
Competition pressure: The pressure placed on individuals to compete for limited resources such as food, water, and shelter.
Sexual selection pressure: The pressure placed on individuals to develop traits that enhance their attractiveness to potential mates.
Environmental pressure: The pressure placed on species to adapt to changing environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity, or pH.
Disease pressure: The pressure placed on individuals to develop immunity or resistance to pathogens and diseases.
Mechanical pressure: The physical pressure placed on organisms to develop traits that facilitate their movement, such as wings or fins.
Chemical pressure: The pressure placed on organisms to develop traits that enable them to cope with or utilize toxins, such as venom or herbivore resistance.
Gene flow pressure: The pressure placed on organisms to exchange genetic material with other populations, resulting in potential adaptations to new environments or a mixture of genetic traits.
Anthropogenic pressure: The pressure placed on species by human activities such as habitat destruction, pollution, or climate change, which can cause rapid and drastic changes in the environment.
Parental pressure: The pressure placed on parents to invest in their offspring and ensure their survival, which can result in the development of parental care or protective measures.
"...evolutionary pressure, selective pressure or selection pressure..."
"...driving natural selection."
"It is a quantitative description of the amount of change occurring in processes investigated by evolutionary biology..."
"...but the formal concept is often extended to other areas of research."
"...selective pressure is usually expressed as a selection coefficient."