A Population That Goes Through a Dramatic Reduction in Size

Question

A population that goes through a dramatic reduction in size will experience:
A)an effective population size.
B)Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
C)a genetic rescue.
D)a genetic bottleneck.
E)inbreeding depression.

Accepted Answer

A dramatic reduction in population size is typically referred to as a genetic bottleneck. This is a situation in which the gene pool of the population is drastically reduced, resulting in decreased genetic variation. As a result, the population may experience reduced overall fitness and be at risk for the accumulation of deleterious mutations.