Question

What role does overproduction of organisms play in natural selection?

Answer 1

When the living organisms produce more offspring than that can survive it is known as overproduction of offspring. When an animal overproduces, the survival rate of the most adapted and fittest organism increases and others which are weak will struggle for survival and may die.

Complete answer:
We must remember that natural selection is the process in which organisms adapt and change themselves as per the environment. Every individual living in this plane is naturally variable, meaning we all are different from one another in some or other way. This is known as variation in different organisms which state that some individuals have traits which are better suited to a particular environment than others.
Overproduction of offspring’s leads to competition among individuals in which the fittest and adapted individual survives.
Overproduction is also known as a driving force in natural selection as it can lead to adaptation and variation in a species. All the species overproduces offspring, if they have more offspring they can realistically reach the reproductive stage, based on resources available.
Overproduction is beneficial also as some species like fishes and turtles have many predators, so overproduction increases the odds of survival of the genetic line. Overproduction helps to improve genetic lines by supporting survival of the fittest.
Overproduction can also threaten an ecosystem, if it is not kept in check by predators or other natural selection. If the population of one species increases it can also threaten the entire population or ecosystem.
Whenever the species overproduces, the availability of the natural resources decreases in the environment as the number of species increases and availability of natural resources decreases.
So, overproduction has both advantages and disadvantages in natural selection.

Note:
As we know that natural selection occurs in specific species of population due to several factors and it mostly occurs due to overproduction which means each generation has more offspring that can be supported by the environment.