Scientists observe a newly established population of sexually reproducing plants growing on the shore of a small island. An observable trait of the plant has two possible phenotypes. It is determined by a single gene, with the dominant allele having complete dominance over the recessive allele. The first generation had 26 plants with the dominant trait and 25 with the recessive trait. The data below is from the first six generations of this population:
Generation
Number of individuals with dominant trait
Number of individuals with recessive trait
Total number of individuals
1
26
25
51
2
102
0
102
3
375
125
500
4
469
156
625
5
562
188
750
6
255
200
455

Answer each part of this question completely in the space provided.
Use the data to explain the changes in phenotypic frequency from generation 1 to 3.
Do you think this population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? Support your answer.
Propose a possible explanation for the change in phenotype frequency from generation 5 to generation 6.