Evolution of reproductive life histories in island birds worldwide

Evolution of reproductive life histories in island birds worldwide.

Island environments typically share characteristics such as impoverished biotas and less-seasonal climates, which should be conducive to specific adaptations by organisms. However, with the exception of morphological studies, broad-scale tests of patterns of adaptation on islands are rare. Here, I examine reproductive patterns in island birds worldwide. Reproductive life histories are influence...

Evolution of mammal life histories

If we assume that adult life span and age-at-maturity are described correctly by quarter power allometries across (typical) mammal species, we are tempted to look for some fundamental explanation. The explanation must acknowledge that within-species growth is sigmoid and not a power function at all, and that natural selection probably sets the age at maturity in the face of externally imposed m...

Diving Birds of North America: 6 Comparative Life Histories and Reproductive Success Rates

Diversification of Life Histories in New World Birds

lOak Creek Lab 0/ Biology, Department 0/ Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA; 'Department 0/ Migration & immunoecology, Max Planck institut/iir Ornithologie, D-78315 RadolJzell am Bodensee, Germany; 3Department 0/ Animal Science, University o/California, Davis, California 95616, USA; 'Department o/Natural Resources & Environmental Science, University 0/...

Economics and the evolution of life histories.

B irth and death are subjects of perennial interest. They are shaped by both physiology and behavior, which are themselves shaped (presumably) by natural selection. Thus, it seems natural to suppose that evolutionary ideas would form the core of demography. This, however, is not the case. Students of birth and death are largely divided: social scientists call the subject demography, and evoluti...