Define artificial selection.

Artificial selection is the process by which humans select organisms with desirable characteristics to breed, increasing the frequency of those characteristics in subsequent generations.

Give examples of characteristics that plants may be artificially selected for.

Increased yield, disease resistance, or improved nutritional content.

What is artificial selection in animals?

The process where humans choose which individuals to breed based on desirable traits, leading to offspring with enhanced characteristics over successive generations.

Give an example of how artificial selection has been used to improve agricultural productivity in livestock.

Selective breeding of cattle for increased milk yield or meat production, where individuals with higher productivity are chosen as parents for the next generation.

Besides productivity traits, what other characteristics might be selected for in animal breeding programmes?

Temperament (e.g. docility in farm animals) and specific physical characteristics (e.g. coat colour, body shape, or conformation).

Why might farmers selectively breed animals for temperament?

Animals with calmer, more docile temperaments are easier and safer to handle, reducing stress for both animals and handlers, and improving welfare and productivity.

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Patterns of Inheritance

Artificial selection

1 thing to know
Components 02 and 03

Overview

What is selected for in crops and in livestock, how the selective pressure differs from natural selection, and the loss of diversity and welfare problems that can follow.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Evaluation

What is artificial selection, and what are the risks of prolonged artificial selection?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
Define artificial selection.
Model answer
Artificial selection is the process by which humans select organisms with desirable characteristics to breed, increasing the frequency of those characteristics in subsequent generations.
2
Give examples of characteristics that plants may be artificially selected for.
Model answer
Increased yield, disease resistance, or improved nutritional content.
3
What is artificial selection in animals?
Model answer
The process where humans choose which individuals to breed based on desirable traits, leading to offspring with enhanced characteristics over successive generations.
4
Give an example of how artificial selection has been used to improve agricultural productivity in livestock.
Model answer
Selective breeding of cattle for increased milk yield or meat production, where individuals with higher productivity are chosen as parents for the next generation.
5
Besides productivity traits, what other characteristics might be selected for in animal breeding programmes?
Model answer
Temperament (e.g. docility in farm animals) and specific physical characteristics (e.g. coat colour, body shape, or conformation).
6
Why might farmers selectively breed animals for temperament?
Model answer
Animals with calmer, more docile temperaments are easier and safer to handle, reducing stress for both animals and handlers, and improving welfare and productivity.

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