Understanding Animal Breeding

For Animal Breeding and Genetics courses. An experienced educator in animal breeding, Rick Bourdon designed this book to be a modern, technologically up-to-date approach to animal breeding that is less intimidating to students than competing texts. The book is meant to be a learning text or guide as opposed to simply a reference. Understanding Animal Breeding addresses the abstract concepts of animal breeding, presenting the necessary mathematics, but previous experience in genetics and statistics is not assumed. Well organized and readable, the book stresses application, then explains theory for an overall understanding of the material.I. ANIMAL BREEDING FROM THE TOP DOWN. 1. What is the "Best" Animal? 2. How are Animal Populations Improved? II. ANIMAL BREEDING FROM THE BOTTOM UP. 3. Mendelian Inheritance. 4. Genes in Populations. 5. Simply-Inherited and Polygenic Traits. III. SELECTION. 6. Selection for Simply-Inherited Traits. 7. The Genetic Model for Quantitative Traits. 8. Statistics and Their Application to Quantitative Traits. 9. Heritability and Repeatability. 10. Factors Affecting the Rate of Genetic Change. 11. Genetic Prediction. 12. Large-Scale Genetic Evaluation. 13. Correlated Response to Selection. 14. Multiple-Trait Selection. IV. MATING SYSTEMS. 15. Selection for Simply-Inherited Traits. 16. Mating Strategies Based on Animal Performance: Random and Assortative Mating. 17. Mating Strategies Based on Pedigree Relationship: Inbreeding and Outbreeding. 18. Hybrid Vigor. 19. Crossbreeding Systems. V. NEW TECHNIQUES, OLD STRATEGIES 20. Biotechnology and Animal Breeding. 21. Commonsense Animal Breeding. Glossary. Appendix. Answers to Odd-Numbered Problems. Index.