scholarly journals Multitasking and the evolution of optimal clutch size in fluctuating environments

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (17) ◽  
pp. 8803-8817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Liu ◽  
Dustin R. Rubenstein ◽  
Siew-Ann Cheong ◽  
Sheng-Feng Shen
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Fluctuating Environments ◽  
Optimal Clutch Size

Is there an Optimal Clutch Size in Snow Geese?

1987 ◽  
Vol 130 (6) ◽  
pp. 839-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Rockwell ◽  
C. S. Findlay ◽  
F. Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Snow Geese ◽  
Optimal Clutch Size

Competition, the Fitness of Offspring, and Optimal Clutch Size

1975 ◽  
Vol 109 (970) ◽  
pp. 677-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warren Y. Brockelman
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Optimal Clutch Size

Fluctuating Environments and Clutch Size Evolution in Great Tits

1993 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
pp. 507-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lily W. Liou ◽  
Trevor Price ◽  
Mark S. Boyce ◽  
Christopher M. Perrins
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Size Evolution ◽  
Fluctuating Environments

scholarly journals Evidence for r - and K -selection in a wild bird population: a reciprocal link between ecology and evolution

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1829) ◽  
pp. 20152411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernt-Erik Sæther ◽  
Marcel E. Visser ◽  
Vidar Grøtan ◽  
Steinar Engen
Keyword(s):  
Density Dependence ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Small Population ◽  
Environmental Stochasticity ◽  
Fluctuating Environments ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
Large Clutch

Understanding the variation in selection pressure on key life-history traits is crucial in our rapidly changing world. Density is rarely considered as a selective agent. To study its importance, we partition phenotypic selection in fluctuating environments into components representing the population growth rate at low densities and the strength of density dependence, using a new stochastic modelling framework. We analysed the number of eggs laid per season in a small song-bird, the great tit, and found balancing selection favouring large clutch sizes at small population densities and smaller clutches in years with large populations. A significant interaction between clutch size and population size in the regression for the Malthusian fitness reveals that those females producing large clutch sizes at small population sizes also are those that show the strongest reduction in fitness when population size is increased. This provides empirical support for ongoing r - and K -selection in this population, favouring phenotypes with large growth rates r at small population sizes and phenotypes with high competitive skills when populations are close to the carrying capacity K . This selection causes long-term fluctuations around a stable mean clutch size caused by variation in population size, implying that r - and K -selection is an important mechanism influencing phenotypic evolution in fluctuating environments. This provides a general link between ecological dynamics and evolutionary processes, operating through a joint influence of density dependence and environmental stochasticity on fluctuations in population size.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document