Abstract
We studied the heritability of head length in a common gull (Larus canus) population breeding in western Estonia. Heritability estimates obtained from offspring-parent regressions were moderate to high and significantly different from zero. Head size might hence respond evolutionarily to phenotypic selection. Offspring-mother and offspring-father regressions yielded similar heritability estimates. This indicated that size-related maternal or paternal effects were absent or weak. Heritability and additive genetic variance estimates obtained from offspring-parent regressions and full-sib analyses were higher when offspring had grown up under good environmental conditions than under poor environmental conditions. Such a pattern has previously been found in some other studies of birds. This suggests that genotype-environment interactions might be frequent within the range of conditions experienced by natural bird populations.
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Larsson, K., Rattiste, K. & Lilleleht, V. Heritability of head size in the common gull Larus canus in relation to environmental conditions during offspring growth. Heredity 79, 201–207 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1997.143
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1997.143
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