Selective breeding

• Selective breeding

  Process by which humans use animal or plant breeding to selectively develop particular characteristics by choosing which males and females will sexually reproduce
• How can selective breeding increase plant yield

  Select two plants with the highest yield and breed them

  Once the plants have grown repeat the process by breeding together the ones with the highest yield

  Keep repeating this over multiple generations and the average yield will increase
• 3 example of traits that might be selectively bred for in plants or animals

  In animals - Yield of milk or meat, desirable size, fire colour, level of aggression

  In plants - Colour of flowers, drought, resistance, improved yield of fruits, grains, and vegetables
• What effect does selective breeding usually have on variation within a population

  Decreases variation
• Inbreeding

  Mating together closely related individuals
• 3 drawbacks of inbreeding

  Reduces size of gene pool

  Rare inherited diseases are more likely to be expressed

  The population as a whole will be more at risk of disease