Question

A population of skunks lives in a woodland habitat. The skunks are unable to leave because of a large mountain. Describe two reasons this population is not at Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

Answer 1

Some of the conditions that must be met for a population or an allele to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are:

1. The population must be very large.

2. There must be no migration and population must be isolated.

3. There must be no mutations.

4. There must be random mating, which means there are no mating preferences.

So, a population will not be at Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium if it is small, or there are mutations, which is not mentioned, but mutations are expected to occur. Also, although there is a large mountain, skunks can migrate to some other area of a woodland. So, probable mutations and migrations suggest that the population is not at Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium.