Asked by daniel

Read each example and decide whether each would increase or decrease the genetic variation in the gene pool of that population.


A zebra migrates to join a different herd of zebras.

Competition for sunlight leads to taller trees.

The DNA of a snake changes to make its venom stronger.

A grassfire randomly sweeps through a population of buffalo and kills most of the animals.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
- A zebra migrates to join a different herd of zebras — Increase. Migration (gene flow) brings new alleles into the herd’s gene pool, raising genetic variation.

- Competition for sunlight leads to taller trees — Decrease. Directional selection favors alleles for greater height and removes others, reducing variation.

- The DNA of a snake changes to make its venom stronger — Increase. A mutation creates a new genetic variant, adding to the population’s genetic variation.

- A grassfire randomly sweeps through a population of buffalo and kills most of the animals — Decrease. A population bottleneck from random mortality reduces allele diversity (genetic drift).