BIOL3044 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Genetic Load, Genetic Variation, Genetic Drift
Document Summary
We do not need to memorize this equation: this equation will be used as a framework for thinking about different sources of genetic load. If the new optimum is far from the current population, the mean fitness would be very reduced. Individuals on the right tail end of the distribution has higher fitness than individuals on the left tail end of the distribution, but not by a lot. There"s only a slight fitness advantage: response to selection will be pretty slow. Drift load: in a finite population, there will be some random noise" around the effects of selection on the population: there will be some individuals that drift away from the optimum phenotype for that environment. If environments change and places selection on populations, for populations to have the best chance of having a response, the focus will need to be on maintaining heritable variation on those traits through genetic variation.
