Life History Evolution - 7 | Songbirds & personalities

Life History Evolution - 7 | Songbirds & personalities
Kees van Oers
  • Using passerines as models for research on life history evolution
- Passerines species are numerous, variable and therefore often used to study lifehistory questions 
- Density dependent effects play a major role in passerine life-history trade-offs 
- Trade-offs not only dependent on own decisions, but also on social partners

  • Individual differences in life history decisions (animal personality)
- Individuals within species differ consistently in their behaviour
- Personality is linked to Life-history evolution 
-Personality can help us to understand 
- within species variation 
- life-history trade-offs 
- Multiple optimal outcomes of optimality models
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This lesson contains 10 slides, with interactive quizzes and text slides.

Items in this lesson

Life History Evolution - 7 | Songbirds & personalities
Kees van Oers
  • Using passerines as models for research on life history evolution
- Passerines species are numerous, variable and therefore often used to study lifehistory questions 
- Density dependent effects play a major role in passerine life-history trade-offs 
- Trade-offs not only dependent on own decisions, but also on social partners

  • Individual differences in life history decisions (animal personality)
- Individuals within species differ consistently in their behaviour
- Personality is linked to Life-history evolution 
-Personality can help us to understand 
- within species variation 
- life-history trade-offs 
- Multiple optimal outcomes of optimality models

Slide 1 - Slide

'There is so much variation out there in the world, because there are trade-offs.' 

Kees van Oers

Slide 2 - Slide


A

Slide 3 - Quiz

Life history characteristics are traits that affect the life table of an organism, and can be imagined as various investments in growth, reproduction, and survivorship.
age- and size-specific reproductive investments
age- and size-specific mortality schedules


growth pattern


size at birth


length of life

number, size, and sex ratio of offspring

age and size at maturity

Slide 4 - Drag question

Name seven traits

Slide 5 - Open question

What is the carrying capacity?

Slide 6 - Open question

The selection pressures that determine the reproductive strategy, and therefore much of the life history, of an organism can be understood in terms of r/K selection theory. The central trade-off to life history theory is the number of offspring vs. the timing of reproduction.
r - selected species
K - selected species
Organisms with a high growth rate (r); 
produce a high number of offspring; 
minimal parental care; short lifespans. 
Suited to life in a stable environment in which they can rely on a long lifespan and a low mortality rate that will allow them to reproduce multiple times with a high offspring survival rate.
Subsist near the carrying capacity of their environment (K)
produce a relatively low number of offspring over a longer span of time, and have high parental investment.
Suited to life in an unstable environment, because they reproduce early and abundantly and allow for a low survival rate of offspring.

Slide 7 - Drag question

'Cost of early reproduction causes senescence in your partner.'

Kees van Oers

Slide 8 - Slide

52:00
Individual differences in life history decisions (animal personality)
- Individuals within species differ consistently in their behaviour
- Personality is linked to Life-history evolution
-Personality can help us to understand
- within species variation
- life-history trade-offs
- Multiple optimal outcomes of optimality models

Slide 9 - Slide

Great tits can have different personalities, they can be very exploratory or aggressive for example. Explain how that can make a huge difference on multiple life events :

Slide 10 - Open question