Evolution of Reproduction Periods in Seasonal Environments.

Evolution of Reproduction Periods in Seasonal Environments. Am Nat. 2020 Oct;196(4):E88-E109 Authors: Sun Z, Parvinen K, Heino M, Metz JAJ, de Roos AM, Dieckmann U Abstract AbstractMany species are subject to seasonal cycles in resource availability, affecting the timing of their reproduction. Using a stage-structured consumer-resource model in which juvenile development and maturation are resource dependent, we study how a species' reproductive schedule evolves, dependent on the seasonality of its resource. We find three qualitatively different reproduction modes. First, continuous income breeding (with adults reproducing throughout the year) evolves in the absence of significant seasonality. Second, seasonal income breeding (with adults reproducing unless they are starving) evolves when resource availability is sufficiently seasonal and juveniles are more efficient resource foragers. Third, seasonal capital breeding (with adults reproducing partly through the use of energy reserves) evolves when resource availability is sufficiently seasonal and adults are more efficient resource foragers. Such capital breeders start reproduction already while their offspring are still experiencing starvation. Changes in seasonality lead to continuous transitions between continuous and seasonal income breeding, but the change between income and capital breeding involves a hysteresis pattern, such that a population's evolutionarily stable reproducti...
Source: The American Naturalist - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: Am Nat Source Type: research