Concepts involving Natural Selection and its Role in Evolution

Anore, Mat Jigen, A.1, Cantillano, Trisha Mae, Gonzales, Adriene Joy, and Gabriel, Elijsha
Meari, A.

1Bachelor of Science in Biology Student, Department of Biology, College of Science, Polytechnic University
of the Philippines – Mabini Campus, Sta. Mesa, Manila

ABSTRACT
Natural selection explains that adaptation is the key for the survivability of a species
and that species come or diverge from a common ancestor which would result to an
endless diversity of life. This activity aims to better explain the process of natural
selection and the factors that affect it. In the experiment to demonstrate the evolution
of microbes, using different kinds of beans, shows that the biggest bean has the
highest number of survivors and when the carrying capacity of ecosystem is exceeded,
rapid increase of deaths are observed. In understanding the concept of ‘Survival of the
fittest’ using macaroni, it shows that predation in the rocky area is high and low at the
grassy area, and competition between predators has an effect on the predation in
different area. Also different organisms has different phenotypic traits that allow them
to have different mechanisms needed to adapt and survive.
Keywords: natural selection, adaptation, survivability, evolution

INTRODUCTION theory states that the evolution of

Evolution is referred to as the
change in the characteristics of traits of
a certain species over time throughout
several generations (yourgenome,
2017). Evolution and Natural selection
are often mixed together but they are
entirely different from each other.
Evolution is the historical occurrence of
change that happens towards a
population while natural selection is a
mechanism that causes evolution (Losos,
2017).
The theory of natural selection is
the main concept that was introduced in
Charles Darwin’s famous work “The
Origin of Species” and his evolutionary
theory. This theory explains that
adaptation is the key for the survivability
of a species and that species come or
diverge from a common ancestor which
would result to an endless diversity of life
(Futuyma and Kirkpatrich, 2018). This
species happens because of random
variations that is passed from one
generation to the next that would later
result to selection through environmental
conditions (Flutre, etc., n.d.).
Every individual in a population
are different from each other and this
variation allows them to have their own
traits that are better suited to the
environment than others. Individuals
that are adaptive to their environment
are more likely to survive and reproduce
because these adaptations will then be
passed on through generations. Natural
selection can also lead to speciation and
diversification, where one species give
rise to a new and different species which
is one of the processes that drives
evolution and provides a diversity of life
on Earth (National Geographic, 2019).
With the use of various models to
perform the experiments, this activity
aims to understand how natural selection
works and how it evolves through
generation to generation as well as the
effects of the concept of adaptation
towards natural selection.
METHODOLOGY
In this activity, observational
models and experimental examinations
were conducted as to describe and
explore the effects of natural selection to
chosen populations in terms of;
hereditation of phenotypic traits,
evolution from generation to generation,
and survivability with competitions. The
activity, consists of two parts, laboratory
work and field work as to fully
understand the process of natural
selection in varying populations.
Study Site
Figure 1. Three pseudo-preying grounds.
From left to right; grassy area, rocky area,
and sandy area.
For investigating the survivability
of a population in the crisis of
competition and predation, three
locations (rocky, grassy, sandy) were
chosen as to compare which kinds of
ecosystems does predation and
competition for resources, thrive. The
main location was the Polytechnic
University of the Philippines, Santa Mesa
Campus. The cemented steps along PUP
Freedom Park was considered the rocky
area. For the grassy area, the soccer field
in PUP Oval was used and the middle
part of that soccer field was the sandy
area. All throughout, the weather was
fairly warm and the sky was cloudy. The
time was from 3-5 in the afternoon.
Target Specimen
Figure 2. Five bean species used. From left
to right; black beans (Phaseolus vulgaris),
mung beans (Vigna radiata), white kidney
beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), red beans (Vigna
angularis), and black-eyed peas (Vigna
unguiculata).
Figure 3. Colored macaroni noodles.
Two out of the three parts of the
activity, specimens were used as model
species for the set ups. For investigating
the effects of natural selection in
evolution, five (5) types of beans were
used, all with different shapes and sizes,
as to represent different populations co-
living in an environment; black beans
(Phaseolus vulgaris), mung beans (Vigna
radiata), white kidney beans (Phaseolus
vulgaris), red beans (Vigna angularis),
and black-eyed peas (Vigna
unguiculata). As for the investigation of
survivability of a population facing
predation and competition, different
colored macaroni noodles in colors; red,
orange and green, were used to
represent a single population and served
as the prey.
Study Design
Data Collection
Laboratory Procedure
Heritability of Variable Phenotypic Traits
within a Population
Through research from published
works in genetics and ecology, the
students were tasked to choose five (5)
different plant populations and five (5)
different animal populations and in each
population, three (3) phenotypic traits
that is present in individuals of each
population. The heritability of each trait
was then described and then the
heritability value (H) was determined
using the formula:
H2 = Vg / Vp
Equation 1. The formula for computing
heritability value, where H is the heritability
estimate, Vg the variation in genotype, and
Vp the variation in phenotype.
Heritability estimates range in
value from 0 to 1. Each trait was then
categorized as either genetically
determined (high heritability value; H ≥
0.5) or environmentally determined (low
heritability value; H < 0.5).
Natural Selection in Action: Evolution of
Microbes
With a styrofoam bowl, six (6)
holes with different sizes were made at
the base of the bowl. All the beans were
then prepared for sampling. Five (5)
individuals of each bean type were then
placed inside the bowl, representing the
1st generations of each population.
Constituting the phenomenon of natural
selection, the bowl was shook for five
times, letting which beans fall through
the holes below the bowl. The beans that
fell was the “dead organisms”, and the
beans that remained in the bowl was the
surviving organisms of that generation.
Naturally, those survivors will reproduce,
creating the next generation (2nd), with
each surviving individual having 5
offsprings (N = 5n). The same procedure
was repeated up until the 5th generation,
recording the number of deaths and
survivors.
Field Procedure
Natural Selection in Action: Survival of
the Fittest
Three different colors of
macaroni noodles were isolated to make
a single population of macaroni a
hundred (100) individuals for each color,
and were placed in a container. Three
containers were prepared to make a
designated population for each of the
three locations that served as the preying
grounds for pseudo-predation, namely
grassy, sandy, and rocky. A 50 m2 area
was chosen for each location and a
container (1 population) was dispersed in
each area. After dispersion, three (3)
students, that will serve as the predators,
will get and find an individual macaroni
noodle of their choice and place it in an
empty container three (3) meters away
from the area. Predation will last for
three minutes and three trials will be
made per location. For the third trial, all
predators will prey on the same color of
macaroni noodle to represent
competition for the same resource. Final
prey count (undamaged and slightly
damaged) was recorded.
Data Analysis
Natural Selection in Action: Survival of
the Fittest
To determine if there was a
significant change in the gene frequency
in the gene pool of macaroni, and its
future population, Chi-square Test image of the beans overflowing from the
Statistic was used. The formula is: container.

