Unit 2: Life Histories

Question 1

All individuals have an _______, which shapes how individuals survive and reproduce

Answer 1

energy budget

Question 2

What is an Energy Budget?

Answer 2

allocation of energy resources for body maintenance, reproduction, and parental care

Question 3

Can you have both fecundity AND parental care?

Answer 3

no

Question 4

What is Fecundity?

Answer 4

potential reproductive capacity of an individual, which is usually measured in females due to asymmetry of sexes

Question 5

What is Parental Care?

Answer 5

investment by parents in the production, survival, and reproduction of offspring

Question 6

What are the typically trade-offs in life history traits (fecundity, parental care)?

Answer 6

you can have few offspring with high parental care or lots of offspring with low parental care

Question 7

What is the Type I survivorship curve?

Answer 7

high in seed/offspring size but low in seed/offspring amount/number

Question 8

What is the Type III survivorship curve?

Answer 8

low in seed/offspring size but high in seed/offspring amount/number

Question 9

What trade-off issues does the time of reproduction present?

Answer 9

Early Reproduction
- allocate lots of energy to growth
- greater chance that you survive to reproductive age
Late Reproduce
- slower growth, need to survive longer before reproducing
- but if individuals survive to reproductive age they are more “mature”

Question 10

Reproduction is costly in terms of lifetime fitness as reproducing more offspring now reduces the ability to survive and reproduce later. True or False?

Answer 10

True

Question 11

There is no variation in how species allocate their energy budget to the number of times they breed. True or False?

Answer 11

False, there is variation.

Question 12

What is Semelparity?

Answer 12

life history strategy characterized by a single reproductive event followed by death

Question 13

What is Iteroparity?

Answer 13

life history strategy characterized by a multiple reproductive events during the lifetime of a species

Question 14

Describe r - selection life history (Type III survivorship).

Answer 14

1. high fecundity
2. low parental care
3. fast maturity
4. small body size
5. low disease/predator resistance
6. low survivorship/lifespan

Question 15

Describe K - selection life history (Type I survivorship).

Answer 15

1. low fecundity
2. high parental care
3. slow maturity
4. large body size
5. high disease/predator resistance
6. high survivorship/lifespan