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Inheritance, Variation and Evolution

Advantages and disadvantages of sexual and asexual reproduction

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 2

Overview

Variation and natural selection as advantages of sexual reproduction, selective breeding, the speed and efficiency of asexual reproduction in stable conditions, organisms that use both such as malarial parasites, fungi and strawberries, and choosing a type of reproduction for roses, greenfly and fish farms.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

How does the variation produced by sexual reproduction help a species when its environment changes?

Key term

State two ways in which asexual reproduction saves an organism time and energy.

Key term

Which is faster, sexual or asexual reproduction?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    State the main advantage of sexual reproduction for a species.

    Model answer

    It produces variation in the offspring.

  2. 2

    How does the variation produced by sexual reproduction help a species when its environment changes?

    Model answer

    Some individuals have characteristics suited to the new conditions, so they survive and breed by natural selection.

  3. 3

    How do humans speed up natural selection to increase food production?

    Model answer

    By selective breeding, choosing which plants and animals reproduce so that useful characteristics become more common.

  4. 4

    State two ways in which asexual reproduction saves an organism time and energy.

    Model answer

    Only one parent is needed, and no time or energy is spent finding a mate.

  5. 5

    Which is faster, sexual or asexual reproduction?

    Model answer

    Asexual reproduction is faster.

  6. 6

    When conditions are favourable, what is the advantage of producing many genetically identical offspring?

    Model answer

    A large population can be built up quickly and every offspring is suited to those conditions.

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