Genetic diversity

A population with greater genetic diversity has a wider range of inherited characteristics. If conditions change, some of those characteristics may help individuals survive and reproduce, so protecting genetic diversity can help a species persist. Darwin and Wallace’s ideas thus remain useful for understanding both the history of life and decisions about living populations today.

In conservation, it shows why preserving genetic diversity matters: a genetically varied population is more likely to contain individuals able to survive a new disease or environmental change.

Genetic diversity matters within a species. If individuals vary genetically, some may be better able to survive a new disease or environmental change. A population with very little genetic variation has fewer possible characteristics on which natural selection can act.