Genetic variation is the raw material for evolutionary change (Frankel & Soulé, 1981). Genetic variation allows populations to evolve in response to environmental change, whether that be new/changed diseases, parasites, predators and competitors, or greenhouse warming, ozone layer depletions, or other results of pollution, Pre-existing genetic variation is critical for short-term evolutionary change (Ayala, 1965; R. Frankham, E. Lowe, M. E. Montgomery, L. M. Woodworth, & D. A. Briscoe, unpublished data) as the waiting times for new favourable mutations are high unless population sizes are very large. The IUCN (World Conservation Union) has recognized genetic diversity as one of three levels of biological diversity requiring conservation (McNeely et a!., 1990).
The Genetical Society of Great Britain, Heredity, 78, 311—327.
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