Given enough time, the genetic and phenotypic divergence between populations will affect characters that influence reproduction: if individuals of the two populations were brought together, mating would be less likely, but if mating occurred, offspring would be nonviable or infertile.

Many types of diverging characters may affect the reproductive isolation, the ability to interbreed, of the two populations. Reproductive isolation can take place in a variety of ways.

Scientists organize them into two groups: prezygotic barriers and postzygotic barriers. Recall that a zygote is a fertilized egg: the first cell of an organism’s development that reproduces sexually.

Therefore, a prezygotic barrier is a mechanism that blocks reproduction from taking place. This includes barriers that prevent fertilization when organisms attempt reproduction.

A postzygotic barrier occurs after zygote formation. This includes organisms that don’t survive the embryonic stage and those that are born sterile. Some types of prezygotic barriers prevent reproduction entirely.

Many organisms only reproduce at certain times of the year, often just annually. Differences in breeding schedules, which we call temporal isolation, can act as a form of reproductive isolation. For example, two frog species inhabit the same area, but one reproduces from January to March; whereas, the other reproduces from March to May.