Life-history patterns
Life-history patterns
Guppy populations differ not only in their mating tactics but also in how they make their investment in reproduction. Life history traits such as age and size at maturity, number and size of offspring, vary markedly between populations. Much of this variation is a consequence of predation risk, but other environmental factors such as food availability, seasonality, fish density, and temperature are also important. This chapter explains why the Trinidadian system has proved an invaluable test of life history theory. It examines population differences in phenotypic plasticity and discusses age-related changes in reproductive behaviour. The consequences of key life history decisions for mating success in both males and females are also considered.
Keywords: predators, resource availability, competition, seasonality, phenotypic plasticity, temperature effects, senescence
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
