Which of the following best describes the impact of natural selection?

Natural selection is a fundamental mechanism of evolution that acts on the variation within a population. It favors individuals with advantageous traits because these traits increase the likelihood of survival and reproduction in a specific environment. Individuals that possess such advantageous traits are more likely to pass those traits onto their offspring, leading to an increase in the frequency of those traits in future generations. This process contributes to the overall adaptation of the population to its environment.

The idea behind natural selection is that certain traits provide a survival advantage, which is not a random process, unlike genetic drift. Over time, natural selection can lead to the enhancement of favorable characteristics and the reduction of traits that do not confer advantages, which is vital for understanding evolutionary processes. This mechanism is a cornerstone of evolutionary biology and underlies the concept of "survival of the fittest," where "fittest" refers not just to physical fitness but to reproductive success as well.