Explain what an adaptation is, and provide 3 examples.

The gene that causes sickle-cell disease is present in a higher percentage of residents of sub-saharan africa than among those of african descent living in the united states. even though this gene causes sickle-cell disease, it also provides some protection from malaria, a serious disease that is widespread in sub-saharan africa but absent in the united states. discuss an evolutionary process that could account for the different percentages of the sickle-cell gene among residents of the two regions.

How does deforestation affect the water cycle? a. it increases the amount of runoff b.it increases the amount of percolation c. it increases the amount of transpiration d. it increases the amount of precipitationa it increases the amount of runoff

The kidney filters potentially toxic substances in the blood, and thus “clears” the blood of those substances. this clearance function is dependent upon and proportional to the diffusion gradient of the substance across filtering capillaries, i.e. if the concentration of the substance is doubled, twice as much will be cleared from each ml of blood that is filtered. suppose that the body produces a constant amount of a substance x per unit of time. the kidneys eliminate substance x at a rate directly proportional to the concentration of the substance and the volume of blood cleared each minute (c): elimination = c × [x], where [x] is the steady-state concentration of substance x. imagine an individual with an initial concentration of x equal to [x]0 who develops kidney disease. her baseline clearance c0 drops to one half of the original (½c0). what is the new steady state concentration of x? (for simplicity, assume that substance x is 100% filtered by the kidney).