ANS3701 Assignment 6
(COMPLETE ANSWERS)
Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30
September 2024
100% GUARANTEEED
, ANS3701 Assignment 6 (COMPLETE ANSWERS)
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
(COMPLETE ANSWERS)
Semester 2 2024 - DUE 30
September 2024
100% GUARANTEEED
, ANS3701 Assignment 6 (COMPLETE ANSWERS)
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
