Adaptive Radiation
The rapid diversification of a single ancestral species into many new species, each adapted to exploit different ecological niches. Often occurs when organisms colonize new environments with many unfilled niches.
Used in the Books
This term appears in 7 chapters:
"...s actual name - drinks the blood of nesting seabirds. Same DNA. Different environments. Different survival challenges. Different solutions. This is adaptive radiation: rapid diversification when organisms encounter new environments with open niches. Darwin's finches radiated into empty ecological space."
"...nization or isolation, and design metapopulation structures with different boundaries for different strategic goals. In the next chapter, we explore adaptive radiation: how populations that colonize new environments rapidly diversify into multiple specialist forms, and how organizations can structure themselves to p..."
"Book 6, Chapter 4: Adaptive Radiation - The Explosive Diversification of Form Introduction In 1835, Charles Darwin collected a confusing set of birds from the Galápagos Islands."
"...grants, even if immigrants have functionally similar traits. Convergence is strongest when lineages independently colonize empty niches (as in island adaptive radiations, Chapter 4), not when they invade occupied ecosystems. Convergence vs. Parallelism: Shared Ancestry or Independent Evolution? A subtlety in evo..."
"...termed this pattern escape-and-radiate co-evolution: plants "escape" herbivory by evolving novel toxins, then radiate into new ecological niches (adaptive radiation, Chapter 4). Eventually, some herbivores "catch up" by evolving counter-adaptations, allowing them to radiate onto the newly defended plants."
And 2 more chapters...
Biological Context
Darwin's finches in the Galápagos, cichlid fish in African lakes, and Hawaiian honeycreepers all represent adaptive radiations. The ancestral population diversified into multiple species with specialized beaks, body forms, or behaviors suited to different resources.
Business Application
Business adaptive radiation: when a single innovation spawns multiple specialized variants serving different market niches. The smartphone created adaptive radiation in apps, accessories, and services.