Q. 19 - Biology

Question

Describe a situation in which a population would undergo the bottleneck effect and explain what impact that would have on the population’s gene pool. 

Step-by-Step Solution

Answer

The original population's size and genetic variety are decreased as a result of environmental changes, and the population experiences the bottleneck effect.

Bottleneck effect :

A population bottleneck or a genetic bottleneck are terms used to describe the bottleneck effect. When a population's size abruptly decreases owing to external environmental factors, this is known as a bottleneck.

Explanation :

Environmental events such as fires, illness, famines, earthquakes, floods, or droughts cause a population to suddenly fall during a bottleneck. These events are responsible for reducing variance in a population's gene pool. Such occurrences can diminish the variance in a population's gene pool. Following that, genetic diversity in a smaller population is passed on to the next generation of offspring in the form of genes through sexual reproduction. As a result, the founding population's gene pool effectively diminishes genetic diversity.