Genetic diversity and adaption

Question 1

why is genetic diversity important?

Answer 1

-the greater the genetic diversity the more likely there will be individuals in the population that can survive and adapt to environmental change as the population will have a wide range of characteristics

Question 2

how does reproductive success affect allele frequency?

Answer 2

• every population has a gene pool containing a wide variety of alleles
• random mutation of the DNA sequence will may result in a new allele of a gene
• in certain environments the new allele might give its possessor an advantage over individuals in the population
• these individuals will be better adapted and therefore more likely to survive, reproduce
  and pass on the new allele to the next generation
• over many generations the number of individuals with the new advantageous allele will increase at the expense of the individuals with less advantageous alleles