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We investigate how different stellar initial mass functions (IMFs) can affectthe mass loss and survival of star clusters. We find that IMFs with radicallydifferent low-mass cut-offs (between 0.1 and 2 Msun) do not change clusterdestruction time-scales as much as might be expected. Unsurprisingly, we findthat clusters with more high-mass stars lose relatively more mass throughstellar evolution, but the response to this mass loss is to expand and hencesignificantly slow their dynamical evolution. We also argue that it is verydifficult, if not impossible, to have clusters with different IMFs that areinitially "the same", since the mass, radius and relaxation times depend oneach other and on the IMF in a complex way. We conclude that changing the IMFto be biased towards more massive stars does speed up mass loss anddissolution, but that it is not as dramatic as might be thought.

How does a low-mass cut-off in the stellar IMF affect the evolution of young star clusters?