Question

How does the mutation rate affect the speed at which a population adapts to its environment?

Answer 1

The mutation rate is the speed (or mutations per unit time) at which a sequence of DNA changes, either through natural means or artificially induced means. Natural selection is the way that a population of organisms evolve over time to adapt to their environment.

Answer 2

Under these conditions an increase in the mutation rate evolves, which allows faster adaptation to the spatial variation in local temperature, causing a faster range expansion across the spatial gradient.