Developments in statistics and computing as well as their application to genetic improvement of livestock gained momentum over the last 20 years. This text reviews and consolidates the statistical foundations of animal breeding. This text will prove useful as a reference source to animal breeders, quantitative geneticists and statisticians working in these areas. It will also serve as a text in graduate courses in animal breeding methodology with prerequisite courses in linear models, statistical inference and quantitative genetics.

A popular statistical text now updated and better than ever! The ready availability of high-speed computers and statistical software encourages the analysis of ever larger and more complex problems while at the same time increasing the likelihood of improper usage. That is why it is increasingly important to educate end users in the correct interpretation of the methodologies involved. Now in its second edition, Methods and Applications of Linear Models: Regression and the Analysis of Variance seeks to more effectively address the analysis of such models through several important changes. Notable in this new edition: Fully updated and expanded text reflects the most recent developments in the AVE method Rearranged and reorganized discussions of application and theory enhance text’s effectiveness as a teaching tool More than 100 new exercises in the areas of regression and analysis of variance As in the First Edition, the author presents a thorough treatment of the concepts and methods of linear model analysis, and illustrates them with various numerical and conceptual examples, using a data-based approach to development and analysis. Data sets, available on an FTP site, allow readers to apply analytical methods discussed in the book.

Fundamental to any livestock improvement programme by animal scientists, is the prediction of genetic merit in the offspring generation for desirable production traits such as increased growth rate, or superior meat, milk and wool production. Covering the foundational principles on the application of linear models for the prediction of genetic merit in livestock, this new edition is fully updated to incorporate recent advances in genomic prediction approaches, genomic models for multi-breed and crossbred performance, dominance and epistasis. It provides models for the analysis of main production traits as well as functional traits and includes numerous worked examples. For the first time, R codes for key examples in the textbook are provided online. Suitable for graduate and postgraduate students, researchers and lecturers of animal breeding, genetics and genomics, this established textbook provides a thorough grounding in both the basics and in new developments of linear models and animal genetics.

This book fills the gap between textbooks of quantitative genetic theory, and software manuals that provide details on analytical methods but little context or perspective on which methods may be most appropriate for a particular application. Accordingly this book is composed of two sections. The first section (Chapters 1 to 8) covers topics of classical phenotypic data analysis for prediction of breeding values in animal and plant breeding programs. In the second section (Chapters 9 to 13) we provide the concept and overall review of available tools for using DNA markers for predictions of genetic merits in breeding populations. With advances in DNA sequencing technologies, genomic data, especially single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, have become available for animal and plant breeding programs in recent years. Analysis of DNA markers for prediction of genetic merit is a relatively new and active research area. The algorithms and software to implement these algorithms are changing rapidly. This section represents state-of-the-art knowledge on the tools and technologies available for genetic analysis of plants and animals. However, readers should be aware that the methods or statistical packages covered here may not be available or they might be out of date in a few years. Ultimately the book is intended for professional breeders interested in utilizing these tools and approaches in their breeding programs. Lastly, we anticipate the usage of this volume for advanced level graduate courses in agricultural and breeding courses.

Linear Models and the Relevant Distributions and Matrix Algebra provides in-depth and detailed coverage of the use of linear statistical models as a basis for parametric and predictive inference. It can be a valuable reference, a primary or secondary text in a graduate-level course on linear models, or a resource used (in a course on mathematical statistics) to illustrate various theoretical concepts in the context of a relatively complex setting of great practical importance. Features: Provides coverage of matrix algebra that is extensive and relatively self-contained and does so in a meaningful context Provides thorough coverage of the relevant statistical distributions, including spherically and elliptically symmetric distributions Includes extensive coverage of multiple-comparison procedures (and of simultaneous confidence intervals), including procedures for controlling the k-FWER and the FDR Provides thorough coverage (complete with detailed and highly accessible proofs) of results on the properties of various linear-model procedures, including those of least squares estimators and those of the F test. Features the use of real data sets for illustrative purposes Includes many exercises David Harville served for 10 years as a mathematical statistician in the Applied Mathematics Research Laboratory of the Aerospace Research Laboratories at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 20 years as a full professor in Iowa State University’s Department of Statistics where he now has emeritus status, and seven years as a research staff member of the Mathematical Sciences Department of IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center. He has considerable relevant experience, having taught M.S. and Ph.D. level courses in linear models, been the thesis advisor of 10 Ph.D. graduates, and authored or co-authored two books and more than 80 research articles. His work has been recognized through his election as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and as a member of the International Statistical Institute.

