Inbreeding depression is a key factor regulating the evolution of self-fertilization in plants. Despite predictions that inbreeding depression should evolve with selfing rates as deleterious alleles are increasingly exposed and removed by selection, evidence of purging the genetic load in wild populations is equivocal at best. This discordance could be explained, in part, if the load underlying inbreeding depression is subject to soft selection, i.e., the fitness of selfed individuals depends on the frequency and density of selfed vs. outcrossed individuals in the population. Somewhat counterintuitively, this means that populations with contrasting mutation load can have similar fitness. Soft selection against selfed individuals may be expected when there is inbreeding depression for competitive ability in density-regulated populations. We tested population-level predictions of inbreeding depression in competitive ability by creating a density series of potted plants consisting of either purely outcrossed, purely selfed, or mixed (50% outcrossed, 50% selfed) seed of the mixed-mating biennial Sabatia angularis (Gentianaceae) representing ecological neighborhoods. Focusing on the growth and survival of juveniles, we show that mean plant size is independent of neighborhood composition when resources are limiting, but greatest in outcrossed neighborhoods at low densities. Across a range of densities, this manifests as stronger density-dependence in outcrossed populations compared to selfed or mixed ones. We also found significantly greater size inequalities among individuals in mixed neighborhoods, even at high densities where mean juvenile size converged, a key signature of asymmetric competition between outcrossed and selfed individuals. Our work illustrates how soft selection could shelter the genetic load underlying inbreeding depression and its demographic consequences.
