Why is genetic diversity important?
All living organisms carry a genetic blueprint. This is so regardless of whether they are plants, animals, or fungi, whether they are short- or long-lived, and whether they reproduce sexually or clonally. Therefore, to the extent that restoration deals with living organisms, genetics are part of the picture. Although the basic principles underlying restoration genetics may be familiar, to date surprisingly little attention has been devoted to genetic considerations in restoration practice. The purpose of this Restoration Science and Policy Paper is to outline some considerations that restoration designers and managers should be aware of, and to identify more detailed resources that may be useful in practice. 1a. Genotypes partly determine organisms’ physical form and function. Biologists refer to two basic expressions of variation, the genotype and the phenotype. The genotype is the genetic code of an organism; in organisms with nucleated cells (most multi-cellular plants, animals, and
Related Questions
- How does evolution through natural selection result in changes in biodiversity through the increase or decrease genetic diversity within a population?
- How can the bottleneck cause a decrease in genetic diversity even if a population can recover from it?
- How is genetic diversity distributed in natural populations?
