getHeritability: Generalized heritability of a random term

In LMMsolver: Linear Mixed Models with Sparse Matrix Methods and Smoothing

Generalized heritability of a random term

Description

Computes the generalized heritability of a random-effect term from a fitted linear mixed model. By default, a single scalar heritability value is returned. Optionally, a spectral decomposition is provided that reveals how genetic signal is distributed across estimable genetic directions.

Usage

getHeritability(obj, geno.term, type = c("scalar", "spectral"), tol = 1e-08)

Arguments

obj	An object of class "LMMsolve".
geno.term	A character string giving the name of the genetic random-effect term.
type	Character string specifying the output: "scalar" (default) returns a single numeric heritability value; "spectral" returns a data frame with the spectral decomposition.
tol	Numerical tolerance used to determine the estimable genetic space.

Details

Generalized heritability is defined as the proportion of estimable genetic signal retained by the design relative to the available genetic capacity, accounting for the genetic covariance structure.

For independent genotypes, this definition reduces to classical generalized heritability measures based on effective dimension (Cullis, Oakey, Rodríguez-Álvarez). When genotypes are correlated, the spectral decomposition reveals anisotropy in information retention across genetic directions.

Value

If type = "scalar", a numeric value giving the generalized heritability. If type = "spectral", a data frame with columns:

component

Index of the spectral component

lambda

Canonical heritability for the component

w

Weight of the component (genetic capacity)

h2_comp

Contribution of the component to total heritability

In the spectral case, the scalar generalized heritability is also available as the attribute "h2_G".

LMMsolver documentation built on Sept. 24, 2026, 5:09 p.m.