Which of the following scenarios will decrease the genetic variation of a population?(1 point)

Question

Responses

a population of birds suddenly decrease their frequency of sexual reproduction
a population of birds suddenly decrease their frequency of sexual reproduction
an individual works out, increasing their muscle mass
an individual works out, increasing their muscle mass
a mutation alters the sequence of a gene resulting in a new allele
a mutation alters the sequence of a gene resulting in a new allele
a mutation in a chromosome makes it more likely to undergo genetic recombination

Answer 1

The scenario that will decrease the genetic variation of a population is:

• a population of birds suddenly decrease their frequency of sexual reproduction

This is because sexual reproduction creates new combinations of alleles and contributes to genetic diversity. A decrease in sexual reproduction would limit this mixing of genetic material, thus reducing genetic variation in the population.

The other scenarios either increase genetic variation (such as mutations creating new alleles) or are unrelated to population-level genetic variation.