EXTENSION-REPORT FOR DEFRA PROJECT CR 0404 “UK BIODIVERSITY INDICATORS – DEVELOPMENT OF AN INDICATOR OF GENETIC DIVERSITY IN SELECTED FARM BREEDS”
DISAGGREGATION OF BREEDS CONTRIBUTING TO THE INDICATOR AT COUNTRY LEVEL
Tim Roughsedge, Rami Sawalha, Elisenda Rius, John Woolliams and Beatriz Villanueva
Background A UK biodiversity indicator for livestock has been identified within the Defra CR 0404 project (“UK biodiversity indicators – development of an indicator of genetic diversity in selected farm breeds”). The indicator is the average effective population size (Ne) of the lower 20 percentile of the native sheep and cattle breeds. Rural policy within government is the responsibility of the devolved administrations of the UK (WAG for Wales, SG for Scotland, Defra for England and DARDNI for Northern Ireland). It is therefore important that some disaggregation of the indicator information is provided in order to identify the distribution of these breeds within the UK.
Introduction This report provides information about the distribution of breeds contributing to the livestock biodiversity indicator. The disaggregation information presented is not equivalent to the provision of a separate indicator per country within the UK, as this would be meaningless in the light of the degree of gene flow that takes place between countries, i.e. breeding animals move freely within the UK. The information presented highlights the geographical distribution of native breeds in the lower 20 percentile of the species, and in addition breeds that have effective population size (Ne) less than 50 out with this group this group. At present it is these breeds that are most likely to influence the future changes in the value of the indicator.
Objectives 1. To determine the geographical distribution of animals within native breeds in the lower 20% of the species or with Ne<50 across the four countries. 2. To investigate changes over time in the number of animals registered within these breeds and countries in order to better understand changes in the UK indicator.
Approach The breeds to be disaggregated have been identified according to the criteria that they fall within the lower 20 percentile or they have Ne<50.
1) Where these breeds have electronic pedigree information and postcodes identified in their pedigree file, as specified in the main project data request sent to breed societies, the geographical distribution of the breed has been established based on the number of pedigree registered animals (male and female) born in the years 2001 and 2007, corresponding to the years in which the indicator was calculated.
2) Where electronic pedigree records were not available then the breed society was contacted to provide more information on the breed distribution. In the absence of pedigree actual animal numbers were not available.
1 Material and Methods Disaggregation was applied to the breeds in the lower 20 percentile of the species for Ne or if they had Ne < 50 based on the results of the SAC led Defra project (CR0404). The collection of electronic pedigree data created for the UK livestock biodiversity indicator project CR0404 included the collection of the owner area postcodes (first two letters of UK postcode) for animal registrations. It should be noted that although postcode area is helpful in providing a guide to the distribution of these breeds, postcode areas do not map directly onto true geographic boundaries defined by counties in the UK. There are also postcode areas that cross devolved administration boundaries. The most ambiguous of these boundaries occurs for the Shrewsbury postcode which covers an area predominantly within the Welsh boundary. Breeds with registered animals in the Shrewsbury postcode area have been attributed to Wales but some of these animals may have been born within England. The postcode area codes were added to the database holding the electronic pedigrees. The number of animals born and registered to the breeds meeting the disaggregation criteria in 2001 and 2007 were used to describe the distribution of herds and flocks in these breeds. The breeds considered were disaggregated by postcode area and have been further assigned to country. Two of the identified breeds, the Cambridge sheep breed and the Chillingham cattle breed do not have electronic pedigree records. The Chillingham cattle are all located in the Chillingham Park in Northumberland. The Cambridge sheep breed association provided information allowing disaggregation by flock rather than number of registered animals. For the breeds with electronic pedigree, the registered animals born in 2001 and 2007 were used to create gradient maps to illustrate the density of animals born in different postcode areas.
Results The distribution of births within breeds by countries for 2001 and 2007 can be seen in Tables 1, 2 and 3. As previously stated, the Chillingham cattle breed is located exclusively in the Chillingham Park in Northumberland. For all the breeds disaggregated it can be seen that England is home to the majority of the flocks/herds of the breeds. It may also be of interest to note that the majority of pedigree registered Soay sheep are in England. A similar picture is seen for the Manx Loghtan with a rise in registered animals born from 2001 to 2007 in England and a reduction seen in their native Isle of Man. In all cases for which pedigree registration occurs, a rise was seen in numbers born between 2001 and 2007. The Cambridge sheep breed was the only breed being identified by the society as being in decline between 2001 and 2007 (A. Davies, personal communication).
The UK postcode areas key can be found in Table 4. It should be noted that Shrewsbury postcode area animals have been allocated to Wales in Table 1 as the postcode area is predominantly in Wales. The data to further refine postcode area was not collected.
The distribution of the disaggregated breeds across postcode areas for the years 2001 and 2007 can be seen in the maps in Figures 1 to 16. Appendix I holds an excel file with the data behind the maps.
