Natural selection is a process by which organisms are selected for based on deleterious or advantageous traits propagated by intraspecies variations in the genome. Selection pressure is a concept defined by an impact on a trait from a population’s environment, from human activity, or from other organisms. For example, if there is a population of beetles whose variations in genetics translate to a variation in color, then there are various selective pressures that might impact which color beetle is more frequent in the population. Darker beetles may benefit from increased heat absorption, which would lead to better thermoregulation and better metabolism. Beetles may also benefit from being a certain color because that is what mates are looking for. Additionally, a lighter beetle may fare better in an environment with a lighter backdrop so as to avoid predation. While there are many selective pressures, there are not as many traits. One trait can be acted upon by many selective pressures and the direction of that selection can be different for different traits.
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