Brood size in an uncertain world
Reproduction in an uncertain world is fraught. The consequences of investing in too many offspring in a resource poor season can be disastrous but so too is missing the opportunity of a resource rich year. We consider a simple population and individual growth model and use Lyapunov exponents to find...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221362 |
| _version_ | 1827919900427943936 |
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| author | Alex James Alexander Hann E. Penelope Holland |
| author_facet | Alex James Alexander Hann E. Penelope Holland |
| author_sort | Alex James |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Reproduction in an uncertain world is fraught. The consequences of investing in too many offspring in a resource poor season can be disastrous but so too is missing the opportunity of a resource rich year. We consider a simple population and individual growth model and use Lyapunov exponents to find analytical results for the optimum brood size under stochastic environmental conditions. We show that if the environment shows dramatic changes between breeding seasons choosing a smaller brood size is more likely to be successful but the best strategy is to synchronize your reproduction to the food availability. Finally, we show that if the cost of having offspring is high it can be better to live in a highly varying world with a plastic strategy that synchronizes to the environment than to live in a deterministic world with a constant strategy, a finding with implications for invasive species and climate change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T04:05:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3c83111f4b2a4b8e9fc6ef435c8c5832 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T04:05:04Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-3c83111f4b2a4b8e9fc6ef435c8c58322023-06-21T07:46:41ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032023-06-0110610.1098/rsos.221362Brood size in an uncertain worldAlex James0Alexander Hann1E. Penelope Holland2School of Maths and Stats, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New ZealandSchool of Maths and Stats, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New ZealandDepartment of Biology, University of York, York, UKReproduction in an uncertain world is fraught. The consequences of investing in too many offspring in a resource poor season can be disastrous but so too is missing the opportunity of a resource rich year. We consider a simple population and individual growth model and use Lyapunov exponents to find analytical results for the optimum brood size under stochastic environmental conditions. We show that if the environment shows dramatic changes between breeding seasons choosing a smaller brood size is more likely to be successful but the best strategy is to synchronize your reproduction to the food availability. Finally, we show that if the cost of having offspring is high it can be better to live in a highly varying world with a plastic strategy that synchronizes to the environment than to live in a deterministic world with a constant strategy, a finding with implications for invasive species and climate change.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221362mastingreproductionstochastic modeloptimal brood size |
| spellingShingle | Alex James Alexander Hann E. Penelope Holland Brood size in an uncertain world Royal Society Open Science masting reproduction stochastic model optimal brood size |
| title | Brood size in an uncertain world |
| title_full | Brood size in an uncertain world |
| title_fullStr | Brood size in an uncertain world |
| title_full_unstemmed | Brood size in an uncertain world |
| title_short | Brood size in an uncertain world |
| title_sort | brood size in an uncertain world |
| topic | masting reproduction stochastic model optimal brood size |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221362 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alexjames broodsizeinanuncertainworld AT alexanderhann broodsizeinanuncertainworld AT epenelopeholland broodsizeinanuncertainworld |