Henry was studying two populations of the same species of lizards. one population lived on an island and the other lived on the mainland. both populations were affected by a hurricane that hit the island and the mainland with equal force. a year later, henry was testing the gene frequency and saw a decrease in genetic variation in the island species, but not in the mainland species. which best describes a conclusion he might have reached? gene flow greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover. genetic drift greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover. gene flow greatly affects large populations, but small populations can recover. genetic drift greatly affects large populations, but small populations can recover.

The correct answer is B) Genetic drift greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover.

(We can infer that the population of lizards on the island is smaller than the mainland population.) This is not an example of gene flow because the island and mainland populations are separate from each other, thus there is likely no migration or flow of alleles between the two groups. However, genetic drift occurred when the hurricane hit both populations, because it changed the allele frequencies of the populations with the death of some lizards. Genetic drift has a larger impact in smaller populations because the death of the same amount of lizards means loss of a greater percentage of alleles in the smaller population as compared to the larger population, where allele loss can be stabilized more easily due to the presence of many organisms.

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