Final answer:
In every next generation, the inbreeding coefficient increases due to the harmful effects of inbreeding on the fitness of offspring. Inbreeding can lead to deleterious mutations, the expression of normally silent alleles, and genetic incompatibility.
Step-by-step explanation:
In every next generation, the inbreeding coefficient increases because when closely related individuals mate, the offspring are often less fit than the offspring of unrelated individuals. This is due to several reasons:
- Inbreeding can bring together rare, deleterious mutations that lead to harmful phenotypes.
- Inbreeding causes normally silent alleles to be expressed.
- Close relatives are genetically incompatible, and the DNA of close relatives can react negatively in the offspring.
Inbreeding depression, which refers to the reduction in average individual fitness as population size becomes small, is a common consequence of inbreeding.