Consider three populations of a plant species, each isolated from other populations of the same species. Population X has contained approximately 100 individuals in each generation for the past 200 generations. Population Y has contained approximately 10,000 individuals in each generation for the past 200 generations. Population Z has contained approximately 1 million individuals in each generation for the past 200 generations. If genetic drift is the only evolutionary process acting on these populations, how can we expect the amount of genetic variation to differ among these populations?

Question

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Genetic drift is the random fluctuation of allele frequencies in a population, which can lead to a loss of genetic variation over time. The smaller the population size, the more susceptible it is to the effects of genetic drift. Therefore, population X with only 100 individuals will experience greater genetic drift and a greater loss of genetic variation compared to the other two populations. On the other hand, population Z with 1 million individuals will experience less genetic drift and a lower loss of genetic variation compared to the other two populations due to having a larger effective population size. Therefore, population X will have the lowest variation, population Y will have intermediate variation, and population Z will have the highest variation.

Consider Three Populations of a Plant Species, Each Isolated from Other