What evolutionary process favors traits that are better suited for an environment?

Natural selection is the evolutionary process that favors traits better suited for an environment. This mechanism operates on the principle that individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing those traits onto the next generation. Over time, this leads to a population that is increasingly adapted to its specific environment.

In natural selection, environmental pressures create a "survival of the fittest" scenario where only those individuals who possess and can effectively utilize advantageous traits will thrive. This can include physical traits, like size or coloration, as well as behavioral adaptations. As a result, natural selection drives the evolutionary process by shaping the genetic makeup of populations based on their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

In contrast, mutation introduces random genetic variations but does not necessarily lead to advantageous traits. Gene flow refers to the exchange of genetic material between populations, which can increase genetic diversity but does not specifically favor certain traits within an environment. Genetic drift, on the other hand, is a random process that can cause the allele frequencies within a population to change by chance rather than by natural selection, and it can lead to the loss of advantageous traits in small populations. Thus, natural selection is the key process responsible for favoring traits that enhance an organism's fitness in its environment.