A series of strong storms opened a stream channel between two lakes.The western lake contains a large,diverse population of a species of minnow.The eastern lake has never been populated by fish.When the channel opened,a small group of fish migrated to the eastern lake.Soon after,the stream channel dried up and was never opened again.The fish in the eastern lake thrived and continued to reproduce,building a large population over time.Compared with the fish in the western lake,what characteristics would you expect the population in the eastern lake to exhibit?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When a small group of individuals migrate from a larger population, they will inevitably carry only a subset of the genetic diversity in the source population. This will contribute to a reduction in genetic diversity in the founding population (in this case, the fish in the eastern lake). Additionally, because the founding population is smaller, genetic drift can have a greater effect on the frequencies of alleles overall. Therefore, we would expect a reduction in genetic diversity and a change in allele frequencies in the eastern lake compared with the western lake.

A Series of Strong Storms Opened a Stream Channel Between