Question

the bottleneck effect
the bottleneck effect occurs when a population undergoes a severe reduction in size due to a catastrophic event, leading to a small group of surviving individuals that repopulate the species. as a consequence, the gene pool of the new population is substantially reduced, containing only a fraction of the genetic diversity present in the original population.
the reduction in genetic diversity can be compared to a bottleneck, where only a limited number of genetic variants are allowed to pass through. with fewer individuals, there is less potential for genetic variability, and certain alleles may be lost due to chance.
over time, as the population grows and expands, the effects of the bottleneck are retained, resulting in a population with reduced genetic diversity compared to the original population.
what term describes when a population is severely reduced by a catastrophe?
bottleneck effect
population spike
consistent growth
exponential growth

Explanation:

The text on the left side of the page clearly defines the bottleneck effect as occurring when a population undergoes a severe reduction in size due to a catastrophic event. The other options - population spike (implies an increase), consistent growth (steady increase), and exponential growth (rapid increase) - do not match the description of a population being severely reduced.

Answer:

bottleneck effect