That's an easy one. We are selecting for temperment, wool production, meat production, time to maturity, short time between giving birth and becoming fertile again, and milk production.
Oh, yeah, sure. For that stuff its definitely artificial selection. I was trying to keep my assessment within the parameters that the OP set out:
quote:
I have a herd of sheep, and kill off the wolves in order for my herd to survive. This allows more successful survival of sheep. This provides more food and utility for myself than if I did not kill the wolves.
In that case, since he's not selecting for any particular traits, I'd reserve calling that artificial selection.
But yes, if your breeding sheep to have more wool then that's definitely artificial selection.
Interestingly, our domesticated animals have also selected for us.
Yup, disease tolerance too. Did you read/see "Guns, Germs, and Steel"?
If not, the video is available online for free:
Attention Required! | Cloudflare
I thought it was pretty cool.