Final answer:
The movement of reproductive individuals from one population to another usually results in increased genetic diversity due to the introduction of new alleles into the gene pool, a process called gene flow, which can increase variation and adaptability within the population.
Step-by-step explanation:
The movement of reproductive individuals from one population to another often results in increased genetic diversity. This process is known as gene flow, which is the transfer of genetic variation from one population to another. If new individuals join a population, they can introduce new alleles to the gene pool, thus increasing the genetic diversity within that population. It's important to distinguish this from genetic drift, which is the change in the frequency of an existing allele in a population due to random sampling of organisms.
Examples of gene flow include situations where animals move to new territories and interbreed with the local population, taking their unique genetic traits with them. This increases the variety of different alleles in the recipient population. For instance, if several white rabbits join a population of brown rabbits, the allele for white fur may become more common in that population. In contrast, genetic drift could decrease genetic diversity if certain alleles randomly become more common while others are lost, which often has a more pronounced effect in smaller populations.