Problem:
In a Northeastern U.S. forest, tiger salamanders were abundant. These salamanders need the humidity of the forest to survive and have a short dispersal distance when they leave the forest (less than 50 feet). A mall was built in the region and the forest was almost completely clear cut. 10 small forest fragments were left (1-10). Fragments 8, 9, 10 were located close to each other (less than 30 feet apart) and were bigger in size. The other seven were located more than 200 feet apart from each other and were smaller. The original salamander population now is split in the ten small forest fragments.
Required:
Question 1: In which forest fragment(s) will likely genetic drift have a higher impact on the salamander population? Explain.
Question 2: Which fragment will likely have a lower genetic variation within the salamander population? Explain.
Question 3: Which salamander populations will likely be genetically different from each other? Which ones will likely be more similar? Explain.