BIO205H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Henry David Thoreau, Semelparity And Iteroparity, Germination
Document Summary
How do organisms trade off life history characteristics? a. A resource that is used for one aspect of life history cannot be also used for another. Maximum fitness cannot be achieved by maximizing all life history traits. Seed size - measure of quality because they had a good start (can survive longer) but less number of seeds. Control: take 2 eggs and put back in control nest. Survival rate of adults decrease with 2 chicks added b/c more chicks to feed -> use more energy and resources -> decrease life expectancy. Highest survival seen in adults who had 2 chicks re moved. In all cases, females on average show less life expectancy. Semelparous: one reproductive event perlife time (semel = once, pario = to beget) Iteroparous: multiple reproductive events per life time (itero = to repeat) Result: # plants, flowers, fruits, seed germination %: semelparous > iteroparous. Big plant -> lo of resources required to grow and make structure.
