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• An ECOTYPE is a population of species that differs genetically from other populations of the same species because local conditions have selected for certain unique physiological (functional) or morphological (anatomical) characteristics. (Source: everythingbio.com) • While species are a more broad category, ecotypes are narrowed down more specifically. • SPECIES: Consists of individuals that are capable of interbreeding freely with one another but not with others. (“reproductively isolated”) (Source: Life: The Science of Biology) • Ecotypes, while maintaining all the general characteristics of the species to which they belong, also uniquely adapt slowly to their local environment • This adaptation allows them to thrive in their specific location • Ecotypes appear in response to a process of natural selection within species. • NATURAL SELECTION is the “Survival of the Fittest” along with the “Reproduction of the Fittest.” (Source: Class Notes and Life: The Science of Biology) • This process of Natural Selection facilitates evolution by allowing certain traits to be perpetuated. • These traits are what separate specific ecotypes from the species as a whole. • An ecotype may become a species through a process of isolation which keeps the ecotype from interbreeding with others within the species • This can occur through two primary process: • ALLOTROPIC SPECIATION occurs when a population is divided by a physical barrier (such as mountains, water, etc.) • This is thought to be the dominant mode of speciation among most groups of organisms (Source: Life: The Science of Biology) • The other form of speciation, SYMPATRIC SPECIATION, occurs without physical isolation. • This occurs usually through some sort of disruption in the environment which causes variation in certain members of a species. (Source: Life: The Science of Biology)