henry was studying two populations of the same species of lizards. one population lived on an island and the…

henry was studying two populations of the same species of lizards. one population lived on an island and the other lived on the mainland. both populations were affected by a hurricane that hit the island and the mainland with equal force. a year later, henry was testing the gene frequency and saw a decrease in genetic variation in the island species, but not in the mainland species. which best describes a conclusion he might have reached?\ngene flow greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover.\ngenetic drift greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover.\ngene flow greatly affects large populations, but small populations can recover.\ngenetic drift greatly affects large populations, but small populations can recover.

henry was studying two populations of the same species of lizards. one population lived on an island and the other lived on the mainland. both populations were affected by a hurricane that hit the island and the mainland with equal force. a year later, henry was testing the gene frequency and saw a decrease in genetic variation in the island species, but not in the mainland species. which best describes a conclusion he might have reached?\ngene flow greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover.\ngenetic drift greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover.\ngene flow greatly affects large populations, but small populations can recover.\ngenetic drift greatly affects large populations, but small populations can recover.

Answer

Answer:

Genetic drift greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover.

Brief Explanations:

Genetic drift is the random change in allele frequencies. Small populations (like the island lizards) are more vulnerable to it as chance events (e.g., hurricane - related losses) can disproportionately impact them. Large populations (mainland lizards) have more genetic diversity and a larger number of individuals, so they can better withstand such random changes and recover, unlike the small island population which showed a decrease in genetic variation. Gene flow involves the transfer of genes between populations, which is not the main factor here as the focus is on the impact of the hurricane - induced random changes (genetic drift) on population size (small vs large).