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r ‐ AND K ‐SELECTION REVISITED: THE ROLE OF POPULATION REGULATION IN LIFE‐HISTORY EVOLUTION
Author(s) -
Reznick David,
Bryant Michael J.,
Bashey Farrah
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/0012-9658(2002)083[1509:raksrt]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - ecology , selection (genetic algorithm) , life history , population , biology , life history theory , evolutionary biology , environmental ethics , geography , demography , sociology , philosophy , computer science , artificial intelligence
The theory of r ‐ and K ‐selection was one of the first predictive models for life‐history evolution. It helped to galvanize the empirical field of comparative life‐history and dominated thinking on the subject from the late 1960s through the 1970s. Large quantities of field data were collected that claimed to test predictions of the theory. By the early 1980s, sentiment about the theory had changed so completely that a proposal to test it or the use of it to interpret empirical results would likely be viewed as archaic and naïve. The theory was displaced by demographic models that concentrated on mortality patterns as the cause of life‐history evolution. Although demographic models are known for their density‐independent approach and focus on extrinsic mortality, these models can incorporate many ecological features captured by r ‐ and K ‐selection, such as density‐dependent population regulation, resource availability, and environmental fluctuations. We highlight the incorporation of these factors in recent theory, then show how they are manifest in our research on life‐history evolution in Trinidadian guppies ( Poecilia reticulata ). Explanations of the repeatable suites of life‐history differences across populations of guppies originate from demographic models of predator‐driven age‐specific mortality. Recently, careful examination of guppy demography and habitat has revealed that density‐dependent regulation and resource availability may have influenced the evolution of guppy life histories. In the field, these factors covary with predation risk; however, they can be uncoupled experimentally, providing insight into how they may have synergistically driven guppy life‐history evolution. Although life‐history theory has shifted away from a focus on r ‐ and K ‐selection, the themes of density‐dependent regulation, resource availability, and environmental fluctuations are integral to current demographic theory and are potentially important in any natural system.