The phrase "decrease the fitness" is grammatically correct and can be used in written English.
It means to cause a decline or reduction in physical or mental health, strength, or ability. Example: "Skipping meals and not getting enough rest can significantly decrease the fitness of an athlete."
According to the modern evolutionary synthesis, adaptations are produced incrementally through natural selection, so major genetic changes will usually spread within populations only if they do not decrease the fitness of individuals.
Traits that are expressed only in one sex can contribute to genetic variance for fitness in that sex but will decrease the fitness correlation between sexes.
Hence, in some host species Wolbachia decrease the fitness of uninfected individuals (i.e. cytoplasmic incompatibility) while in others they increase female ratio in populations (i.e. parthenogenesis, male-killing and feminization) [2], [3].
In Batesian mimicry, a more abundant Mimic is expected to increase the predator attack rate on the Mimic as well as on the Model (negative frequency-dependent selection) and promote polymorphism in the Mimic, because an increase in the number of a certain type of Mimic is expected to decrease the fitness of that mimic [6], [10], [11].
Genetic changes arising from salmon enhancement programs are currently not well understood, and may not be as evident as the effects of rearing environment in the short term, but recent studies have found that captive breeding can significantly decrease the fitness of steelhead trout (O. mykiss) in just one or two generations [19].
Mutations to H2A NTD decrease the fitness of yeast.
The structure of a niche is implemented by decreasing the fitness value of the individual.
A warming Arctic decreases the fitness of migratory red knots in their distant wintering range.
For further analysis, interactions were classified into positive and negative (i.e., those enhancing or decreasing the fitness of a given species).
Goldberg (1989) recommended a form of fitness sharing to enhance the Pareto GA in this area, where crowding in the Pareto optimal solutions are alleviated by decreasing the fitness of crowded individuals.
It recommended a form of fitness sharing to enhance the Pareto GA in this area, where crowding in the Pareto optimal solutions is alleviated by decreasing the fitness of crowded individuals.