2 Table 1. Number of electronically registered pedigree animals born in 2001 and 2007 by country for native UK sheep breeds in the lower 20 percentile of the species for Ne and/or with Ne<50. Area England Northern Scotland Wales Isle of Man Ireland Breed 2001 2007 2001 2007 2001 2007 2001 2007 2001 2007 Boreray 26 91 0 0 28 12 8 26 0 0 Castlemoorit 274 356 0 3 38 55 73 43 0 0 Milk Leicester 125 185 4 4 0 0 6 44 0 0 Longwool Lincoln 520 720 0 0 32 21 12 27 0 0 Longwool Manx 522 814 0 0 0 23 203 166 73 35 Loghtan Soay 460 506 2 0 9 23 92 115 0 0
Table 2. Number of electronically registered pedigree animals born in 2001 and 2007 by country for native UK cattle breeds in the lower 20 percentile of the species for Ne and/or with Ne<501. Area England Northern Scotland Wales Ireland Breed 2001 2007 2001 2007 2001 2007 2001 2007 British White 359 445 2 2 5 1 46 59 Red Poll 218 624 3 0 15 17 32 22 1 One breed included in the indicator declined the opportunity to be included in the disaggregation report
Table 3. Flock distribution for Cambridge sheep breed in 2007 County Country Number of Flocks Berkshire England 1 Devon England 1 Shropshire England 2 Cheshire England 1 Essex England 1 Dumfries and Galloway Scotland 1 Monmouth Wales 1 Pembroke Wales 2 Powys Wales 3
3 Table 4. UK postcode area abbreviations Code Area Country Code Area Country AB Aberdeen Scotland LE Leicester England AL St Albans England LL Llandudno Wales B Birmingham England LN Lincoln England BA Bath England LS Leeds England BB Blackburn England LU Luton England BD Bradford England M Manchester England BH Bournemouth England ME Medway England BL Bolton England MK Milton Keynes England BN Brighton England ML Motherwell Scotland BR Bromley England N London-North England BS Bristol England NE Newcastle Upon Tyne England BT Belfast Northern Ireland NG Nottingham England CA Carlisle England NN Northampton England CB Cambridge England NP Newport Wales CF Cardiff Wales NR Norwich England CH Chester Wales/England NW London-NorthWest England CM Chelmsford England OL Oldham England CO Colchester England OX Oxford England CR Croydon England PA Paisley Scotland CT Canterbury England PE Peterborough England CV Coventry England PH Perth Scotland CW Crewe England PL Plymouth England DA Dartford England PO Portsmouth England DD Dundee Scotland PR Preston England DE Derby England RG Reading England DG Dumfries Scotland RH Redhill England DH Durham England RM Romford England DL Darlington England S Sheffield England DN Doncaster England SA Swansea Wales DT Dorchester England SE London-SouthEast England DY Dudley England SG Stevenage England E London-East England SK Stockport England EC London-EastCentral England SL Slough England EH Edinburgh Scotland SM Sutton England EN Enfield England SN Swindon England EX Exeter England SO Southampton England FK Falkirk Scotland SP Salisbury England FY Blackpool England SR Sunderland England G Glasgow Scotland SS Southend-On-Sea England GL Gloucester England ST Stoke-On-Trent England GU Guildford England SW London-SouthWest England GY Guernsey Guernsey SY Shrewsbury Wales/England HA Harrow England TA Taunton England HD Huddersfield England TD Galashiels Scotland HG Harrogate England TF Telford England HP Hemel Hempstead England TN Tunbridge Wells England HR Hereford England TQ Torquay England HS Western Isles Scotland TR Truro England HU Hull England TS Trimdon Station England HX Halifax England TW Twickenham England IG Ilford England UB Uxbridge England IM Isle Of Man Isle of Man W London-West England IP Ipswich England WA Warrington England IV Inverness Scotland WC London-WestCentral England JE Jersey Jersey WD Watford England KA Kilmarnock Scotland WF Wakefield England KT Kingston Upon Thames England WN Wigan England KW Kirkwall, Orkney Scotland WR Worcester England KY Kirkcaldy Scotland WS Walsall England L Liverpool England WV Wolverhampton England LA Lancaster England YO York England LD Llandrindod Wells Wales ZE Shetland Scotland
4 Figure 1. Pedigree Registered Boreray Sheep Born in 2001
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1 2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20 21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
5 Figure 2. Pedigree Registered Boreray Sheep Born in 2007
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
6 Figure 3. Pedigree Registered Castlemilk Moorit Sheep Born in 2001
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
7 Figure 4. Pedigree Registered Castlemilk Moorit Sheep Born in 2007
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
8 Figure 5. Pedigree Registered Leicester Longwool Sheep Born in 2001
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born
0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
9 Figure 6. Pedigree Registered Leicester Longwool Sheep Born in 2007
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born
0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
10 Figure 7. Pedigree Registered Lincoln Longwool Sheep Born in 2001
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
11 Figure 8. Pedigree Registered Lincoln Longwool Sheep Born in 2007
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
12 Figure 9. Pedigree Registered Manx Loghtan Sheep Born in 2001
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
13 Figure 10. Pedigree Registered Manx Loghtan Sheep Born in 2007
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
14 Figure 11. Pedigree Registered Soay Sheep Born in 2001
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
15 Figure 12. Pedigree Registered Soay Sheep Born in 2007
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
16 Figure 13. Pedigree Registered British White Cattle Born in 2001
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
17 Figure 14. Pedigree Registered British White Cattle Born in 2007
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
18
Figure 15. Pedigree Registered Red Poll Cattle Born in 2001
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
19
Figure 16. Pedigree Registered Red Poll Cattle Born in 2007
Gradient Number of Colour Registered Animals Born 0
1
2 - 5
6 – 10
11 – 20
21 – 50
51 - 100
>100
Orkney and Shetland had no registered pedigree births
20
Appendix I
Data behind gradient graphs.
MapDat a
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