Concepts 13.1-13.3 (Ecology) Flashcards
What is a life history?
Patterns of survival and reproductive events for a species
What does semelparous mean?
Individuals breed once in their lifetime
What does iteroparous mean?
Individuals (potentially) breed multiple times in their life
What does ‘annuals’ mean?
One generation per year
What does ‘perennials’ mean?
One generation over several years
What is fecundity?
An organism’s reproductive capacity (the number of offspring it’s capable of producing)
What is parental investment?
The energetic investment into each offspring (e.g. egg size, seed size, amount of parental care)
What is involved in an early reproduction strategy?
- Short-lived, small in body size
- Early energy reproduction > growth
- Reduces the risk of not reproducing at all
What is involved in a late reproduction strategy?
- Long lived, larger in body size
- Early energy into growth (mortality rates lower)
- Later energy into reproduction
- Higher risk of not reproducing or not reaching max
What is r?
r = intrinsic rate of increase.
i.e. The number of births minus the number of deaths per generation over time
What is k?
k = carrying capacity.
i.e. Population density at the limit imposed by their resources
