Ch 23 Flashcards
(35 cards)
microevolution
evolutionary changes in a population, the smallest scale of evolution
Microevolution occurs when there are changes in:
allele frequencies
Main mechanisms for allele frequency changes
- natural selection
- genetic drift
- gene flow
genetic variation
genetic differences among individuals
discrete characters
possibilities are either/or
quantitative characters
possibilities vary along a continuum
average heterozygosity
average percentage of loci that are heterozygous
alt: average percentage of population that are heterozygous for specific loci
geographic variation
genetic differences between separate populations
cline
graded change in a character along a geographic axis
population
individuals of the same species in the same area
gene pool
population’s genetic makeup
The gene pool contains:
all copies of
all alleles in
all members of a population
The Hardy-Weinburg principle describes:
the gene pool of a population that is not evolving
Hardy-Weinburg equation for two alleles
p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1
In the equation, p and q =
frequency of an allele
In the equation, p^2 and q^2 =
frequency of a genotype
Conditions for Hardy-Weinburg
- no mutations
- random mating
- no natural selection
- extremely large population size
- no gene flow
genetic drift
chance events cause unpredictable fluctuation in allele frequencies
Genetic drift has a greater effect on:
small populations
Two types of genetic drift:
founder and bottleneck effects
founder effect
when a few individuals become isolated and establish a new population whose gene pool differs from the source population
bottleneck effect
severe drop in population sizes that causes over-/underrepresentation or loss of alleles
gene flow
transfer of alleles into or out of population
Natural selection is the only mechanism that:
consistently causes adaptive evolution