No, its a group thing.
differences in the characteristics of individual trees
By selecting the variant organism most suited to the environment the alleles of the population then change in frequency over time and thus evolution occurs.
What would be selected if organisms did not have differences that lead to better survival and reproduction, or the opposite. That is all natural selection is.
the unequal ability of individuals to survive and reproduce
Evolution has two key driving forces without which it would not occur, but with which it must occur: The first is reproductive variation: this basically asserts that each organism is slightly different from both its parents and its siblings. The second is differential reproductive success: this asserts that features that allow their bearers to reproduce more successfully than members of the same species with different features are likely to be present in a greater part of the population in coming generations. In other words: the key driving forces behind evolution are variation and selection.
natural selection occurs when animals need it
differences in the characteristics of individual trees
Yes, natural selection is always occurring.
What population? Perhaps you mean if there were no variation for natural selection to select from.
There are really no steps in natural selection - just conditions required for it to occur.
Without genetic diversity, natural selection cannot occur
Individual animals do not adapt. Adaptation happens over generations within a species in a certain environment.
the presence of predators
the theory of natural selection is where "survival of the fittest" comes from. certain mutations occur in the birth of an organism that may be good or bad. in order to adapt, a species needs to mutate in a certain way in the next generation. this may take hundreds, thousands, or millions of years but eventually the optimal organism will emerge
genetic variation
no there is no genetic variation for natural selection to act upon
Natural selection