The statement that best describes the role of competition in the process of adaptation is: Competition leads to the selection of individuals with favorable traits for survival and reproduction.
Competition refers to the struggle among individuals for limited resources, such as food, territory, mates, or other necessities for survival. In a population with limited resources, not all individuals can have access to them.
This competition creates a selective pressure which drives the process of adaptation. Adaptation is the process by which individuals become better suited to their environment over time.
Through competition, individuals with advantageous traits, which may include physical characteristics or behaviors, have a higher chance of surviving and reproducing successfully. This is because these individuals are better able to acquire the limited resources compared to those who do not possess these traits.
For example, in a population of birds, competition for food may be fierce. Birds with longer beaks may have an advantage in reaching and eating certain types of food that are otherwise inaccessible to birds with shorter beaks.
Over time, the birds with longer beaks are more likely to survive and pass on their longer beak trait to future generations. Therefore, competition plays a crucial role in the process of adaptation by selecting individuals with favorable traits, enabling them to survive, reproduce, and pass on those traits to future generations.