Symposium number: 45

Title: WHAT ‘ANIMAL MODELS’ CAN TELL ORNITHOLOGISTS ABOUT THE GENETICS OF WILD POPULATIONS

Principal organizer: Erik Postma
Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Centre for Terrestrial Ecology, P.O. Box 40, 6666 ZG Heteren, The Netherlands
email: e.postma@nioo.knaw.nl

Second organizer: Anne Charmantier
Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom

First keynote speaker: Ben Sheldon
Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom
Title of first keynote paper: Quantitative genetic perspectives on ornithology

Second keynote speaker: Erik Postma
Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Centre for Terrestrial Ecology, P.O. Box 40, 6666 ZG Heteren, The Netherlands
Title of second keynote paper: Predicting breeding values for natural bird populations, and how this can help us to understand their evolution

Contributed talks

Symposium description: For natural populations, good estimates of genetic parameters such as heritability are essential both in understanding how genetic variation is maintained and for estimating evolutionary potential. Long-term studies on birds are especially amenable to such estimates because of the ease with which pedigrees can be inferred. Recently 'animal model' methodology, originally developed by animal breeders to identify animals of high genetic merit, has since been applied to natural, pedigreed bird populations. Animal models are more powerful than traditional analyses such as parent offspring regression projections because they use all the available pedigree information simultaneously. They can therefore accommodate common phenomena like selection and inbreeding, and are especially suitable for the complex and incomplete pedigrees typical of natural populations. Animal models not only provide a better way of estimating genetic and non-genetic variance components, but also allow individual phenotypes to be separated into their genetic and environmental components. This symposium will provide both an outline of the possibilities that animal models offer to those interested in the estimation of genetic parameters in the wild, and an up-to-date overview of the rapidly developing and exciting field of evolutionary genetics of wild bird populations.

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