The Evolution of Populations BIO evolution

Flashcards covering key terms and definitions related to the evolution of populations.

Microevolution

A change in allele frequencies in a population over generations.

Genetic Variation

Differences in genes or other DNA segments among individuals that contribute to phenotypic variation.

Hardy-Weinberg Equation

A mathematical formula used to calculate allele frequencies in a population to determine if it is evolving.

Natural Selection

The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.

Genetic Drift

Random fluctuations in allele frequencies that occur in small populations.

Gene Flow

The transfer of alleles or genes from one population to another.

Phenotype

The observable characteristics of an organism, influenced by its genotype and environmental factors.

Point Mutation

A change in a single base pair in a DNA sequence.

Founder Effect

A phenomenon that occurs when a new population is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population.

Bottleneck Effect

A sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental events or human activities, leading to a loss of genetic diversity.

Heterozygote Advantage

When heterozygous individuals have a higher fitness than both homozygous individuals, maintaining multiple alleles in a population.

Balancing Selection

Natural selection that maintains stable frequencies of two or more phenotypic forms in a population.

Frequency-Dependent Selection

A type of selection where the fitness of a phenotype decreases as it becomes more common in the population.

Adaptive Evolution

A process in which natural selection increases the frequency of beneficial alleles, improving the match between organisms and their environment.

Relative Fitness

The contribution an individual makes to the gene pool of the next generation relative to the contributions of other individuals.