Migration gene flow

o Transfer of alleles from the gene pool of 1 population to the gene

pool of another population
o Potent mechanism of evolution
o Tends to homogenize allele frequencies across populations
o Migration prevents populations from diverging due to constant
gene flow from one place to another
Genetic drift
o Chance events can alter allele and genotype frequencies
o In populations of finite size, chance events (in form of sampling
error) can cause evolution
o Sampling error random discrepancy between theoretical
expectations and actual results
o Random genetic drift sampling error in the production of
zygotes from gene pool
o Genetic drift cannot produce adaptation because it is only
cumulative effect of random events but causes changes in allele
frequencies so mechanism of evolution
o Selection differential reproductive success that happens for a
reason
o Genetic drift differential reproductive success that just happens
o Genetic drift is most important in small populations
Founder effect allele frequencies in the new population
are likely, simply by change, to be different from what they
were in the source population
Small populations that have been founded by group
of individuals that have moved
When a new population is founded by a small
number of individuals, it is likely that chance alone
will cause the allele frequencies in the new
population to be different from those in source
population
o Patterns
1. Fluctuations in allele frequency in each generation
caused by random sampling error, so population follows
unique evolutionary path
2. Genetic drift has more rapid and dramatic effect on
allele frequencies in small population
3. In time, genetic drift can produce substantial changes in
allele frequencies even in large populations
*Wandering of allele frequencies produces 2 important
effects
Eventually alleles drift to fixation or loss
Frequency of heterozygotes declines

o Under genetic drift, every population follows a unique

evolutionary path. Genetic drift is rapid in small populations and
slow in large populations. If genetic drift is the only evolutionary
process at work, eventually one allele will drift to a frequency of
1 (that is, to fixation) and all other alleles will be lost.
o Heterozygosity frequency of heterozygotes in a population
As alleles drift to fixation or loss, the frequency of
heterozygotes in the population declines
Under genetic drift alleles become fixed or lost, and the
frequency of heterozygotes declines
Due to drift, small isolated populations lose their genetic
diversity
o Rate of evolution rate at which new alleles created by mutation
are substituted for other alleles already present
Mutation creation of new allele
Substitution fixation of the new allele, with or without
additional mutational change
Interaction of mutation, genetic drift and selection
o When mutation, genetic drift, and selection interact, three
processes occur
(1) Deleterious alleles appear and are eliminated by
selection
(2) Neutral mutations appear and are fixed or lost by
chance
(3) Advantageous alleles appear and are swept to fixation
by se- lection
o When populations are subject to both selection and genetic drift,
smaller populations follow more diverse evolutionary paths