Kimura's theory explains the diversity paradox that puzzled Darwin. Why are we surrounded by such an astonishing diversity of birds and insects and microbes? From the point of view of Darwin, a small number of dominant species would have been sufficient. Kimura explains the mystery by invoking the power of genetic drift, which becomes suddenly rapid and effective just when it is needed, when small populations can vary fast enough to become genetically isolated and form new species.

Kahler et al. (2011)and Kahler (2010) found that wild rice populations in lakes and rivers at the landscape scale tend to behighly distinct from one another and that the St. Louis River estuary may have its own “genetic identity”(Kern and Kahler 2014).

Lewontin’s fallacy

Figure 3.