A study using demographic data of genetic drift and natural selection in an isolated Mediterranean community:...

Natural selection and genetic drift are two evolutionary mechanisms that can be analysed in human populations using their fertility and mortality patterns, and their reproductive size and isolation, respectively. This paper analyses the models of natural selection and genetic drift in Bayárcal, south-east Spain, and compares them with the observed models in the rest of the Alpujarran region. Demographic data were obtained from a sample of 77 families (48.45% of the population, with 547 inhabitants). The genetic drift and natural selection action was evaluated with the Coefficient of Breeding Isolation (CBI of Lasker and Kaplan) and Crow's index, respectively. The CBI (23.23/12.61) suggests that genetic drift is near to acting, and Crow's index (I=0.58) is slightly higher than that observed in the rest of La Alpujarra. Although the reproductive isolation of Bayárcal is not effective enough for genetic drift to act, it is near when marital migrants inside the Bayárcal valley are considered as a native population. The natural selection pattern is not different from that of the rest of La Alpujarra, but it tends towards the model of developing communities, where the demographic transition has not yet begun.