BIO120H1 Chapter 7: Bio Chapter 7.doc
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BIO120H1 Full Course Notes
Verified Note
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Document Summary
Chapter 7 life histories and evolutionary fitness (132-144, a; 148-155, a; remainder, c) Life history: the schedule of an individual"s life when it reproduces, how many young in raises, how long it lives, etc. includes all behavioral and physiological adaptations. Life histories vary extremely between species, though, ultimately, each has about the same reproductive chances (i. e. having one offspring survive to maturity). Specific modifications of form and function are thought to be adaptive of an individual to increase its reproductive chances. These modifications are frequently linked to environmental factors and resource availability (e. g. birds can raise fewer young when food is limited). Generally, the number of young that a species rears is specific to how many will likely survive (adding more or few will detrimentally affect with compromise of efficiency). Behaviors which lead to increased reproductive fitness also add to evolutionary fitness, i. e. organisms which successfully reproduce will pass on their genes.
