Which statement is true about low heritability traits?

Which statement is true about low heritability traits?

• A. They respond quickly to selection
• B. They have no environmental influence
• C. They are difficult to improve via selection
• D. They are always reproductively important

Answer: (C)

Low heritability means most of the differences you see in a trait among individuals come from the environment rather than genetics. When you select animals based on their phenotype, a low h^2 trait provides little genetic information to pass on, so the offspring don’t closely reflect the selected parents. Because the response to selection is proportional to heritability (response to selection ≈ h^2 × selection differential), a low h^2 trait shows limited genetic progress each generation. That’s why such traits are difficult to improve through selection. For context: high heritability traits show more rapid genetic response because a larger portion of observed variation is due to genetics, making phenotype a better indicator of genotype. The other statements don’t fit because environmental influence is not absent in low heritability traits, they don’t respond quickly to selection, and reproductive importance is not determined by heritability.

Low heritability means most of the differences you see in a trait among individuals come from the environment rather than genetics. When you select animals based on their phenotype, a low h^2 trait provides little genetic information to pass on, so the offspring don’t closely reflect the selected parents. Because the response to selection is proportional to heritability (response to selection ≈ h^2 × selection differential), a low h^2 trait shows limited genetic progress each generation. That’s why such traits are difficult to improve through selection.

For context: high heritability traits show more rapid genetic response because a larger portion of observed variation is due to genetics, making phenotype a better indicator of genotype. The other statements don’t fit because environmental influence is not absent in low heritability traits, they don’t respond quickly to selection, and reproductive importance is not determined by heritability.