Fitness and adaptation are fundamental characteristics of plant and animal species, enabling them to survive in their environment and to adapt to the inevitable changes in this environment. This book brings together a sample of the world's leading scientists in animal breeding and evolutionary genetics to exchange knowledge.

This book had an ambitious goal in bringing together a sample of the world's leading scientists in animal breeding and evolutionary genetics to exchange knowledge to advance our understanding of these vital issues.

Preface
Part 1: Modelling fitness
Defining fitness in natural and domesticated populations, Stuart Barker
Genetic architecture of reproductive fitness and its consequences, Richard Frankham
Fitness traits in animal breeding programs, Mike Goddard
Discussion, John James
Part 2: Maintaining fitness
Maintaining genetic variation in fitness, William G. Hill and Xu-Sheng Zhang
Spherical cows grazing in flatland: constraints to selection and adaptation, Mark Blows and Bruce Walsh
Maintaining fitness by within breed selection, Piter Bijma
Discussion, Mike Goddard
Part 3: The genetic basis of adaptation
Some evolutionary consequences of niche construction, Kathleen Donohue
Genotype by environment interaction in farm animals, John James
Towards new ways of directly assessing fitness in Drosophila, Ary Hoffman
Discussion, Keith Hammond
Part 4: Strategies for managing diversity
Strategies to exploit genetic variation while maintaining diversity, Brian Kinghorn et al
Managing genetic diversity, fitness and adaptation of farm animal genetic resources, Louis Ollivier
Livestock genetic resources: preserving genetic adaptations for future use (summary), John Gibson
Discussion, Frank Nicholas
Concluding Summary
Stuart Barker's contributions to population genetics and animal breeding: exploring fitness, evolution and animal genetics, Frank Nicholas and Keith Hammond
Index.