Artificial selection can be thought of as "fake" or "unnatural" selection. Most species on this planet will choose a mating partner based on certain criteria to fit their own needs/wants. During artificial selection however, humans choose which two organisms of the same species will mate. They do this by assessing the phenotype (what is expressed physically) of the organisms in order to figure out which two should be mated together to produce offspring. Artificial selection can essentially be done with any living organism.
The purpose of this is to breed two organisms with desirable characteristics, so as to increase the offspring's chance of inheriting that characteristic. For example many farmers will do this, in which they will breed certain cows together (i.e larger sized cows) so they can in turn produce cow offspring that will carry that desired characteristic. Over time that desired characteristics may start to show dominance within the species.
Artificial selection is similar to natural selection except for the fact that humans (not nature) are selecting which traits/characteristics are or are not desirable to have in a given species. Due to the fact that genetic traits can be passed down from generation to generation, certain features can be intentionally chosen to show up in future generations. This is artificial selection. For example, farmers and breeders can allow only the plants and animals with desirable traits to reproduce. As a consequence, the plants and animals with undesirable traits are not allowed to reproduce; therefore, their undesirable DNA and genes die with them. The genetic coding that provided for the undesired trait dies with the organism and is forever removed from the gene pool. An evolutionary change has now occurred because all future organisms will have (hopefully) the desired traits that were artificially selected to be passed on.
https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_30
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