Agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems

Animal performance is an outcome of genetic effects, environmental influences, and their interaction. Understanding the influences of the environment on performance is important to identify the right breeds for a given environment. Agroecological zonation is commonly used to classify environments an...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Getachew, Fasil, Komen, Hans, Dessie, Tadelle, Hanotte, Olivier H., Kemp, Stephen J., Worku, Setegn, Bastiaanssen, Wim G.M.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Frontiers Media 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/135204
_version_ 1855521356028837888
author Getachew, Fasil
Komen, Hans
Dessie, Tadelle
Hanotte, Olivier H.
Kemp, Stephen J.
Worku, Setegn
Bastiaanssen, Wim G.M.
author_browse Bastiaanssen, Wim G.M.
Dessie, Tadelle
Getachew, Fasil
Hanotte, Olivier H.
Kemp, Stephen J.
Komen, Hans
Worku, Setegn
author_facet Getachew, Fasil
Komen, Hans
Dessie, Tadelle
Hanotte, Olivier H.
Kemp, Stephen J.
Worku, Setegn
Bastiaanssen, Wim G.M.
author_sort Getachew, Fasil
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Animal performance is an outcome of genetic effects, environmental influences, and their interaction. Understanding the influences of the environment on performance is important to identify the right breeds for a given environment. Agroecological zonation is commonly used to classify environments and compare the performance of breeds before their wider introduction into a new environment. Environmental classes, also referred to as agroecologies, are traditionally defined based on agronomically important environmental predictors. We hypothesized that our own classification of agroecologies for livestock at a species level and incorporating the most important environmental predictors may improve genotype by environment interactions (GxE) estimations over conventional methodology. We collected growth performance data on improved chicken breeds distributed to multiple environments in Ethiopia. We applied species distribution models (SDMs) to identify the most relevant environmental predictors and to group chicken performance testing sites into agroecologies. We fitted linear mixed-effects models (LMM) to make model comparisons between conventional and SDM-defined agroecologies. Then we used Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) to visualize the influences of SDM-identified environmental predictors on the live body weight of chickens at species level. The model fit in LMM for GxE prediction improved when agroecologies were defined based on SDM-identified environmental predictors. Partial dependence plots (PDPs) produced by GAMs showed complex relationships between environmental predictors and body weight. Our findings suggest that multi-environment performance evaluations of candidate breeds should be based on SDM-defined environmental classes or agroecologies. Moreover, our study shows that GAMs are well-suited to visualizing the influences of bioclimatic factors on livestock performance.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace135204
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher Frontiers Media
publisherStr Frontiers Media
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1352042025-12-08T10:29:22Z Agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems Getachew, Fasil Komen, Hans Dessie, Tadelle Hanotte, Olivier H. Kemp, Stephen J. Worku, Setegn Bastiaanssen, Wim G.M. agroecology breeding chicken breeds genetics genotypes smallholders chickens Animal performance is an outcome of genetic effects, environmental influences, and their interaction. Understanding the influences of the environment on performance is important to identify the right breeds for a given environment. Agroecological zonation is commonly used to classify environments and compare the performance of breeds before their wider introduction into a new environment. Environmental classes, also referred to as agroecologies, are traditionally defined based on agronomically important environmental predictors. We hypothesized that our own classification of agroecologies for livestock at a species level and incorporating the most important environmental predictors may improve genotype by environment interactions (GxE) estimations over conventional methodology. We collected growth performance data on improved chicken breeds distributed to multiple environments in Ethiopia. We applied species distribution models (SDMs) to identify the most relevant environmental predictors and to group chicken performance testing sites into agroecologies. We fitted linear mixed-effects models (LMM) to make model comparisons between conventional and SDM-defined agroecologies. Then we used Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) to visualize the influences of SDM-identified environmental predictors on the live body weight of chickens at species level. The model fit in LMM for GxE prediction improved when agroecologies were defined based on SDM-identified environmental predictors. Partial dependence plots (PDPs) produced by GAMs showed complex relationships between environmental predictors and body weight. Our findings suggest that multi-environment performance evaluations of candidate breeds should be based on SDM-defined environmental classes or agroecologies. Moreover, our study shows that GAMs are well-suited to visualizing the influences of bioclimatic factors on livestock performance. 2023-12-07 2023-12-11T15:40:08Z 2023-12-11T15:40:08Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/135204 en Open Access Frontiers Media Getachew, F., Komen, H., Dessie, T., Hanotte, O., Kemp, S., Worku, S. and Bastiaansen, J.W.M. 2023. Agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.
spellingShingle agroecology
breeding
chicken breeds
genetics
genotypes
smallholders
chickens
Getachew, Fasil
Komen, Hans
Dessie, Tadelle
Hanotte, Olivier H.
Kemp, Stephen J.
Worku, Setegn
Bastiaanssen, Wim G.M.
Agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems
title Agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems
title_full Agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems
title_fullStr Agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems
title_full_unstemmed Agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems
title_short Agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems
title_sort agroecologies defined by species distribution models improve model fit of genotype by environment interactions to identify the best performing chicken breeds for smallholder systems
topic agroecology
breeding
chicken breeds
genetics
genotypes
smallholders
chickens
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/135204
work_keys_str_mv AT getachewfasil agroecologiesdefinedbyspeciesdistributionmodelsimprovemodelfitofgenotypebyenvironmentinteractionstoidentifythebestperformingchickenbreedsforsmallholdersystems
AT komenhans agroecologiesdefinedbyspeciesdistributionmodelsimprovemodelfitofgenotypebyenvironmentinteractionstoidentifythebestperformingchickenbreedsforsmallholdersystems
AT dessietadelle agroecologiesdefinedbyspeciesdistributionmodelsimprovemodelfitofgenotypebyenvironmentinteractionstoidentifythebestperformingchickenbreedsforsmallholdersystems
AT hanotteolivierh agroecologiesdefinedbyspeciesdistributionmodelsimprovemodelfitofgenotypebyenvironmentinteractionstoidentifythebestperformingchickenbreedsforsmallholdersystems
AT kempstephenj agroecologiesdefinedbyspeciesdistributionmodelsimprovemodelfitofgenotypebyenvironmentinteractionstoidentifythebestperformingchickenbreedsforsmallholdersystems
AT workusetegn agroecologiesdefinedbyspeciesdistributionmodelsimprovemodelfitofgenotypebyenvironmentinteractionstoidentifythebestperformingchickenbreedsforsmallholdersystems
AT bastiaanssenwimgm agroecologiesdefinedbyspeciesdistributionmodelsimprovemodelfitofgenotypebyenvironmentinteractionstoidentifythebestperformingchickenbreedsforsmallholdersystems