Linear models courses are often presented as either theoretical or applied. Consequently, students may find themselves either proving theorems or using high-level procedures like PROC GLM to analyze data. There exists a gap between the derivation of formulas and analyses that hide these formulas behind attractive user interfaces. This book bridges that gap, demonstrating theory put into practice. Concepts presented in a theoretical linear models course are often trivialized in applied linear models courses by the facility of high-level SAS procedures like PROC MIXED and PROC REG that require the user to provide a few options and statements and in return produce vast amounts of output. This book uses PROC IML to show how analytic linear models formulas can be typed directly into PROC IML, as they were presented in the linear models course, and solved using data. This helps students see the link between theory and application. This also assists researchers in developing new methodologies in the area of linear models. The book contains complete examples of SAS code for many of the computations relevant to a linear models course. However, the SAS code in these examples automates the analytic formulas. The code for high-level procedures like PROC MIXED is also included for side-by-side comparison. The book computes basic descriptive statistics, matrix algebra, matrix decomposition, likelihood maximization, non-linear optimization, etc. in a format conducive to a linear models or a special topics course. Also included in the book is an example of a basic analysis of a linear mixed model using restricted maximum likelihood estimation (REML). The example demonstrates tests for fixed effects, estimates of linear functions, and contrasts. The example starts by showing the steps for analyzing the data using PROC IML and then provides the analysis using PROC MIXED. This allows students to follow the process that lead to the output.

The prediction of producing desirable traits in offspring such as increased growth rate or superior meat, milk and wool production is a vital economic tool to the animal scientist. Summarizing the latest developments in genomics relating to animal breeding values and design of breeding programs, this new edition includes models of survival analysis, social interaction and sire and dam models, as well as advancements in the use of SNPs in the computation of genomic breeding values.

Designed to cover techniques for analysis of data in the animal sciences, this popular textbook provides an overview of the basic principles of statistics enabling the subsequent applications to be carried out with familiarity and understanding. Each chapter begins by introducing a problem with practical questions, followed by a brief theoretical background. Most topics are followed up with numerical examples to illustrate the methods described using data-sets from animal sciences and related fields. The same examples are then solved using the SAS software package. Written primarily for students and researchers in animal sciences, the text is also useful for those studying agricultural, biological, and veterinary sciences.

In most breeding programs of plant and animal species, genetic data (such as data from field progeny tests) are used to rank parents and help choose candidates for selection. In general, all selection processes first rank the candidates using some function of the observed data and then choose as the selected portion those candidates with the largest (or smallest) values of that function. To make maximum progress from selection, it is necessary to use a function of the data that results in the candidates being ranked as closely as possible to the true (but always unknown) ranking. Very often the observed data on various candidates are messy and unbalanced and this complicates the process of developing precise and accurate rankings. For example, for any given candidate, there may be data on that candidate and its siblings growing in several field tests of different ages. Also, there may be performance data on siblings, ancestors or other relatives from greenhouse, laboratory or other field tests. In addition, data on different candidates may differ drastically in terms of quality and quantity available and may come from varied relatives. Genetic improvement programs which make most effective use of these varied, messy, unbalanced and ancestral data will maximize progress from all stages of selection. In this regard, there are two analytical techniques, best linear prediction (BLP) and best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP), which are quite well-suited to predicting genetic values from a wide variety of sources, ages, qualities and quantities of data.