Question

Describe the difference in the effect of genetic drift in large populations compared to smaller populations

Answer 1

Answer:

• Genetic drift is a process where an abrupt reduction in allele frequency occurs within a short period of time.
• In a large population, the number of individual is higher as a result there is higher genetic variation.
• So, when the event of genetic drift occurs a large population is more prepared to deal with it as it contains more variety of alleles.
• Thus even if the population size is reduced to a certain level due to the event of genetic drift, the surviving population will still have a higher variation and can produce a stable population again.
• There is less chance of an allele getting fixed in the population and the founder effect will be less there.

• But in case of a small population the number of individual as well as the genetic variation is less(allele frequency is also less).
• After an event of genetic drift the genetic variation will be severely affected in this population. The surviving population will be of very few individuals with low variation that eventually flourish to form a population.
• This population will be vulnerable to further catastrophic event as the individuals in this population has came from few ancestors and there are more chances of any alleles getting fixed in this population.
• The founder effect can be seen in such type of population.

Above are the differences of the effects of genetic drift in large population compared to a small population.