How does artificial selection compare with natural selection?
Topic 7.3 Artificial Selection: explain how humans drive evolution through artificial selection and how it differs from natural selection.
A focused answer to AP Biology Topic 7.3, covering selective breeding, how artificial selection changes allele frequencies, examples in crops and livestock, and the comparison with natural selection, with a worked example.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this topic is asking
The College Board (Topic 7.3) wants you to explain how artificial selection (selective breeding) drives evolution, and how it compares with natural selection. You should recognize it as evidence for the power of selection.
What artificial selection is
How it compares with natural selection
Why it matters as evidence
Try this
Q1. State the key difference between artificial and natural selection. [1 point]
- Cue. In artificial selection humans choose which individuals reproduce; in natural selection the environment determines reproductive success.
Q2. Explain why artificial selection is evidence that selection can change populations. [2 points]
- Cue. It produces large, observable changes (such as many dog breeds) over short timescales, showing that selecting which individuals reproduce reshapes a population's traits and allele frequencies.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2019 (style)3 marksSection II (short FRQ). Many breeds of dog, differing greatly in size and shape, descend from wolves over a few thousand years. (a) Explain how artificial selection produced this diversity. (b) Compare artificial selection with natural selection.Show worked answer →
A 3-point explain-and-compare short FRQ.
(a) Explain (2 points): (1 point) humans chose individuals with desired traits (such as size or coat) and bred them together; (1 point) the alleles for those traits increased in frequency each generation, so the breeds diverged.
(b) Compare (1 point): both work by differential reproduction increasing the frequency of favored alleles, but in artificial selection humans choose which individuals reproduce, whereas in natural selection the environment determines reproductive success.
Markers reward explaining selective breeding and the key difference: who or what does the selecting.
AP 2017 (style)1 marksSection I (multiple choice). Modern crops such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage were all bred from a single wild mustard plant. This is an example of: (A) natural selection. (B) artificial selection. (C) genetic drift. (D) the founder effect.Show worked answer →
The correct answer is (B).
Humans selectively bred the wild mustard for different traits (flower buds, leaves, stems), producing different crops; because humans did the selecting, this is artificial selection. Natural selection (A) is driven by the environment, and drift and the founder effect (C, D) are chance processes.
Related dot points
- Topic 7.1 Introduction to Natural Selection: explain the conditions required for natural selection and how it leads to changes in a population.
A focused answer to AP Biology Topic 7.1, covering Darwin's reasoning, the conditions for natural selection (variation, heritability, overproduction, differential reproduction), fitness, and how selection changes allele frequencies, with a worked example.
- Topic 7.2 Natural Selection: explain how directional, stabilizing and disruptive selection change the distribution of phenotypes in a population.
A focused answer to AP Biology Topic 7.2, covering directional, stabilizing and disruptive selection, sexual selection, and how each changes a phenotype distribution, with a worked interpretation of selection on a trait.
- Topic 7.4 Population Genetics: explain how natural selection, mutation, gene flow, genetic drift and non-random mating change allele frequencies.
A focused answer to AP Biology Topic 7.4, covering the gene pool, allele frequencies, and the five mechanisms of microevolution (selection, mutation, gene flow, genetic drift, non-random mating), including bottleneck and founder effects, with a worked allele-frequency calculation.
- Topic 6.8 Biotechnology: describe the main biotechnology techniques (PCR, gel electrophoresis, restriction enzymes, sequencing) and explain how they are used.
A focused answer to AP Biology Topic 6.8, covering PCR, gel electrophoresis, restriction enzymes, DNA cloning and sequencing, and how these tools are applied, with a worked PCR amplification calculation.
- Topic 6.7 Mutations: explain the types of mutations and how they affect gene products, phenotype and the variation available to a population.
A focused answer to AP Biology Topic 6.7, covering point mutations (silent, missense, nonsense), frameshift mutations, chromosomal mutations, their effects on proteins and phenotype, and their role as the source of new variation, with a worked example.
Sources & how we know this
- AP Biology Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)