Question

Imagine two populations of a fish species, one in the Mediterranean Sea and one in the Caribbean Sea. Now imagine two scenarios: (1) The populations breed separately, and (2) adults of both populations migrate yearly to the North Atlantic to interbreed. Which scenario would result in a greater loss of genetic diversity if the Mediterranean population were harvested to extinction? Explain your answer.

Short answer

In the first situation, when fish populations breed separately, the chances of enhancing genetic diversity will be more because the gene flow does not occur between them. However, if they interbreed, the loss of genetic diversity will be more due to the gene flow between them.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1: Breeding

Breeding is the reproductive process that occurs sexually and results in offspring that have characters similar to their parents. Breeding always occurs between a male and a female.

Step 2: Genetic diversity

Genetic diversity is the total number of genes in a species that make its genetic make-up. It indicates the adaptation of a population to the changing environments.

More variation in alleles in the organism represents more genetic diversity. Individuals having high variated alleles are more likely to survive.

Step 3: Results of interbreeding between two species

Genetic differences between two populations will be more if they are not allowed to interbreed and do breeding within a population because gene flow is absent between both populations.

If both populations interbreed, the loss of genetic diversity will occur because genetic differences will be reduced due to the gene flow between them.