Fitness Flashcards
What is the definition of fitness?
An indication of an individual’s ability to be successful at surviving and reproducing
What is fitness a measure of?
The tendency of some organisms to produce more surviving offspring than competing members of the same species.
What does fitness refer to?
The contribution made to the gene pool of the next generation by individual genotype
What terms can fitness be defined in?
Absolute or relative
What is the definition of absolute fitness
It is the ratio between the frequency of individuals of a particular genotype after selection to those before selection and is calculated using the formula:
Frequency of a particular genotype after selection/ frequency of a particular genotype before selection
What does is mean if the absolute fitness is 1?
The frequency of that genotype is stable
What does it mean if the absolute fitness is a value greater than 1?
It conveys an increase in the genotype
What does it mean if the absolute fitness is a value that is less than 1?
It conveys a decrease in the genotype
What is the definition of relative fitness?
The ratio of the number of surviving offspring per individual of a particular genotype to the number of surviving offspring per individual of the most successful genotype. It is calculated using the formula:
Number of surviving offspring per individual of a particular genotype/ number of surviving offspring per individual of the most successful
