ANS3701 Assignment 6
Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30
September 2024
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
[School]
[Course title]
, ANS3701 Assignment 6 Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30 September 2024
Question 1
In conservation genetics, heterozygosity is a fundamental measure of genetic diversity within a
population. For example, if a population of leopards has an observed heterozygosity (Ho) of
0.35, this means 35% of individuals possess different alleles at a given genetic locus. In
comparison, expected heterozygosity (He) represents the level of genetic variation expected
under random mating, and a much higher He value of, for example, 0.52 would indicate potential
inbreeding or genetic drift, thus reducing diversity in this population. The inbreeding coefficient
(Fis) quantifies the extent of inbreeding, with values closer to 1 suggesting higher levels of
inbreeding. If a population of leopards shows a Fis of 0.33, it points to a significant reduction in
genetic diversity compared to a connected population with a lower Fis of, for example, 0.05.
When populations experience events like genetic bottlenecks, where population numbers
decrease drastically, allele frequencies become skewed, resulting in reduced allelic richness (i.e.
the number of alleles per locus). This can be detected through genetic tests like the M-ratio,
where a low value may signal the effects of a bottleneck. 2 Effective population size (Ne) refers
to the number of individuals contributing to the next generation's gene pool (i.e., the number of
reproductive individuals in a population) and is often lower than the censused population size
due to factors like unequal sex ratios or varying reproductive success. For example, if a
population census size is 120 but the Ne is only 40, this would indicate genetic vulnerability
even though the actual population size is quite large. Consider the following scenario and answer
the questions that follow. You are part of a team of conservation biologists working to conserve
an isolated population of leopards in a remote region. Due to habitat fragmentation, the
Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30
September 2024
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
[School]
[Course title]
, ANS3701 Assignment 6 Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30 September 2024
Question 1
In conservation genetics, heterozygosity is a fundamental measure of genetic diversity within a
population. For example, if a population of leopards has an observed heterozygosity (Ho) of
0.35, this means 35% of individuals possess different alleles at a given genetic locus. In
comparison, expected heterozygosity (He) represents the level of genetic variation expected
under random mating, and a much higher He value of, for example, 0.52 would indicate potential
inbreeding or genetic drift, thus reducing diversity in this population. The inbreeding coefficient
(Fis) quantifies the extent of inbreeding, with values closer to 1 suggesting higher levels of
inbreeding. If a population of leopards shows a Fis of 0.33, it points to a significant reduction in
genetic diversity compared to a connected population with a lower Fis of, for example, 0.05.
When populations experience events like genetic bottlenecks, where population numbers
decrease drastically, allele frequencies become skewed, resulting in reduced allelic richness (i.e.
the number of alleles per locus). This can be detected through genetic tests like the M-ratio,
where a low value may signal the effects of a bottleneck. 2 Effective population size (Ne) refers
to the number of individuals contributing to the next generation's gene pool (i.e., the number of
reproductive individuals in a population) and is often lower than the censused population size
due to factors like unequal sex ratios or varying reproductive success. For example, if a
population census size is 120 but the Ne is only 40, this would indicate genetic vulnerability
even though the actual population size is quite large. Consider the following scenario and answer
the questions that follow. You are part of a team of conservation biologists working to conserve
an isolated population of leopards in a remote region. Due to habitat fragmentation, the
