This book introduces life history evolution to postgraduate students just beginning their research in population biology, ecology, or evolutionary biology. It discusses major analytical tools, gives examples of their applications, and provides problems for discussion at the end of each chapter. It will interest all biologists wishing to understand the evolution of the life cycle and the causes of phenotypic variation in fitness, and it contains the seeds of applications of life history theory to population dynamics, behaviour, and community ecology. Care is taken in Part I to build up the tools needed for a well-rounded evolutionary explanation: demography, quantitative genetics, reaction norms, trade offs and phylogenetic/comparative analysis. Part II discusses the evolution of major life history traits. This is a comprehensive, up-to-date text in a field that holds a central position in modern ecology and evolution.
Author(s): Stephen C. Stearns
Edition: 1
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 1992
Language: English
Pages: 249
Tags: life history, evolution, biology, Stearns
PROLOGUE
CONTENTS
PART I: THE ELEMENTS OF EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATION
1
Evolutionary explanation
Chapter overview
Introduction
Context
Life history traits
An explanatory framework
Chapter previews for Part I
Natural selection and fitness
Adaptation and constraint
Recommended reading
2
Demography: age and stage structure
Chapter overview
Introduction
Life tables
The Euler-Lotka equation
Calculating r
The stable age distribution
Generation time
Rates of increase
Reproductive value
Residual reproductive value and the costs of reproduction
Age and stage distributions
Fitness measures
Comment on fitness
Sensitivity and elasticity
Situational sensitivity
Summary of introductory demography
Recommended reading
Problems
Appendix: a Pascal program to calculate r
Quantitative genetics and reaction norms
Chapter overview
Introduction
The basic model
Heritabilities of life history traits
Selection on quantitative traits
How is genetic variation for life history traits maintained?
Genetic covariance
Maximum likelihood estimates
Measurements of genetic covariances for life history traits
Quantitative genetics in heterogeneous environments
The heritability of phenotypic plasticity
Other ways to quantify plasticity
The integration of the plastic response
Connecting quantitative genetics to demography
Closing comment
Chapter summary
Recommended reading
Problems
Trade-offs
Chapter overview
Introduction
Physiological trade-offs
Microevolutionary trade-offs: intra-individual and intergenerational
Why might we observe the ‘wrong’ trade-off?
Current reproduction vs. survival
Current vs. future reproduction
Reproduction vs. growth
Current reproduction vs. condition
Number vs. size of offspring
Discussion
Chapter summary
Recommended
reading
Problems
Lineage-specific effects
Chapter overview
Introduction
Examples of lineage-specific effects
What a lineage is and how to define it
Applications of cladistics to ecology
Statistical approaches to the comparative method
The origin of phylogenetic effects
Discussion: can comparative results demonstrate adaptation?
Chapter summary
Recommended reading
Problems
CONTENTS
Discussion of Part I
Discussion overview
Constraints
The rate of evolution of life history traits
The interpretation of optimality models
Problems
PART II: THE EVOLUTION OF THE MAJOR LIFE HISTORY TRAITS
6
Age and size at maturity
Chapter overview
Introduction
Patterns of maturation
Optimality models of age and size at maturity
Predicting optimal age and size at maturity: maximizing r
Extending the model from population means to reaction norms
Predicting optimal] age and size at maturity: maximizing expected number
of offspring
Discussion
Chapter summary
Problems
7
Number and size of offspring
Chapter overview
Introduction
Background: the natural history of clutch and offspring size
Effects causing deviations from the Lack clutch
Size of offspring
Chapter summary
Recommended reading
Problems
8
Reproductive lifespan and ageing
Chapter overview
Introduction
A phylogenetic perspective on lifespan
Selection for longer reproductive lifespan 1: mean mortality rates
Selection for longer reproductive lifespan 2: variation in mortality rates
Intrinsic effects limiting the lifespan of the disposable soma: ageing
Chapter summary
Recommended reading
Problem
CONTENTS
Discussion of Part II
Life history strategies
Are any general models useful?
Are there any genetic constraints at all?
Extensions of life history theory
Potential applications of life history theory
Paradoxes
Problems
Appendices
1 Genetic correlations of life history traits
2 Evidence on trade-offs
3. Elementary allometry
Glossary
References
Author index
Subject index
