UK Biodiversity Indicator C9a: Effective Population Size of Native Breeds at Risk, 2014

UK Biodiversity Indicator C9a measures the genetic diversity of farm animal breeds classified as Native Breeds at Risk. The dataset, published by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee on behalf of Defra, contains the average effective population size for breeds of cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and pigs, with the latest data point from 2014. It is one of 24 official UK biodiversity indicators.

Use Cases

• Monitoring genetic erosion risk in livestock populations based on effective population size calculations.
• Assessing conservation status of native breeds based on their classification as 'at risk'.
• Analyzing trends in genetic diversity across five farm animal species (cattle, sheep, goats, horses, pigs).
• Evaluating progress against commitments in the UK National Action Plan on Farm Animal Genetic Resources.

Strengths

• Official UK government biodiversity indicator published by JNCC/Defra.
• Covers five major farm animal species: cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and pigs.
• Based on a defined breed inventory from the UK Farm Animal Genetic Resources Committee.

Limitations

• Latest data point is from 2014; freshness should be verified.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) on behalf of Defra.

Collection Method

Calculated from the UK Farm Animal Genetic Resources Committee breed inventory.

Time Range

Data up to 2014.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-14 09:45:52.362211; latest data point is for 2014.

Geography

United Kingdom.