Which practice involves humans selecting traits for breeding of useful traits from natural variation?

• A. Natural Selection
• B. Artificial Selection
• C. Mutations
• D. Biodiversity

Answer: (B)

The practice tested is artificial selection, where humans deliberately choose which individuals with desirable traits to breed. From the natural variation that exists in a population, people select those with useful characteristics—such as better yield, tameness, or specific physical traits—and mate them to pass those traits to the next generation. Over many generations, this targeted breeding amplifies the desired traits, which is how many domesticated crops and animals were developed, like selectively bred crops for higher yield or dogs bred for certain temperaments.

This differs from natural selection, where the environment, not people, determines which traits become more common because those individuals survive and reproduce more successfully. Mutations are random changes that create new variation, but they aren’t a deliberate breeding method. Biodiversity refers to the variety of living things in an area, not a process of selecting and breeding traits.