CRQ QUESTION: A species of birds lives on an island. The thickness of the birds’ beaks varies within the population. The birds feed mainly on seeds from plants. Birds with thinner breaks can eat only small seeds. Only birds with thicker beaks can crush and eat large seeds.

There are many small seeds during years with more rain. During dry years, there are very few small seeds and many large seeds. The large seeds are harder to crush than small seeds.

The graph below shows the average beak thickness in the bird population from 1979-1985. 1980 and 1982 were dry years; 1984 was a wet year; 1979, 1981, 1983, and 1985 received normal rainfall.

Explain why the average break thickness changed between wet and dry years
Explain how break thickness would have changed during the next ten years (1986-1996) if these were wet years.
Name the process that led to this change.

The average beak thickness changed between wet and dry years because during the wet years the seeds were small and easily broken so the birds didn't have a need for thick beaks but during the dry years the seeds were large and harder to break open so the birds had the need for thick beaks. If the the next ten years (1986-1996) were wet years then the birds beaks would either continue to get smaller in size or continue to get smaller to a certain point and then stay at that size for the rest of the time. The process that led to this change is evolution. Evolution is when organisms adapt to their changing environments and can result in novel traits, altered genes, and new species. In the case of these birds the thickness of there beaks changed due to the size of the seeds they had available to eat.

the african cheetah.

this species has a relatively low level of genetic

variation because the population was reduced to a small size approxi-

mately 10,000 to 12,000 years ago.

chapter   outline

24.1

genes in populations and the hardy-

weinberg equation

24.2

factors that change allele and genotype

frequencies in populations

24.3     sources of new genetic variation

population   genetics

24

until   now,   we   have   primarily   focused   our   attention   on   genes  

within   individuals   and   their   related   family   members.   in   this  

chapter   and   chapters   25   and   26   ,   we   turn   to   the   study   of   genes   in  

a   population   or   species.   the   field   of

population   genetics

  is   con-

cerned   with   changes   in   genetic   variation   within   a   group   of   indi-

viduals   over   time.   population   geneticists   want   to   know   the   extent  

of   genetic   variation   within   populations,   why   it   exists,   and   how   it  

changes   over   the   course   of   many   generations.   the   field   of   popu-

lation   genetics   emerged   as   a   branch   of   genetics   in   the   1920s   and  

1930s.   its   mathematical   foundations   were   developed   by   theoreti-

cians   who   extended   the   principles   of   gregor   mendel   and   charles  

darwin   by   deriving   formulas   to   explain   the   occurrence   of   geno-

types   within   populations.   these   foundations   can   be   largely   attrib-

uted to three scientists: sir ronald fisher, sewall wright, and j. b. s.

haldane.   as   we   will   see,   support   for   their   mathematical   theories  

was provided by several researchers who analyzed the genetic com-

position   of   natural   and   experimental   populations.   more   recently,  

population   geneticists   have   used   techniques   to   probe   genetic  

variation   at   the   molecular   level.   in   addition,   staggering   advances  

in   computer   technology   have   aided   population   geneticists   in   the  

analysis   of   their   genetic   theories   and   data.   in   this   chapter,   we   will  

explore   the   genetic   variation   that   occurs   in   populations   and   con-

sider   the   reasons   why   the   genetic   composition   of   populations   may  

change over the course of several generations