Chapter 11.5

Question 1

Why is important to maintain genetic biodiversity?

Answer 1

Essential for the survival of a specie

Question 2

Why is genetic biodiversity reduced in isolated populations?

Answer 2

This is because alot of interbreeding happens which cause individuals to have a range of probelms

Question 3

Why do scientist calculate genetic biodiversity?

Answer 3

This is by calculating gene pool - so that they can monitor health of population and ensure long term survival

Question 4

What causes the number of alleles in a population -genetic biodiversity?

Answer 4

Through:
> Selective breeding
> Captive breeding programmes
> Rare breeds
> Artificial cloning 
> Natural selection 
> Genetic bottlenecks
> The founder effect ( where small number of individuals start a new colony, so the gene pool of the new population is small)
> Generic drift

Question 5

How can genetic drift cause a reduction of alleles in a population?

Answer 5

• Because of the random nature of alleles being passed on from parents to their offspring
• the frequency occurrence of an allele will vary. In some cases, the particular allele can disappear from the population.

Question 6

How can founders effect reduce the number of alleles in a population?

Answer 6

> A small number individuals create a colony, which is geographically isolated from the original.
The gene pool for the new population then becomes small

Question 7

How can “genetic bottleneck” reduce the number of alleles in a population?

Answer 7

When few individuals survive a event or change - this reduces the gene pool as only the alleles of surviving members of the population are allowed to pass onto offspring

Question 8

How does “natural selection” reduce the number of alleles in a population?

Answer 8

when species evolve to contain primarily alleles which code for advantageous characteristics

Overtime, the alleles coding for less advantageous characteristics will be lost from a population or remain in a few individuals

Question 9

How does “rare breeds -selective breeding” reduce the numbers of alleles in a population?

Answer 9

When selective breeding is applied to produce a breed of domestic plant/animal with characteristics.

As a result, only a few number of individuals of breed remain and become available for breeding.

Question 10

How can scientist measure genetic biodiversity?

Answer 10

Measuring polymorphism

Question 11

What is a polymorphism gene structured like?

Answer 11

Genes that have more than one allele

Question 12

How do you workout “proportion of polymorphic gene loci”?

Answer 12

total number of loci

• loci meaning the the position of the gene in the chromosomes
• the greater the proportion of polymorphic gene loci - the greater the genetic biodiversity within a population