Which of the following describes the ability of an organism to adapt over time through evolution?

The concept of adaptation refers to the process through which organisms undergo changes over generations in response to environmental pressures, enhancing their survival and reproductive success. This process is a fundamental aspect of evolution, where advantageous traits become more common within a population over time due to natural selection.

Adaptation involves genetic variations that arise in populations. When environmental conditions change, individuals with traits better suited to those conditions are more likely to survive and reproduce. Over time, these traits become prevalent in the population, illustrating a clear example of evolution in action.

While the other options are significant biological concepts, they do not specifically encapsulate the evolutionary process. Responding to stimuli indicates immediate reactions to the environment that do not necessarily involve long-term change or evolutionary adaptation. Growth and development describe changes that occur in an organism's life cycle, and cellular organization involves how cells are structured and function within living organisms. None of these directly imply the capacity for long-term adaptation through evolutionary mechanisms as effectively as the concept of adaptation itself.