Variation in Population Parameters: Adaptation to Toxic Environmental Factors

Some mechanisms of adaptation of natural populations to toxic environmental factors are discussed. The dandelion and hole-nesting birds are used as examples for demonstrating that an increase in the variation of reproductive parameters upon chemical environmental pollution favors the survival of those individuals in the populations that are better adapted to changes in the climate and other environmental conditions. The increased variation in reproductive parameters may promote the elimination of less fit individuals from populations. The ensuing energy loss is the cost of maintaining the population size in the chemically degraded environment.