Equation 2. The formula for Chi-square

test, where c is the degree of freedom, O,
the observed value, and E, the expected
value.

A low value for chi-square means

there is a high correlation between the
two sets of data. Figure 1. Beans in a bowl

Understanding the concept of “Survival

of the fittest”, the researchers used
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
colored macaronis and dispersed 100
Results pieces for each color (pink, green, and
orange) in different areas such as rocky,
Demonstrating the evolution of grassy, and sandy areas. Determining
microbes, researchers used different the change in the composition of the
kinds of beans such as Mung bean (bean population of each color in the areas, the
1), Black bean (bean 2), Dark Red Kidney number of surviving individuals per color
beans (bean 3), Blackeye beans (bean in trials 1 and 2 is shown in table 2.
4), and White beans (bean 5). Shown in
table 1 is the number of bean survived in
different generations G. The total
Table 2. Observed values of macaroni in
number of the beans before shaking is three areas (rocky, grassy, and sandy)
represented by N. It can be seen that as
the generation increases the number of Color
survivors increase as well. Among the Values Pin N
Green Orange
beans, bean 3 or the Red kidney beans k
has the highest number of survivors Rocky
while bean 1 or the Mung beans has the Trial 1 21 21 20 62
lowest number of survivors. Trial 2 17 16 16 49
Total 38 37 36 111
Table 1. Number of survived beans in
different generations
Grassy
No. Of Beans survived Trial 1 10 11 11 32
G N Trial 2 17 16 16 49
1 2 3 4 5
1 25 2 2 3 2 3 Total 27 27 27 81
2 60 6 7 12 7 11
Sandy
3 215 15 22 34 19 42
Trial 1 17 13 11 41
4 660 63 98 164 87 189
Trial 2 10 12 11 33
Total 27 25 22 74
As the number of individual
increase, it continues to occupy the area
of the container. Shown in figure 1 is the
 The expected value of the different areas. The figure shows that in
macaroni was computed and presented rocky area predator 1 (light pink) has the
in table 3 and will be used for computing highest number of collected macaroni
the chi square. while predator 2 (yellow) and predator 3
(blue) has only 1 interval in their
collected macaroni. In grassy area
Table 3. Expected values of Macaroni in predator 1 (green) and predator 2 (red)
three areas (rocky, grassy, sandy) collected the same amount of macaroni
Color while predator 3 (orange) has less
Are
Orang N collected macaroni than the other two. In
a Green Pink the sandy area predator 1 (purple) and
e
predator 2 (brown) collected the same
Roc 19.195 18.569 17.734 55
amount of macaroni while predator 3
ky 48872 54887 96241 .5
(gray) is less than 1 macaroni than the
Gra 14.007 13.550 12.941 40 two. The graph also shows that
ssy 5188 75188 72932 .5 predation was high at rocky area and low
at grass area.
San 12.796 12.379 11.823
37
dy 99248 69925 30827
Competition
Tot 25
46 44.5 42.5
al
20

