Monitoring of genetic diversity in livestock: Results for the population Rotes Hohenvieh

Base parameters characterizing the genetic diversity of the endangered breed Rotes Hohenvieh (RHV) were estimated as a starting point for regular monitoring. Using the POPREP web-system the generation interval, family size, pedigree completeness index (PCI), inbreeding coefficient, rate of inbreeding and the effective population size N(e) were calculated. Five pedigree-based methods for the calculation of the N(e) were investigated and compared. For this breed, the PCI was problematically low (open herdbook) resulting in some of the calculated rates of inbreeding hardly to be explained. The N(e)-values fluctuated depending on the definition of the side conditions. The N(e) classifies the RHV in the conservation category according to the "National Programme for Animal Genetic Resources".

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