# Adaptation
## MicroSim spec
- **Recommended sim type:** [[Agent-based_model|agent-based model]]
- **Microsimmability score:** 62/100
- **Layout:** drawing region (canvas) on top; control region (sliders/buttons) below.
### Parameters (tunable controls)
- `Environment change rate`
- `Variation`
- `Selection strength`
### What animates
A population's trait distribution tracks a shifting environmental optimum over generations.
### Learning objective
Show how selection adapts a population to a changing environment.
## Links (Wikipedia order)
<!-- injected from _registry/childlinks/Adaptation.json (2026-07-30T02:09:12Z) -->
`Abiogenesis` · `Acclimatization` · `Adaptation_(disambiguation)` · `Adaptation_and_Natural_Selection` · `Adaptationism` · `Adaptive_evolution_in_the_human_genome` · `Adaptive_memory` · `Adaptive_mutation` · `Adaptive_radiation` · `Adaptive_system` · `Adenosine_triphosphate` · `Adoption` · `Adrian_Desmond` · [[Agent-based_model]] · `Alfred_A._Knopf` · `Alfred_Russel_Wallace` · `Allen_&_Unwin` · `Allochronic_speciation` · `Allometry` · `Allopatric_speciation` · `Alternatives_to_Darwinian_evolution` · `Altruism_(biology)` · `Amino_acid` · `Anagenesis` · `Animal` · `Animal_coloration` · `Animal_communication` · `Anisogamy` · `Annual_Review_of_Anthropology` · `Annual_Review_of_Ecology,_Evolution,_and_Systematics` · [[Ant_colony_optimization_algorithms]] · `Antagonistic_pleiotropy_hypothesis` · `Anti-predator_adaptation` · `Appleton-Century-Crofts` · `Applications_of_evolution` · `Archaea` · `Aristotle` · `Aristotle's_biology` · `Armand_Marie_Leroi` · [[Artificial_intelligence]] · [[Artificial_life]] · `Assortative_mating` · `Astrobiology` · `Atom` · [[Attractor]] · `Austryn_Wainhouse` · [[Autopoiesis]] · `Axel_Meyer` · `Bacteria` · `Bacteriophage` · `Baldwin_effect` · `Bamboo` · `Batesian_mimicry` · `Beaver` · `Bee` · `Beetle` · `Best_of_all_possible_worlds` · [[Bifurcation_theory]] · `Biocoenosis` · `Biodiversity` · `Biogeochemical_cycle` · `Biogeography` · `Biological_interaction` · `Biological_life_cycle` · `Biological_organisation` · `Biological_process` · [[Biological_system]] · `Biology` · `Biomass` · `Biome` · `Biosocial_criminology` · `Biosphere` · `Bipedalism` · `Bird_flight` · `Blending_inheritance` · `Body_plan` · `Body_reactivity` · [[Bounded_rationality]] · `Branchial_arch` · `Breathing` · `Bumblebee` · `Butterfly` · `Cambridge_University_Press` · `Camouflage` · `Canalisation_(genetics)` · `Candide` · `Canidae` · `Carbohydrate` · `Cardiac_glycoside` · `Cat_gap` · `Catagenesis_(biology)` · `Catastrophism` · `Caucasian_salamander` · `Cell_(biology)` · `Cell_cycle` · `Cell_nucleus` · `Cell_signaling` · `Cell_theory` · [[Cellular_automaton]] · `Cellular_respiration` · [[Centrality]] · [[Chaos_theory]] · `Chapman_&_Hall` · `Character_displacement` · `Charles_Darwin` · `Charles_Leonard_Huskins` · `Cheating_(biology)` · `Chemical_bond` · [[Chemical_element]] · `Chromosome` · `Chronospecies` · `Cichlid` · `Circulatory_system` · `Cladistics` · `Cladogenesis` · `Climate` · `Climate_change` · `Cline_(biology)` · `Co-adaptation` · `Coevolution` · `Coextinction` · `Colin_Patterson_(biologist)` · `Colin_Pittendrigh` · [[Collective_action]] · [[Collective_behavior]] · [[Collective_consciousness]] · [[Collective_intelligence]] · `Coloration_evidence_for_natural_selection` · `Columbia_University_Press` · `Common_descent` · `Common_name` · `Community_(ecology)` · `Comparative_anatomy` · [[Complex_adaptive_system]] · [[Complex_system]] · `Conservation_biology` · `Contingency_(evolutionary_biology)` · `Convergent_evolution` · [[Conversation_theory]] · `Cooperation_(evolution)` · `Cornell_University_Press` · `Cospeciation` · [[Coupled_map_lattice]] · `Cultural_evolution` · `Cultural_group_selection` · [[Cybernetics]] · `DNA` · `Darwin's_finches` · `Darwinism` · `David_Hull_(philosopher)` · `David_Hume` · `David_K._Jordan` · `Death` · `Deep_time` · `Deer` · `Developmental_biology` · `Dialogues_Concerning_Natural_Religion` · `Dinosaur` · [[Dissipative_system]] · `Divergent_evolution` · `Domestication_of_the_dog` · `Dominance_(genetics)` · `Donald_F._Jones` · `Douglas_J._Futuyma` · `Dual_inheritance_theory` · [[Dynamic_network_analysis]] · `Dysgenics` · `E._B._Ford` · `Earliest_known_life_forms` · `Earthworm` · `Ecological_Genetics_(book)` · `Ecological_genetics` · `Ecological_niche` · `Ecological_speciation` · `Ecological_trap` · [[Ecology]] · [[Ecosystem]] · `Ecosystem_ecology` · `Elisabeth_Vrba` · `Elliott_Sober` · `Embryology` · [[Emergence]] · `Empathy` · `Empedocles` · `Empirical_evidence` · 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`Hologenome_theory_of_evolution` · [[Homeostasis]] · `Homology_(biology)` · `Horizontal_gene_transfer` · `Hoverfly` · `Human_digestive_system` · `Human_evolution` · `Hybrid_(biology)` · `Hybrid_speciation` · `Hyena` · `Hymenoptera` · `Hyoid_bone` · `Immune_system` · `Inbreeding_avoidance` · `Inclusive_fitness` · `Index_of_biology_articles` · `Index_of_evolutionary_biology_articles` · `Indian_peafowl` · [[Information_theory]] · `Instinct` · `Internal_environment` · `Intragenomic_conflict` · `Introduction_to_evolution` · `Introduction_to_genetics` · `Invasion_genetics` · `Invasive_species` · `Inversion_(evolutionary_biology)` · `Irish_elk` · `J._B._S._Haldane` · `Jacques_Monod` · `James_Hopson` · `James_Mallet` · `Jaw` · `Jean-Baptiste_Lamarck` · `John_Alexander_Moore` · `John_Endler` · `John_Gould` · `John_Maynard_Smith` · `John_Murray_(publishing_house)` · `Journal_of_Evolutionary_Biology` · `Journal_of_Zoology` · `Julian_Huxley` · `Kim_Sterelny` · `Kin_recognition` · [[Kin_selection]] · `Klepton` · `Koala` · `Laboratory_experiments_of_speciation` · `Lamarckism` · `Larva` · `Last_universal_common_ancestor` · `Leaf` · `Learning` · `Leghorn_chicken` · `Leigh_Van_Valen` · `Level_of_support_for_evolution` · `Life` · `Lipid` · `List_of_biology_journals` · `Liver_fluke` · `Luria–Delbrück_experiment` · `Lynn_Margulis` · `MIT_Press` · [[Machine_learning]] · `Macroevolution` · `Maladaptation` · `Malthusian_growth_model` · `Mammal` · `Mate_choice` · `Mating` · `Mating_type` · `Matter` · `Max_Delbrück` · `Meiosis` · `Melanin` · `Melanocortin_1_receptor` · `Mendelian_inheritance` · `Metabolism` · `Methuen_Publishing` · `Microbiome` · `Microevolution` · `Microorganism` · `Mimicry` · `Missing_heritability_problem` · `Mitosis` · `Models_of_DNA_evolution` · `Modern_synthesis_(20th_century)` · `Modularity_(biology)` · `Molecular_evolution` · `Molecule` · `Monarch_butterfly` · `Monogamy_in_animals` · `Monomer` · `Mosaic_evolution` · `Mote_Marine_Laboratory` · `Multicellular_organism` · [[Multistability]] · `Muscular_system` · `Mutation` · `Mutationism` · `Mutualism_(biology)` · `Müllerian_mimicry` · `National_Council_for_Science_and_the_Environment` · `Natural_selection` · `Natural_theology` · `Nature_Reviews_Genetics` · `Nature_versus_nurture` · `Neanderthal` · `Neo-Darwinism` · [[Nervous_system]] · [[Network_motif]] · [[Network_science]] · [[Neural_network_(machine_learning)]] · `Neuropsychology` · `Neutral_theory_of_molecular_evolution` · `Niles_Eldredge` · `Nonadaptive_radiation` · `Nonecological_speciation