15
Since the test statistic 10
23 21
20
t=0.145992 is less than the critical value 16 16
13
17 17 16
cv=9.488 with level of significance 5
α=0.05, it is not in the critical region 0
(Figure 2) therefore we do not reject H0 Rocky Grassy Sandy
.
Figure 3. Collected macaroni by different
predators in three areas (rocky, grassy,
sandy)

Shown in table 4 is the observed and

expected value of preyed macaroni in
different areas done in the third trial.

Table 4. Expected and Observed values of

macaroni in three areas (rocky, grassy,
Figure 2. Chi square diagram sandy)
Competition within the areas was Predator Predator Predato
done by collecting the same color of T
1 2 r3
macaronis. Pink macaroni was gathered
in rocky and sandy areas while green Observed Values
macaroni was gathered in grassy area.
Rock
Shown in figure 2 is a graph illustrating 23 21 20 64
y
the difference between predation in
Gras (Brittanica.com). In the experiment it
16 16 13 45
sy was seen that as the generation goes on,
the number of beans increases.
Sand However, the population of the beans
17 17 16 50
y are not equal. The Dark Red Kidney
15 beans which is the largest beans among
Total 56 54 49 others has the highest number of
9
survivors while the Mung beans which is
Expected values the smallest among other beans has the
lowest number of survivors. No
Rock 22.54088 21.73584 19.72327
64 population can increase without
y 05 906 044
limitation. Instead, populations in natural
Gras 15.84905 15.28301 13.86792 ecosystems increase or decrease in
45
sy 66 887 453 response to the changes in the factors
that restrict growth. Many factors
Sand 17.61006 16.98113 15.40880 influence population densities and
50
y 289 208 503 growth, and these factors may lead to
15 oscillations in population size over time.
Total 56 54 49 (Edwards, W. J. & Edwards, C. T., 2011).
9
The increase in population of the
beans over the time being results to
Since the test statistic t=0.171376 is less overflowing. The container was not able
than the critical value cv=9.488 with to hold the growing population of the
level of significance α=0.05, it is not in beans hence resulting to sudden
the critical region (Figure 3) therefore we decrease in population. Depending on
do not reject H0 . the strength and nature of the
interactions, species could exist with
stable populations, one or the other
species dominates forcing the extinction
of the other, or lastly that they could
both exist in an unstable equilibrium.
Competition will ultimately affect
abundances negatively, by reducing the
amount of resources to each of the
competitors, and this interaction
becomes increasingly complex when
Figure 4. Chi square diagram there are more than two competitors, as
Discussion is the norm in nature (Harvey, 2008).
Researchers found that when resources
Growth of bacterial cultures is (food, nesting sites, or refuges) were
defined as an increase in the number of limited, populations would decline as
bacteria in a population rather than in individuals competed for access to the
the size of individual cells. The growth of limiting resources. (Stevens, 2010).
a bacterial population occurs in a
geometric or exponential manner: with The abundance of Dark Red
each division cycle (generation), one cell Kidney beans in the experiment may
gives rise to 2 cells, then 4 cells, then 8 have cause the decrease in the number
cells, then 16, then 32, and so forth of other beans in the bowl for they are
larger than the others. The size of the
dominating bean is most likely to be left
in the container because the smaller
beans are the ones who are most likely
to fit the hole in the bowl, increasing the
number of deaths in their population.
Although the number of deaths in the 4th
generation is at peak in White beans and
Dark Red Kidney beans, their population
remains higher than the other beans.
The Mung beans and the Black eye beans
despite of having the less number of
deaths in the 4th generation still has the
lowest number of survivors among other
beans. The adaptability from the
previous generations helped the
dominating beans to remain abundant in
the bowl. Species, through the process of
natural selection, have developed certain
life-history traits that affect their
abundance. Population change is
affected by individual traits, such as
reproductive output, age at first
