Are there any similarities between biological and cultural adaptations?

Biological adaptation is the way in which populations evolve. For example, skin color is thought to be a result of biological adaptation. Humans need vitamin D to survive, and for the most part we get this from the sun. Darker skin is better for humans that live in sunny climates because it protects them from the damaging effects of the sun and the vast amount of sunlight they get daily provides plenty of vitamin D. However, in climates where humans do not get as much sunlight they tend to have lighter skin so they can absorb more vitamin D. Eskimos have darker skin than Europeans because of the amount of sun that bounces off the snow.

Cultural adaptation is the way that humans use non-biological means to survive in their environments. This means they use a system of shared symbols to pass on information and techniques that will help other members of their community. Building houses, gathering fruit, hunting techniques, language, etc. all fall into this. When social or environmental situations change, often cultural elements can be adapted to help. For example, if a group is faced with a colder environment than they are used to they can develop techniques to better insulate their homes and sew warmer clothing.

Some anthropologists such as Clifford Geertz see the two as developing side by side. Animals such as termites are biologically programmed to know how to build their homes, gather food, and everything else necessary for survival and passing on their genes. Humans, however, must be able to use culture to learn these things since we are not born with them. Our cultural adaptations allowed us to venture into new environments (such as leaving Africa for colder climates like Europe) and certain genes were more fit there and were selected for.

Yes there are. The girl that answered this question and says she is an anthropology major... is obviously a first year student or doesn't read her damn books.

The biological aspects to the human make-up are very present in the cultural adaptations to environment and have always been so.

You see it in every complex cultural adaptation. How did Europeans culturally adapt to the constant warfare of the early Latin-Christian era, through the Middle Ages, and into WWII? Through war. The warlike aspects to European societies and their intense nationalism and even national/ethnic identity can be traced back to the territorial aspects of animals. Even the European notion of war in which you go into a territory and dominate it utterly (in later times it became more sophisticatedly known as imperialism) is reminiscent of the Romans, the Greeks, and other Old World ancient peoples.

You take pigeons and you put them in a room. They coexist quite nicely. But then you increase the number of pigeons but do not increase the size of the space. Food becomes scarce. There is obviously no scarcity for means of reproduction, but food and water become scarce. The pigeons will kill eachother - and very violently too. You decrease their numbers or if they decrease their own numbers and they will be peaceful again. Humans are biologically beasts with the smallest percent of DNA that allows us to have the increased mental capacity to learn quicker and more in depth. We are not the supreme beings that religions make us out to be. We have culture and technology but we are still animals.

Humans will breed; humans will eat, drink, sleep, and hunt. Cultural adaptations are complex variations of biological adaptations; meant to help the survival of the group (and to another great extent they are for understanding the world around us). If you look at every piece of culture and trace it back in terms of its development you will see that it eventually reaches a fundamentally biological aspect to the beast in our human make-up.

The same is even true in psychology with jealousy in humans. Why should you feel threatened whenever someone talks with them or for whatever reason one would feel jealousy? If you trace it far enough you will see that it serves a biological function for you to monopolize your ability to reproduce.

Short answer without getting really complicated only to revert back to the simple answer, No there really isn't.

You can read Richard Dawkins book "selfish gene" the chapter about memes, he explains what you want to know...