DOBZHANSKY, SPASSKY and TIDWELL ( 1963) have reported experiments on the effects of inbreeding on the egg to adult viability in progenies of Drosophila pseudoobscura females collected in several places in Arizona and California. As expected, the inbred progenies were less viable than the outbred ones, and the greater degree of inbreeding (brother-sister mating) gave a greater reduction of the v...

The rate of adaptation to a competitive laboratory environment and the associated inbreeding depression in measures of reproductive fitness have been observed in populations of Drosophila melanogaster with mean effective breeding size of the order of 50 individuals. Two large wild-derived populations and a long-established laboratory cage population were used as base stocks, from which subpopul...

A method was derived that maximizes the genetic level of selected animals while constraining their average coancestry to a predefined value. The average coancestry of the selected parents equals the inbreeding level in the next generation, so that rates of inbreeding were controlled. When this method was applied for several generations of selection, stable rates of genetic gain were attained, w...

AST and JONES (1919) and CASTLE (1930) reviewed the significant experiE ments with plants and laboratory animals that contributed to the formulation of the modern viewpoints concerning the effects of inbreeding. The phenomena associated with inbreeding: decline in vigor, increased uniformity within the inbred stock, increased prepotency in outside crosses, isolation of abnormal types, etc., wer...

When relatives mate, their inbred offspring often suffer a reduction in fitness-related traits known as "inbreeding depression." There is mounting evidence that inbreeding depression can be exacerbated by environmental stresses such as starvation, predation, parasitism, and competition. Parental care may play an important role as a buffer against inbreeding depression in the offspring by allevi...

Inbreeding generally reduces male mating activity such that inbred males are less successful in male-male competition. Inbred males can also have smaller accessory glands, transfer less sperm and produce sperm that are less motile, less viable or have a greater frequency of abnormalities, all of which can reduce the fertilization success and fitness of inbred males relative to outbred males. Ho...

Many declining populations are supplemented with captive-born individuals that are released directly into the wild. Because captive-born individuals can have lower fitness in the wild than their wild-born counterparts, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the reduced fitness of these individuals is required for appropriate conservation and management decisions. Inbree...