Folic acid is a type of vitamin that is essential for the normal growth and development of cells in the body. If a woman consumes folic acid in her diet before and during the earliest stages of pregnancy, it can help to reduce her baby's risk for developing a type of birth defect called a neural tube defect. Early in pregnancy, the neural tube forms the brain and spinal cord. If the neural tube does not form properly, serious birth defects may result.

Identify one factor, other than a lack of folic acid that may interfere with the proper development of essential organs during pregnancy.

Calcium, Iron.

Explanation:

Calcium and Iron

Calcium is an essential nutrients element in man's diet. The requirement of calcium is 1000mg per day but for a pregnant woman more than this is required because of the developing feotus. Calcium helps in bone development, heart and nervous system functioining. When calcium is not available for developing embryo its lead to soft bone formation and Ricket in small children. Calcium can be gotten from green vegetables, fruits such as citrus, milk product such as cheese and yoghurt.

Iron is also an essential nutrients element for pregnant woman its helps in the formation of heamoglobin in red blood cell, Heamoglobin in the red blood cell helps in the transport of oxygen in the body. Hence, when iron is low heamoglobin cannot be formed and oxygen circulation is inhibited. Sources of calcium include meat, egg, liver.

answer: decrease

a limiting factor is the one which decrease the abundance, distribution and causes extinction of the population of species in a ecosystem. here, predators including hawks, owls and snakes are the limiting factor for the population of mexican free tailed bat.   although bats are nocturnal animals as they forge for food at night these predators also may remain active during night which can decrease the population of the mexican free-tailed bats. also, these bats eat only one type of insects that are moths. the food can also be a limiting factor as all 400 members are dependent upon same type of food needs that are moths. the decrease in the moth population can cause decrease in population size of the mexican free-tailed bats.

therefore, the scenarios will most likely to decrease the population size of the mexican free-tailed bats.  

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