Explain gene flow's significance in terms of its role in a) determining if speciation has occurred and b) in determining the rate at which speciation will occur.

Question

ASAP and please explain its significance clearly

Answer 1

Gene flow is the movement of individuals, and, by extension, their genetic material, between different populations. If there is no gene flow between populations that were isolated from each other in some way, then one could conclude that speciation had occurred because members of the two populations were not interbreeding.

If there is a high rate of gene flow between two populations, then speciation will occur at a very low rate because a significant amount of genetic material is being exchanged between the two populations. Conversely, if there is a low rate of gene flow between two populations, it is likely that speciation would occur at a much faster rate because those two populations would be more isolated from each other and less exchange of genetic material would occur.