Topic 12 Flashcards
Resources are often limited so..
organisms must decide how to allocate time and energy to different activities through lifespan
Allocation decisions
will affect an individuals fitness by influencing growth, reproduction and survival.
Organisms will develop ..
allocation strategies over evolutionary time to adapt to abiotic and biotic conditions in their environment
Trade off
increased allocation of time and energy to some activities results in a decrease allocation to other activities. increase in one thing means decrease in something else
Life history trade off
growth and survival vs reproduction
Reproductive effort
proportion of averrable resources that an individual allocates to reproduction through its lifespan
Reproductive effort =
current and future productive output
Future reproductive output =
survival + fecundity in future
Lifetime reproductive success (LRS)
number of offspring produced throughout the lifespan on an individual
Life history strategy
set of choices and decisions resulting in an individuals allocation to reproductive effort through its lifespan
Life history traits
- Body size / growth
- Age at sexual maturity
- Number of reproductive events
- Number of offspring produced per event
- Offspring size
- Amount of parental care
- Senescence, programmed death
Life history strategies integrates all of these traits in a way that maximizes ;;
fitness that is molded through natural selection by environmental constraints
NO such thing as a perfect life history strategy which…
would result in unlimited production of viable offspring
Body size /growth
general pattern: fecundity increases w body size. larger individuals have more resources to devote to offspring. body size w affect aspects of survival as well
Maturity
general pattern: age maturity increases as adult lifespan or annual survival rate increase