Little is known about how inbreeding alters selection on ecologically relevant traits. Inbreeding could affect selection by changing the distribution of traits and/or fitness, or by changing the causal effect of traits on fitness. Here, I test whether selection on egg size varies with the degree of inbreeding in the seed-feeding beetle, Stator limbatus. There was strong directional selection fa...

Three populations of Hereford cattle differing in inbreeding levels and genetic potential for growth were genotyped for seven DNA polymorphisms. The populations were compared to determine differences in allele frequency and genetic variation. Significant differences in allele frequency among the populations were found at six of the seven polymorphisms genotyped, and average genetic variation di...

Mating patterns have direct application to conservation because of their influence on structuring genetic diversity within and among populations and on maintaining that diversity over time. We measured population and family outcrossing rates, biparental inbreeding, correlation of outcrossed paternity, and inbreeding coefficients in six populations from throughout the ecological range of the end...

In an inbred population, selection may reduce the frequency of deleterious recessive alleles through a process known as purging. Empirical studies suggest, however, that the efficacy of purging in natural populations is highly variable. This variation may be due, in part, to variation in the expression of inbreeding depression available for selection to act on. This experiment investigates the ...

Inbreeding depression on female fertility and calving ease in Spanish dairy cattle was studied by the traditional inbreeding coefficient (F) and an alternative measurement indicating the inbreeding rate (DeltaF) for each animal. Data included records from 49,497 and 62,134 cows for fertility and calving ease, respectively. Both inbreeding measurements were included separately in the routine gen...

The costs of inbreeding depression, as well as the opportunity costs of inbreeding avoidance, determine whether and which mechanisms of inbreeding avoidance evolve. In African elephants, sex-biased dispersal does not lead to the complete separation of male and female relatives, and so individuals may experience selection to recognize kin and avoid inbreeding. However, because estrous females ar...