Population fragmentation

evolutionary fitness of the species.^[4] Secondly, the decrease in genetic variability causes an increased possibility a lethal homozygous recessive trait may be expressed; this decreases the average litter size reproduced, indirectly decreasing the population.^[5] When a population is small, the influence of genetic drift increases, which leads to less and/or random fixation of alleles. In turn, this leads to increased homozygosity, negatively affecting individual fitness. The performance of plants may be compromised by less effective selection which causes an accumulation of deleterious mutations in small populations. Since individuals in small populations are more likely to be related, they are more likely to inbreed. A reduction in fitness may occur in small plant populations because of mutation accumulation, reduced genetic diversity, and increased inbreeding.^[6] Over time, the evolutionary potential and a species's ability to adapt to a changing environment, such as climate change, is decreased.^[7]