Quantitative genetics and selection in forest improvement is a work that manages to organize from the concepts to the use of the methods and procedures of modern genetic improvement, with emphasis on the improvement of forest species, but of general application in the agroforestry field. In addition, review the dawn of genetic improvement in trees and briefly traces the history of its development in Costa Rica.
The text manages to combine theoretical elements treated with rigor, linked to procedures and methodologies for analysis and interpretation of information. The bases of a formal improvement program are also reviewed in detail: from the beginning from the selection of superior trees, genetic field evaluation, estimation and prediction of population parameters, to the mating designs to move towards the next generation of improvement.
The second section shows the use of SELEGEN software developed in EMBRAPA, Brazil, which solves the complex analysis of data from more than 200 types of genetic tests, based on the REML-BLUP procedures. Similarly, the form of organization of the data for each type of experimental statistical model, its respective analysis and the output of information generated by the software are shown in detail.