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Experimental Design: Replication

Accurate measurement of phenotype, which is essential to establish reliable marker-trait correlations, requires careful experimental design.

Fundamental to phenotypic measurement is replication, because most traits are greatly affected by the environment. The mean of a set of independent measurements allows for aberrations and anomalies to be smoothed out. Replication can be spatial (lines are grown in different places in the same season) and/or temporal (different season or different sowing date in the same season).