microevolution

This set of flashcards covers key concepts related to microevolution, population genetics, mechanisms of evolution, and natural selection as detailed in the lecture notes.

What is microevolution?

Microevolution is evolution viewed on the very smallest scale, focusing on generation to generation changes in allele frequencies within a population.

What is the smallest unit that can evolve?

The smallest unit that can evolve is a population.

What is natural selection?

Natural selection is the driving force for evolution, where organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

Define evolution according to Darwin.

Evolution can be broadly defined as descent with modification, meaning modern organisms are modified descendants of common ancestors.

What drives the process of evolution?

Natural selection drives the process of evolution.

What is a gene pool?

The gene pool is the total collection of alleles in a population, representing all versions of genes.

Explain allele frequency.

Allele frequency is the measure of how common a certain allele is in a population, calculated as the percentage of all loci for that gene.

What are two mechanisms of microevolution?

Two mechanisms of microevolution are genetic drift and gene flow.

What is the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is a condition in which allele frequencies remain constant in a population, indicating no evolution is occurring.

What is genetic drift?

Genetic drift is a change in the gene pool due to random chance, which can lead to the loss of alleles in small populations.

What is the bottleneck effect?

The bottleneck effect occurs when a population's size is significantly reduced, resulting in a loss of genetic diversity.

What is the founder effect?

The founder effect refers to the reduced genetic diversity when a small group of individuals starts a new population.

What is gene flow?

Gene flow is the exchange of alleles between neighboring populations, which can increase genetic diversity.

What are the three outcomes of natural selection?

The three outcomes of natural selection are directional selection, disruptive selection, and stabilizing selection.

What is sexual selection?

Sexual selection is a form of natural selection where individuals with certain traits are more likely to attract mates and reproduce.

What is stabilizing selection?

Stabilizing selection is a type of natural selection that favors average phenotypes and reduces variation.

What is disruptive selection?

Disruptive selection occurs when extreme phenotypes are favored over intermediate phenotypes in a varied environment.