= organisms within a species can adapt to a changing environment
monomorphic= only one allele exist for that gene, so we all have the same allele.
polymorphic= more than 1 allele for that gene. eg: tongue rolling.
increasing genetic diversity
-mutations= create new alleles.
-gene flow= interbreeding between populations lead to different combinations of alleles.
selective breeding
= only individuals within a population are selected for their advantageous characteristics and bred together.
genetic bottle necks
= few individuals within a population survive an event or change, thus reducing the 'gene pool'. Only alleles of surviving members of the population are available.
founder effect
= a small number of individuals create a new colony, geographically isolated from the original. Gene pool for the new population is small.
genetic drift
alleles disappear from a population over time, through random chance.
captive breeding programmes
= only a small number of captive individuals of a species are available for breeding.
natural selection
= species will evolve to contain the alleles which code for advantageous characteristics.
proportion of polymorphic gene loci= number of polymorphic gene loci/ total number of gene loci
measure of the proportion of polymorphic genes in the population
