What s Heritability? – Definition
Heritability is the variation (variability) which is transferred from parents to their offspring.
Types of Heritability
Heritability can be classified in two types depending on which component of variance is use as numerator.
- Broad sense
- Narrow sense
| Broad sense Heritability | Narrow sense Heritability |
|---|---|
| Ratio of genotypic variance to the total / phenotypic variance | Ratio of additive variance to the total / phenotypic variance |
| h2(bs) = VG / VP = VG / VG + VE | h2(ns) = VA / VP |
Uses of Heritability
Some of the benefits of heritability are listed below.
- To decide which method should be used for selection
- To construct selection index
- To decide minimum population required to carry out selection effectively
- To know response of various traits to selection