What Is an Adaptation Mechanism?

Human appendages allow us to adapt readily by manipulating our environment.

For organisms to evolve over thousands and millions of years, they must be able to adapt in the short term. Adaptation mechanisms allow organisms to change over a few generations or even a single generation.

Adaptation

To adapt means to become more effective within a given circumstance. For most organisms, this means acquiring traits that will allow them to feed, survive and ultimately reproduce. But the mechanisms of adaptation can be varied. There is not one single route to adaptation, and it is rare that a species would benefit solely from one adaptation mechanism.

Use of Foreign Substances

Many species make use of a substance not produced within their own body to adapt. Various insects feed on plants that are toxic to other species, accumulating the toxins in their own body as a means of defense against predators. Harvester species like these cannot replicate the toxins they use as a defense, but they adapt physically to resist the toxins' effects and evolve the behavior of recycling those toxins for their own use.

Phenotypic Adaptation

Rather than favorable traits becoming more homogenized over time through breeding, phenotypic adaptations can become prominent after a few short generations. Phenotypic variation is easily characterized by red and white flower petals in one species of a given plant. The red and white flowers differ only in their colors, but color can be adaptive under changing circumstances. Now introduce two pollinator species. Pollinator species 1 finds red flowers more enticing and favors them as a food source, and pollinator 2 likes white flowers but is active only in the late growing season. If an early frost killed off pollinator 1, pollinator 2 would still be around to propagate the flowers through pollination. Remember that the red and white flowers are identical genetically, so whether red or white flowers are pollinated, the flower species still thrives.

Adaptation through Memes

Memes are equivalent to learned behaviors. They are extremely common among mammals and other animals that spend long periods raising their offspring. Memes allow for rapid but impermanent adaptation, because the learned traits are not passed down through genetic code to the next generation. Humans are perhaps the best example of how memes make for excellent adaptation mechanisms. Our ability to manipulate our environment through science, a very learned ability, has allowed us to expand to even the harshest environments.

Paradox of Adaptation

It is important to remember that adaptation does not automatically mean positive benefits. Adapting to one environmental stress may mean compromising another over time. For example, while sickle cell anemia is widespread in Africa, the recessive and much less deadly form of sickle cell is a deterrent against malaria, another deadly affliction.

References

• Gary Novak: Phenotypic Variation