Question

A rancher determines that the average amount of wool produced by a sheep in her flock is 22 kg per year. In an attempt to increase the wool production of her flock, the rancher picks five male and five female sheep with the greatest wool production; the average amount of wool produced per sheep by those selected is 30 kg. She interbreeds these selected sheep and finds that the average wool production among the progeny of the selected sheep is 28 kg. What is the narrow-sense heritability for wool production among the sheep in the rancher's flock?

Answer 1

The narrow-sense heritability for wool production among the sheep in the rancher's flock is 0.25.

Step-by-step explanation:

The narrow-sense heritability for wool production among the sheep in the rancher's flock can be calculated using the formula:

H2 = (Rh - Rp) / (Rg - Rp)

Where:

• H2 is the narrow-sense heritability
• Rh is the realized average wool production of the offspring (28 kg)
• Rp is the average wool production of the parents (30 kg)
• Rg is the average wool production of the entire flock (22 kg)

Using the given values, the calculation would be:

H2 = (28 - 30) / (22 - 30) = -2 / -8 = 0.25

Therefore, the narrow-sense heritability for wool production among the sheep in the rancher's flock is 0.25.