` · [[Nonlinear_system]] · `Nucleic_acid` · `Nucleic_acid_sequence` · `Objections_to_evolution` · `On_the_Origin_of_Species` · [[Operationalization]] · [[Ordinary_differential_equation]] · `Organ_(biology)` · `Organelle` · `Organic_compound` · `Organism` · `Origin_and_function_of_meiosis` · `Origin_of_avian_flight` · `Origin_of_birds` · `Orthogenesis` · `Outline_of_biology` · `Outline_of_evolution` · `Oxford_University_Press` · `PH` · `Paleobiology_(journal)` · `Paleontology` · `Paleopolyploidy` · `Panspermia` · `Parallel_evolution` · `Parallel_speciation` · `Parapatric_speciation` · `Parasitism` · `Parental_investment` · `Parent–offspring_conflict` · [[Partial_differential_equation]] · [[Particle_swarm_optimization]] · [[Pattern_formation]] · `Peafowl` · `Peer_review` · `Pelvis` · [[Percolation]] · `Peripatric_speciation` · `Peter_J._Bowler` · `Peter_Medawar` · [[Phase_space]] · [[Phase_transition]] · `Phenotype` · `Phenotypic_plasticity` · `Phenotypic_trait` · `Philosophy_of_biology` · `Phloem` · `Photosynthesis` · `Phototropism` · `Phyletic_gradualism` · `Phylogenetic_tree` · `Phylogenetics` · `Physiology` · `Plant` · `Plant_stem` · `Plasmid` · `Plastid` · `Plato` · `Pleiotropy` · `Ploidy` · `Point_mutation` · `Pollination` · `Pollinator-mediated_selection` · `Polymer` · `Polymorphism_(biology)` · `Polyploidy` · `Population_(biology)` · [[Population_dynamics]] · `Population_ecology` · `Population_genetics` · `Post-transcriptional_modification` · `Predation` · `Prentice_Hall` · `Princeton_University_Press` · [[Prisoner's_dilemma]] · `Proceedings_of_the_Royal_Society` · `Programmed_cell_death` · `Prokaryote` · `Protein` · `Protist` · `Protocell` · `Punctuated_equilibrium` · `Purine_metabolism` · `Quantitative_genetics` · `Quantum_biology` · `RNA` · `RNA_world` · [[Rational_choice_model]] · [[Reaction–diffusion_system]] · `Reaktion_Books` · `Recent_human_evolution` · `Reciprocal_altruism` · `Red_Queen_hypothesis` · `Red_blood_cell` · `Reductionism` · `Regulation_of_gene_expression` · `Reinforcement_(speciation)` · `Reith_Lectures` · `Rejection_of_evolution_by_religious_groups` · `Relict_(biology)` · `Reproduction` · `Reproductive_isolation` · `Reproductive_system` · `Resource_(biology)` · `Respiratory_system` · `Richard_Lewontin` · `Ring_species` · `Robert_Dunn_(biologist)` · [[Robustness_(computer_science)]] · `Romanticism_in_evolution_theory` · `Ronald_Fisher` · `Root` · `Rut_(mammalian_reproduction)` · `Saltation_(biology)` · `Salvador_Luria` · [[Scalability]] · [[Scale-free_network]] · [[Science]] · [[Science_(journal)]] · `Science_Advances` · `Scientific_law` · `Scientific_method` · `Scientific_theory` · [[Second-order_cybernetics]] · `Secondary_contact` · `Selection_coefficient` · `Selective_breeding` · [[Self-organization]] · [[Self-organized_criticality]] · [[Self-reference]] · [[Self-replication]] · [[Sensemaking]] · `Sequoia_sempervirens` · `Sewall_Wright` · `Sex-determination_system` · `Sexual_dimorphism` · `Sexual_reproduction` · `Sexual_selection` · `Sexual_selection_in_flowering_plants` · `Sexual_selection_in_fungi` · `Shoot_(botany)` · `Signalling_theory` · `Simon_&_Schuster` · `Sinauer_Associates` · `Sinosauropteryx` · [[Small-world_network]] · `Snail_slime` · [[Social_dynamics]] · `Social_effects_of_evolutionary_theory` · [[Social_network_analysis]] · `Social_selection` · `Sociobiology` · `Spandrel_(biology)` · `Spartina` · [[Spatial_ecology]] · `Speciation` · `Species` · `Species_complex` · `Springbok` · `Springer_Science+Business_Media` · `Stephen_Jay_Gould` · `Stimulus_(physiology)` · `Stotting` · `Stream` · `Structuralism_(biology)` · [[Structure]] · [[Swarm_behaviour]] · `Symbiogenesis` · `Sympatric_speciation` · [[Synchronization]] · [[System_dynamics]] · `Systematics` · [[Systems_biology]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]] · [[Systems_thinking]] · `Taxon` · `Taxonomic_rank` · `Taxonomy_(biology)` · `Teleology` · `Teleology_in_biology` · `Teleonomy` · `Tempo_and_Mode_in_Evolution` · `The_Descent_of_Man,_and_Selection_in_Relation_to_Sex` · `The_Genetical_Theory_of_Natural_Selection` · `The_Growth_of_Biological_Thought` · `The_Journal_of_Experimental_Biology` · `The_Journal_of_Philosophy` · `The_eclipse_of_Darwinism` · `Theistic_evolution` · `Theodosius_Dobzhansky` · `Theory_of_computation` · `Thermoregulation` · `Thiamine` · `Thomas_N._Sherratt` · `Tim_Caro` · [[Time_series]] · `Timeline_of_biology_and_organic_chemistry` · `Timeline_of_paleontology` · `Tissue_(biology)` · `Toward_a_New_Philosophy_of_Biology` · `Transgenerational_epigenetic_inheritance` · `Transitional_fossil` · `Transmutation_of_species` · `Transplant_experiment` · `Trifolium_pratense` · `Trivers–Willard_hypothesis` · `Uniformitarianism` · `Unit_of_selection` · `Universal_Darwinism` · `University_of_California_Press` · `University_of_Chicago_Press` · `Variation_and_Evolution_in_Plants` · [[Variety_(cybernetics)]] · `Vascular_plant` · `Vascular_tissue` · `Venom` · `Vestigiality` · `Vicar_of_Bray_(scientific_hypothesis)` · `Viola_tricolor` · `Viral_evolution` · `Virus` · `Vitalism` · `Voltaire` · `Wasp` · `Water` · `Westview_Press` · `William_Paley` · `Wisdom_tooth` · `Wolfgang_Wickler` · `Xylem` · `Yale_University_Press` · `Zygosity`
> p5.js MicroSim stub · part of Systems Science · [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptation)
> Relation: subfield of systems science.
## Concept summary
Adaptation is the process by which a [[System|system]] or population adjusts its traits over time to better fit its environment.
## Build checklist
- [ ] Claim it: set `status: in-progress` + `lease` + `leased_at`
- [ ] Write the child page explaining the concept (tie it back to systems science)
- [ ] Finalize parameter ranges and defaults
- [ ] Implement the p5.js sketch (drawing + control regions)
- [ ] Add caption + the learning objective on the page
- [ ] Set `status: done`
## p5.js sketch
```javascript
// MicroSim: Adaptation
let controls = {};
function setup() {
// createCanvas(...); create sliders for the parameters above.
}
function draw() {
// background(...); read controls; render agent-based model; respond live.
}
```
---
Back to Systems Science · Wikipedia: [Adaptation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptation)
---
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:START -->
## Semiotic profile
> *The semiotic universals this article invokes, machine-derived from the crossref — **unverified** (born so). Populated 2026-07-06 for the Systems room.*
**Universals (3):** 🟡 system (7) · 🟡 science (5) · 🟢 distribution (1)
**Enter by sign:** Systems Semiotic Gateway · Alphabetum · Icon Registry · ← Systems Portal
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:END -->
## Wikipedia : Wikitube
**Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptation) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Adaptation)
## Previous hub tags
Tree parents: [[Complex_system]] · [[Cybernetics]] · [[Emergence]] · [[Feedback]] · [[Self-organization]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]].
Legacy hubs: none.
---
*Sources: 1 legacy note. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*