Review the formula for effective population size. Imagine a population of 1,000 small rodents. Of these, 300 are breeding females, 300 are breeding males, and 400 are nonbreeding juveniles. What is the effective population size?
A) 1,000
B) 1,200
C) 600
D) 400
E) 300

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Effective population size is influenced by the number of breeding individuals in a population, as nonbreeding individuals do not contribute to the gene pool. In this case, there are only 300 breeding females and 300 breeding males, giving a total of 600 breeding individuals. Effective population size is typically lower than the total population size, and in this case, it is most accurately represented by the number of breeding individuals (600).

Review the Formula for Effective Population Size