Question

in researching a paper for a non - majors biology class, a student comes across a website that is trying to raise money for conservation biologists who are studying a population of wolves in a national park. the money raised would be used to bring new wolves into the park for breeding purposes because the population in the park is currently experiencing inbreeding depression. how can this inbreeding depression be assessed?

• by a small number of heterozygotes in the population
• by a small population size
• by large numbers of homozygous dominants
• by a large number of homozygous recessives

Explanation:

Inbreeding depression leads to reduced genetic diversity, which is reflected by a decrease in heterozygosity (fewer heterozygotes) in the population. Small population size is a cause of inbreeding, not a direct assessment of the depression itself. Large numbers of homozygous dominants or recessives alone do not specifically indicate inbreeding depression, whereas low heterozygosity is a key marker.

Answer:

by a small number of heterozygotes in the population