reproduction, and survival. Species have
evolved these traits to maximize their
fitness (i.e., maximize their genetic
contribution to future generations),
which affects the intrinsic rate of
increase of the species. (Harvey, 2008)
Populations of organisms do not
remain constant; the number of
individuals within a population changes,
sometimes dramatically, from one time
period to the next. More recently,
scientists have discovered that predation
can influence the size of the prey
population by acting as a top-down
control. In reality, the interaction
between these two forms of population
control work together to drive changes in
populations over time (Stevens, 2010).
Predator and prey evolve together. The
prey is part of the predator's
environment, and the predator dies if it
does not get food, so it evolves whatever
is necessary in order to eat the prey:
speed, stealth, camouflage (to hide while
approaching the prey), a good sense of
smell, sight, or hearing (to find the prey),
immunity to the prey's poison, poison (to
kill the prey) the right kind of mouth
parts or digestive system, etc. Likewise,
the predator is part of the prey's
environment, and the prey dies if it is
eaten by the predator, so it evolves
whatever is necessary to avoid being
eaten: speed, camouflage (to hide from
the predator), a good sense of smell,
sight, or hearing (to detect the predator),
thorns, poison (to spray when
approached or bitten), etc. (nesci.edu,
n.d.). Predation of different color of
macaroni in different areas was observed
in the experiment. From the data
obtained in trials 1 and 2 wherein
predation of different color of macaroni
was done in different areas, the null
hypothesis was accepted suggesting that
the color of the preyed macaroni is
independent from the area of predation.
Competition of predation was also
observed in the third trial of the
experiment wherein predators compete
for one color of macaroni. Although
differences among the amount of caught
prey was observed in different areas, the
results of the test statistic t suggest that
the amount of caught individual of
different predators is independent from
the area of predation. This suggests that
the ability of the predator to sense its
prey and the ability of the prey to avoid
its predator depends on how they are
good in sensing each other.
The small amount of caught prey
can be due to the time limit that the
predators have. Conditions in the
environment influence the ability of
predators and prey to detect one
another. A primary mechanism is the
restriction of foraging time available to
mobile predators due to the risk of injury
accompanied by reduced locomotory
performance or efficiency in adverse
conditions. Environmental conditions
may not be stressful in the sense of
presenting physical conditions that are
life-threatening, but may nevertheless
negatively impact predator foraging if
they limit the ability of predators to find
and/or consume prey (Smee, 2010).
CONCLUSION
In this activity different
experiments were done to understand
and observe how natural selection
works. This Activity represents the
different factors that affect the natural
selection that happen in the different
organism. In the first activity, the beans
in the bowl represents the number of
individuals of different population living
in the same habitat. This activity
presents what happen in the community
as time passes, even if there are
individuals that didn’t survive in it’s
generation, there are still those who are
able to adapt and reproduce. But as they
multiply, they exceed the carrying
capacity of the area which produce their
needs and due to this a rapid decline of
population or increase of number of
deaths happen. Another activity is with
the macaroni, this activity show how the
type of environment and competition
affects the no. of population and the
amount of resources available. Survival
of the fittest is best observe and
understand in this activity. Lastly, is
about the phenotypic trait of different
organism. This activity shows that
different organisms has different
phenotypic trait and survival
mechanisms to be able to adapt, survive
and reproduce.
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Futuyma, D. J., & Kirkpatrich, M.
(2018). Evolution (2nd ed.). New
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