Skip to content

Stabilising Selection

Stabilising selection is a type of natural selection that results in phenotypes around the mean being selected for and those phenotypes at the extremes being selected against.If the environment remains stable, the individuals with characteristics close to the mean (the most common characteristics) will be at a competitive advantage and will be more likely to outcompete the other individuals at the extremes. These individuals will survive, reproduce and pass on their advantageous alleles to the next generation.The individuals at the extremes are less favoured and are less likely to survive so their alleles are less likely to be passed on to the next generation and their allele frequency in the population will decrease.

Read the text

Read the text and highlight anything you think is important. When you go on, the text is hidden and you answer from memory.

Specification: AQA Biology (7401), AS-level, 3.4.4 Genetic diversity and adaptation. Topic: Genetic Diversity.

Key terms in this lesson

allele
One of the different versions of a gene, arising by mutation, that occupy the same locus on homologous chromosomes.
natural selection
The process by which individuals with alleles that are better suited to their environment are more likely to survive, reproduce and pass on those alleles.
allele frequency
The proportion of a particular allele among all the alleles for a gene in a population.

More in Genetic Diversity

All 19 lessons in Genetic Diversity · All AQA AS-level Biology topics