Phenotypic response to selection for traits with direct and maternal components when generations overlap.

Prediction of response to selection for traits with direct and maternal components is described for discrete and overlapping generations. Expected phenotypic response is the sum of direct and maternal contributions, the latter having a genetic and an environmental component. With overlapping generations the selection differentials achieved on these components are added to respective updated vectors containing age-sex distributions with values of previous selection rounds. An example demonstrates that in the early stages, results may be considerably affected by environmental correlations between direct and maternal effects. The method could be helpful in interpreting phenotypic changes in a population selected for traits with maternal effects.