ISOLATION MECHANISM
Charles François (2004). ISOLATION MECHANISM, International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(1): 1793.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1793 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
The division of a population in two or more separate populations by severance of their communication links.
This concept applies to “populations” in a very generalized sense. It can be observed in animal and vegetal species (see J.T. BONNER, 1988, p.236), but also, for example in linguistics, where the phonemes and words, being carried by numerous individuals, are assimilable to populations.
It generally results in a progressive drift and growing differences between the groups that have been cut off from each other. This mechanism is specially effective when the conditions in the respective environments become sufficiently differentiated to filter in different ways the random individual mutations or variations that occur.