HABRI Central

At every level of biological organization, be it molecular, cellular, organismic, population or interspecies, equilibrium patterns emerge. The concept of evolutionary stable strategies in natural populations is well accepted in biological circles. Artificial selection, the foundation of livestock and poultry breeding programmes, can disrupt these patterns and can have major implications in production systems. Accordingly, responses of animals to their environments are easier to evaluate when viewed as aims and strategies for survival. Nature is dynamic, and maintenance of variation within and between populations enhances their adaptation to environmental changes and associated stressors. Thus, conservation of genetic variation allows for ecological niches to be filled, in both the short and long term.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

1. Adaptation
2. Animal welfare
3. Birds
4. Breeding
5. Chickens
6. Farm animals
7. Nutrition
8. Physical environment
9. Production
10. social interactions
11. Stress response