Abstract
Man-made changes of the landscape have reduced the habitats of many species, causing a diminished size and increased isolation of populations, which may in many ways threaten their survival. The increase in inbreeding expected in small populations relative to large ones may be one such threat. As matings in small populations occur among a lower number of mates, this increases the chance of matings among relatives, and as inbreeding is known to cause decreased fitness in populations of many species (e.g., reviewed by Charlesworth and Charlesworth, 1987), the fitness of individuals could thus be expected to drop after a reduction in population size.
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© 1994 Springer Basel AG
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Hauser, T.P., Damgaard, C., Loeschcke, V. (1994). Effects of inbreeding in small plant populations: Expectations and implications for conservation. In: Loeschcke, V., Jain, S.K., Tomiuk, J. (eds) Conservation Genetics. EXS, vol 68. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8510-2_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8510-2_11
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel
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