淘汰圧

• Reading: とうたあつ
• Romaji: tōtaatsu
• Kanji breakdown: 淘 (tō) — wash and sift; 汰 (ta) — sift, eliminate; 圧 (atsu/o-) — pressure, push
• Pronunciation: /toː.ta.a.tsɯ/

Meaning

Selection pressure; the environmental or ecological force that influences the survival and reproduction of organisms with certain traits, driving evolutionary change.

A compound noun combining 淘汰 (natural selection, elimination) and 圧 (pressure). Strong selection pressure causes rapid evolutionary change; weak pressure allows greater genetic diversity to persist. The concept is central to modern evolutionary biology and is also applied metaphorically in economics and business to describe competitive forces that eliminate less fit entities.

Examples

1. 急激な気候変動が強い淘汰圧をもたらし、適応できない種が次々と絶滅した。 Rapid climate change exerted strong selection pressure, causing species unable to adapt to go extinct one after another.
2. 抗生物質の広範な使用が耐性菌に対する淘汰圧として機能し、耐性化を加速させた。 The widespread use of antibiotics functioned as selection pressure on resistant bacteria, accelerating the development of resistance.
3. 淘汰圧が低い孤立した島では、捕食者から逃げる必要がなく飛べない鳥が進化した。 On isolated islands where selection pressure is low, flightless birds evolved because there was no need to escape from predators.

Usage Guide

Context: evolutionary biology, ecology, genetics, academic writing

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

Compound of 淘汰 (from 淘 tō — to wash and sift + 汰 ta — to sift, eliminate) and 圧 (atsu — pressure). The biological concept was formalised in Darwinian evolutionary theory and the Japanese term emerged with the spread of evolutionary biology.

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: Academic

Social background: Specialist