biology reproduction

what is genetic diversity

the diversity of genetic material within a population, measured by the sum of alleles in the gene pool

why is genetic diversity important

increases likelihood of survival of a species when undergoing environmental changes

what is asexual reproduction

reproduction by ‘cloning’ themselves. offspring is an identical copy of the parent

methods of asexual reproduction

binary fission, spore formation, budding, fragmentation, vegetative propagation, parthenogenesis

binary fission in eukaryotes

occurs in unicellular eukaryotes (eg amoeba), mitosis occurs to replicate dna, cytokinesis splits cell in two

spore formation

occurs in some plants, fungi and protisits. mitosis occurs to produce spores which are carried to a new location and develop into a new organism

budding

occurs in sponges, a new group of cells (bud) forms thru mitosis, bud is attached to parent organism but can break away to form new organism

fragmentation

occurs in sponges and some flatworms (incl tapeworms), cells split away from parent organism and divide thru mitosis to make a new organism, can occur if organism is broken into many pieces

vegetative propagation