In the genetic diversity statistic, what does a value of 1 signify?

• A. The populations are different
• B. The populations are the same
• C. There is no genetic variation
• D. The populations share all genetic traits

Answer: (A)

This statistic measures how different two populations are in their allele frequencies across genetic markers. A value of 1 represents maximal differentiation: the allele frequencies are completely distinct between the populations, so essentially all genetic variation is due to differences between the groups rather than within them. In other words, the two populations would show no shared alleles at the loci tested, indicating they are genetically distinct.

If the value were 0, that would mean no differentiation—the populations have the same allele frequencies. The other options describe scenarios that do not fit maximal differentiation: no genetic variation would imply no diversity at all, which isn’t what a high differentiation value indicates; and the idea that they share all genetic traits would reflect complete similarity, not maximum difference.