Open AccessThe evolution of bequeathal in stable habitats
Author(s) -
Clarke Parry M. R.,
McElreath Mary Brooke,
Barrett Brendan J.,
Mabry Karen E.,
McElreath Richard
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.4549
Subject(s) - biological dispersal , philopatry , facultative , natural selection , biology , ecology , habitat , inclusive fitness , selection (genetic algorithm) , population , evolutionarily stable strategy , demography , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science
Adults sometimes disperse, while philopatric offspring inherit the natal site, a pattern known as bequeathal . Despite a decades‐old empirical literature, little theoretical work has explored when natural selection may favor bequeathal. We present a simple mathematical model of the evolution of bequeathal in a stable environment, under both global and local dispersal. We find that natural selection favors bequeathal when adults are competitively advantaged over juveniles, baseline mortality is high, the environment is unsaturated, and when juveniles experience high dispersal mortality. However, frequently bequeathal may not evolve, because the fitness cost for the adult is too large relative to inclusive fitness benefits. Additionally, there are many situations for which bequeathal is an ESS, yet cannot invade the population. As bequeathal in real populations appears to be facultative, yet‐to‐be‐modeled factors like timing of birth in the breeding season may strongly influence the patterns seen in natural populations.