  We consider neutral evolution of a large population subject to changes in its
population size. For a population with a time-variable carrying capacity we
have computed the distributions of the total branch lengths of its sample
genealogies. Within the coalescent approximation we have obtained a general
expression, Eq. (27), for the moments of these distributions for an arbitrary
smooth dependence of the population size on time. We investigate how the
frequency of population-size variations alters the distributions. This allows
us to discuss their influence on the distribution of the number of mutations,
and on the population homozygosity in populations with variable size.
