Extinction vortices are driven more by a shortage of beneficial mutations than by deleterious mutation accumulation.

Abstract excerpt

Habitat loss contributes to extinction risk in multiple ways. Genetically, small populations can face an 'extinction vortex'-a positive feedback loop between declining fitness and declining population size. Two distinct genetic mechanisms can drive a long-term extinction vortex: (i) ineffective selection in small populations allows deleterious mutations to fix, driving 'mutational meltdown', and (ii) smaller...

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