What critical patterns of inheritance did Gregor Mendel observe in his experiments?

Gregor Mendel's experiments with pea plants led him to discover two fundamental patterns of inheritance: dominant and recessive traits. Through systematic crossbreeding of different pea plant varieties, Mendel observed how certain traits, such as flower color and seed shape, would appear in offspring. He noted that some traits would dominate over others when plants with different traits were crossed, meaning that the offspring would predominantly exhibit the dominant trait while the recessive trait could be masked in the phenotype but still be present in the genotype.

Mendel established the principles of segregation and independent assortment, crucial concepts in understanding how traits are inherited across generations. The dominance of certain traits over others in these experiments laid the groundwork for the field of genetics, leading to a clearer understanding of heredity and the genetic basis of traits. This focus on dominant and recessive traits differentiates Mendel's work from other biological concepts such as genetic drift, natural selection, or issues surrounding biodiversity, which do not directly pertain to the inheritance of traits.