Directional Selection
Directional selection is natural selection that favours individuals with a phenotype at one extreme of the range.
It usually happens when the environment changes, so that a phenotype that used to be rare, or at the edge of the range, now gives an advantage. Individuals with this phenotype are more likely to survive and reproduce, so the alleles responsible increase in frequency and the alleles for the other extreme decrease.
Sign in free to see the rest of this lesson, the R.E.C.I.P.E. recall steps and the quiz
BrainCake is free. Make an account in seconds and pick up where this page stops.
More in Gene Pools
- Different Sized Populations
- Isolation
- Selection Pressure
- Population Bottlenecks
- The Founder Effect
- Stabilising Selection
- Disruptive Selection
- Genetic Drift
All 16 lessons in Gene Pools · All Edexcel A-level Biology topics