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Dynamic heterogeneity and life history variability in the kittiwake
Author(s) -
Steiner Ulrich K.,
Tuljapurkar Shripad,
Orzack Steven Hecht
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of animal ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.134
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1365-2656
pISSN - 0021-8790
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2009.01653.x
Subject(s) - biology , population , life history theory , variation (astronomy) , life history , reproduction , spatial heterogeneity , evolutionary biology , ecology , demography , sociology , physics , astrophysics
Summary 1. Understanding the evolution of life histories requires an assessment of the process that generates variation in life histories. Within‐population heterogeneity of life histories can be dynamically generated by stochastic variation of reproduction and survival or be generated by individual differences that are fixed at birth. 2. We show for the kittiwake that dynamic heterogeneity is a sufficient explanation of observed variation of life histories. 3. The total heterogeneity in life histories has a small contribution from reproductive stage dynamics and a large contribution from survival differences. We quantify the diversity in life histories by metrics computed from the generating stochastic process. 4. We show how dynamic heterogeneity can be used as a null model and also how it can lead to positive associations between reproduction and survival across the life span. 5. We believe our approach to identifying the nature of among‐individual heterogeneity yields important insights into the forces that generate within‐population variation of life‐history traits. It provides an alternative to claims that fixed individual differences are a major determinant of heterogeneity in life histories.