Náttúrufræðingurinn - 2015, Qupperneq 21

113
Tímarit Hins íslenska náttúrufræðifélags
Standardized trials were carried out
in order to determine the leading char-
acteristics of purebred leadersheep.
Their willingness to walk or run ahead
of “ordinary sheep” proved to be une-
quivocal.
A study was carried out in the au-
tumn of 2008 in order to determine the
size of the leadersheep population in the
country based on recorded numbers
nationwide. A total of 1422 individuals
of the strain were identified and record-
ed. As it is never possible to identify all
individuals it is estimated that in fact
the total number was 1450–1500 winter-
fed sheep in that year. Of these 83.7%
were ewes, 7.5% rams and 8.8% wethers.
The leadersheep population was con-
fined to 415 flocks with 60% of them
with only one or two such individuals
while the maximum number was 20 in a
single flock. Leaderewes were kept to
higher ages than other ewes. The popu-
lation proved to be unevenly distributed
over the country. Vestur-Barðastrandar-
sýsla was the only county without any
leadersheep. The distribution was spo-
radic and thin in the remaining part of
the Westfjords as well as in the area
stretching from Hvolsvöllur Town in
South-Iceland and eastwards as far as
the river Jökulsá á Dal in East-Iceland.
The nucleus of the breeding stock was,
and has probably always been, on the
Northeast corner of Iceland.
The basic colours of leadersheep are
normally black or brown and the fre-
quency of these colour genes appears to
be virtually equal in the population. The
gene for two colours (piebald) has the
frequency of 0.92 in this strain of sheep.
The inbreeding coefficient (F) was 0.0274
of those individuals having sufficient
pedigree data to enable its calculation.
The results indicate that increased in-
breeding in leadersheep has been suc-
cessfully controlled during the last few
decades. The influence of certain indi-
viduals in the population is discussed as
well as how best its genetic diversity can
be maintained. Looking at the leader-
sheep population as a whole it seems to
represent an example of a strain of a
sheep breed, which has been success-
fully conserved.
The proposal is put forward that in
the future the leadersheep strain of
Icelandic sheep should be classified as a
special livestock breed.
Þakkir
Við þökkum þeim Láru Sigurðardóttur á Hallgilsstöðum á Langanesi og
Úlfhildi Helgadóttur á Ytra-Álandi í Þistilfirði innilega fyrir samvisku-
semi og nákvæmni við rekstartilraunina sem lýst er í greininni.
Forystufjáreigendum um allt land er þakkaður áhugi og velvilji við að
veita upplýsingar um áhugaverða fjáreign sína.
Heimildir
1. Stefán Aðalsteinsson 1981. Origin and conservation of farm animal
populations in Iceland. Zeitschrift für Tierzuchtung und Zuchtungs-
biologie 98. 258–264.
2. Ólafur R. Dýrmundsson & Niznikowski, R. 2010. North European short-
tailed breeds of sheep: a review. Animal 4. 1275–1282.
3. Jón Torfason & Jón Viðar Jónmundsson 2000. Íslenska sauðkindin. Bóka-
útgáfan Hofi. 174 bls.
4. Tapio, M., Tapio, I., Grislis, Z., Holm, L-E., Jeppsson, S., Kantanen, J.,
Miceikiene, I., Olsaker, I., Viinalass, H. & Emma Eyþórsdóttir 2005. Nati-
ve breeds demonstrate high contribution to the molecular variation in
the northern European sheep. Molecular Ecology 14. 3951–3963.
5. Ryder, M.L. 1983. Sheep and Man. Duckeworth, London. 846 bls.
6. Jón Viðar Jónmundsson, Lárus G. Birgisson & Stefán Aðalsteinsson 1994.
Leader sheep in Iceland. Proceedings of 5th WCGALP (World Congress on
Genetics Applied to Livestock Production), Guelph, Kanada 20. 162–164.
7. Hinch, G.N. 1997. Genetics of behaviour. Bls. 353–374 í: The Genetics of
Sheep (ritstj. Piper, L. & Ruvinsky, A.). CAB International, London.
8. Ólafur R. Dýrmundsson 2002. Leadersheep: the unique strain of
Icelandic sheep. AGRI 32. 45–48.
9. Ólafur R. Dýrmundsson, Emma Eyþórsdóttir & Jón Viðar Jónmundsson
2013. Behavioural studies on Icelandic leadersheep. EAAP (European
Association for Animal Production) Annual Meeting, Session 20a, 27.
ágúst 2013 í Nantes, Frakklandi. Book of Abstracts. 264.
10. Laxdæla saga 1987. Íslendinga sögur og þættir III, s. 1569, Ritstjórar
Bragi Halldórsson og fl., Svart á hvítu, Reykjavík. 1537–1654.
11. Heiðarvígasaga,1987. Íslendinga sögur og þættir II, s.1319. Ritstjórar
Bragi Halldórsson og fl. Svart á hvítu, Reykjavík. 1336–1396.
12. Harðar saga og Hólmverja 1987. Íslendinga sögur og þættir II. s 1284,
Ritstjórar Bragi Halldórsson og fl. Svart á hvítu, Reykjavík. 1253–1299.
13. Jónsbók 2004 = Jónsbók. Lögbók Íslendinga hver samþykkt var á alþingi
árið 1281 og endurnýjuð um miðja 14. öld en fyrst prentuð árið 1578.
Sýnisbók íslenskrar alþýðumenningar 8. Már Jónsson tók saman.
Háskólaútgáfan Reykjavík. Bls. 213.
14. Jón Árnason 1954. Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og ævintýri I. Ritstjóri Einar Ó.
Sveinsson. Þjóðsaga, Reykjavík. 700 bls. Bls. 538.
15. Vigfús Björnsson 1997. Huldulandið í máli og myndum. Kornið,
Akureyri. 336 bls. 69–78.
16. Gunnar Gunnarsson 1996. Aðventa. Mál og Menning, Reykjavík. 88 bls.
17. Ólafur Jónsson 1945. Ódáðahraun III. Bókaútgáfan Norðri, Akureyri. 405
bls.
18. Bragi Sigurjónsson 1987. Göngur og réttir V. Önnur prentun aukin og
endurbætt. Skjaldborg, Reykjavík. 534 bls.
19. Oddný Eir Ævarsdóttir 2011. Jarðnæði. Bjartur, Reykjavík. 210 bls.
20. Sigurður Pálsson 2011. Bernskubók. JPV útgáfa, Reykjavík. 287 bls.
21. Ásgeir Jónsson 1953. Forystufé. Búnaðarfélag Íslands, Reykjavík. 324 bls.
22. Hallgrímur Þorbergsson 1955. Ágrip af fjárræktarsögu Þingeyinga í 100
ár. Freyr 50. 77–90.
23. Halldór Pálsson 1957. Sauðfjárræktarráðunauturinn. Búnaðarrit 70. 46–66.
24. Jón Bjarnason 1981. Bændur segja allt gott. Bókaútgáfan Örn og Örlygur,
Reykjavík. 210 bls.
25. Hjörtur Eldjárn, 1946. Um forystufé. Ársrit Ræktunarfélags Norðurlands
43–44. 95–105.
26. Halldór Pálsson 1944. Fjölbreytni litareinkenna íslenska sauðfjárins.
Náttúrufræðingurinn 14. 74–83.
27. Sigurður Björgvinsson 1975. Frumvarp til laga um breytingu á
búfjárræktarlögum (nr. 31 24. apríl 1973). 52. mál, þingskjal nr. 56 á 97.
löggjafarþingi 1975–1976. Sótt í febrúar 2015 á http://www.althingi.is/
altext/97/s/pdf/0056.pdf
28. Lárus G. Birgisson 1993. Forystufé á Íslandi. BS-ritgerð við Búvísinda-
deild Bændaskólans á Hvanneyri. 43 bls.
29. Lárus G. Birgisson 1994. Forystufé á Íslandi. Sauðfjárræktin 12. Búnaðar-
félag Íslands, Reykjavík. 175–212.
30. Sigríður Jóhannesdóttir 2004. Forystufé; skyldleiki og framtíð stofnsins.
BS-ritgerð við Landbúnaðarháskólann á Hvanneyri. 46 bls.
31. Hafdís Sturlaugsdóttir 2008. Man sauður hvar gekk lamb? Félagshegðun
venjulegs fjár og forystufjár. Móðuratferli, tengslamyndun og samheldni
í sumarhögum. MS-ritgerð við Landbúnaðarháskóla Íslands á Hvann-
eyri. 87 bls.
32. Stefán Aðalsteinsson 1981. Sauðkindin, landið og þjóðin. Bjallan, Reykja-
vík. 119 bls.
33. Árni Brynjar Bragason 2013. Húsdýrið sauðkind. Bls. 10–34 í: Sauðfjár-
rækt á Íslandi (ritstj. Ragnhildur Sigurðardóttir). Uppheimar, Akranesi.
34. Berg, P. 2008. Evolutionary Algorithm for Mate Selection (Version 1.7)
[Fjölrituð útgáfa: User´s Guide, Draft 30. 01. 2008].
35. Boichard, D. 2002. Pedig: A Fortran package for pedigree analysis suited
for large populations. Í: Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on
Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Montpellier, France. August
19–23, 2002. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. Comm-
unication N° 28–13. 755–756.
36. MacCluer, J.W., Boyce, A.J., Dyke, B., Weitkamp, L.R., Pfennig, D.W. &
Parsons, C.J. 1983. Inbreeding and pedigree structure in Standardbred
horses. Journal of Heredity 74. 394–399.
37. Sigurður Sigurðarson 2014. Sigurður dýralæknir. Bókaútgáfan Hólar,
Reykjavík. 296 bls.
38. Sveinn Hallgrímsson 1971. Athugun á ættliðabili hjá sauðfé. Ársrit
Ræktunarfélags Norðurlands 68. 64–72.
39. Jón Viðar Jónmundsson 1975. Úrval fyrir frjósemi og þunga lamba.
Fjölrit nr. 8. Bændaskólinn á Hvanneyri. 21 bls.
40. Stefán Aðalsteinsson 1970. Colour inheritance in Icelandic sheep and
relation between colour, fertility and fertilization. Journal of Agricultural
Research in Iceland 2 (1). 3–135.
NFr_3-4 2015_final.indd 113 30.11.2015 16:34