Evolution Of Life Histories

Evolution Of Life Histories PDF Author: Derek Roff
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780412023910
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 554

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Book Description
There are many different types of organisms in the world: they differ in size, physiology, appearance, and life history. The challenge for evolutionary biology is to explain how such diversity arises. The Evolution of Life Histories does this by showing that natural selection is the principal underlying force molding life history variation. The book describes in particular the ways in which variation can be analyzed and predicted. It covers both the genetic and optimization approaches to life history analysis and gives an overview of the general framework of life history theory and the mathematical tools by which predictions can be made and tested. Factors affecting the age schedule of birth and death and the costs of reproduction are discussed. The Evolution of Life Histories concentrates on those theoretical developments that have been tested experimentally. It will interest both students and professionals in evolution, evolutionary ecology, mathematical and theoretical biology, and zoology and entomology.

Evolution Of Life Histories

Evolution Of Life Histories PDF Author: Derek Roff
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780412023910
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 554

Get Book Here

Book Description
There are many different types of organisms in the world: they differ in size, physiology, appearance, and life history. The challenge for evolutionary biology is to explain how such diversity arises. The Evolution of Life Histories does this by showing that natural selection is the principal underlying force molding life history variation. The book describes in particular the ways in which variation can be analyzed and predicted. It covers both the genetic and optimization approaches to life history analysis and gives an overview of the general framework of life history theory and the mathematical tools by which predictions can be made and tested. Factors affecting the age schedule of birth and death and the costs of reproduction are discussed. The Evolution of Life Histories concentrates on those theoretical developments that have been tested experimentally. It will interest both students and professionals in evolution, evolutionary ecology, mathematical and theoretical biology, and zoology and entomology.

The Evolution of Life Histories

The Evolution of Life Histories PDF Author: Stephen C. Stearns
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description


A Primer of Life Histories

A Primer of Life Histories PDF Author: Jeffrey A. Hutchings
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198839871
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Life histories can be defined as the means by which individuals (or more precisely genotypes) vary their age- or stage-specific expenditures of reproductive effort in response to genetic, phenotypic, and environmental correlates of survival and fecundity. Life histories reflect the expression of traits most closely related to individual fitness, such as age and size at maturity, number and size of offspring, and the timing of the expression of those traits throughout an individual's life. In addition to addressing questions of fundamental importance to ecology and evolution, life-history research plays an integral role in species conservation and management. This accessible primer encompasses the basic concepts, theories, and applied elements of life history evolution, including patterns of trait variability, underlying mechanisms of plastic/evolutionary change, and the practical utility of life-history traits as metrics of species/population recovery, sustainable exploitation, and risk of extinction. Empirical examples are drawn from the entire spectrum of life. A Primer of Life Histories is designed for readers from a broad range of academic backgrounds and experience including graduate students and researchers of ecology and evolutionary biology. It will also be useful to a more applied audience of academic/government researchers in fields such as wildlife biology, conservation biology, fisheries science, and the environmental sciences.

Evolution and Genetics in Life Histories

Evolution and Genetics in Life Histories PDF Author: H. Dingle
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1468462709
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
This volume is the result of a symposium entitled "Variation in Life Histories: Genetics and Evolutionary Processes" sponsored by the Program in Evolutionary Ecology and Behavior of the University of Iowa and held in Iowa City on October 13 and 14, 1980. Prompted by a recent upsurge of interest in the evolution of life histories, we chose this topic because of the obvious association between life history traits and Darwinian fit ness. If such an association were to be fruitfully investigated, it would require the closer cooperation of population and evolutionary ecologists and quantitative and population geneticists. To encourage such an association, our symposium had four major aims: first, to facilitate intellectual exchange across disciplines among an array of biologists studying life histories; second, to encourage exploration of genetic variance and covari ance for life history traits; third, to consider the ecological background for genetic vari ability; and finally, to facilitate a comparative overview both within and among species. Obviously such broad aims cannot be met totally in a single volume, but we think we have succeeded reasonably well in providing a representative and nourishing intel lectual feast. We see this book as a stimulus to the coordination of future efforts in an important and expanding area of inquiry. We have divided the book into six sections.

Mechanisms of Life History Evolution

Mechanisms of Life History Evolution PDF Author: Thomas Flatt
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191621021
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
Life history theory seeks to explain the evolution of the major features of life cycles by analyzing the ecological factors that shape age-specific schedules of growth, reproduction, and survival and by investigating the trade-offs that constrain the evolution of these traits. Although life history theory has made enormous progress in explaining the diversity of life history strategies among species, it traditionally ignores the underlying proximate mechanisms. This novel book argues that many fundamental problems in life history evolution, including the nature of trade-offs, can only be fully resolved if we begin to integrate information on developmental, physiological, and genetic mechanisms into the classical life history framework. Each chapter is written by an established or up-and-coming leader in their respective field; they not only represent the state of the art but also offer fresh perspectives for future research. The text is divided into 7 sections that cover basic concepts (Part 1), the mechanisms that affect different parts of the life cycle (growth, development, and maturation; reproduction; and aging and somatic maintenance) (Parts 2-4), life history plasticity (Part 5), life history integration and trade-offs (Part 6), and concludes with a synthesis chapter written by a prominent leader in the field and an editorial postscript (Part 7).

Trees of Life

Trees of Life PDF Author: Theodore W. Pietsch
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421411857
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 373

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Book Description
Evolution.

Life History Evolution

Life History Evolution PDF Author: Derek A. Roff
Publisher: Sinauer Associates Incorporated
ISBN: 9780878937561
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 527

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Book Description
Life History Evolution represents a synthetic approach to the understanding of the evolution of life history variation using the three types of environment (constant, stochastic, predictable) as the focus under which the theory is developed and tested. First, the author outlines a general framework for the study and analysis of life history variation, bringing together the approaches of quantitative genetic modeling and optimality analysis. Using this framework, he then discusses how life histories evolve in the three different types of environments, each of which presents unique characteristics. The theme of the book is that an understanding of evolutionary change requires analysis at both the genetic and phenotypic levels, and that the environment plays a central role in such analyses. Intended for graduate students and researchers, the book's emphasis is on assumptions and testing of models. Mathematical processes are described, but mathematical derivations are kept to a minimum. Each chapter includes a summary, and boxes provide supplementary material.

The Evolution of Life

The Evolution of Life PDF Author: Graham Bell
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019871257X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 495

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Book Description
The Evolution of Life stands alone amongst the major textbooks by focusing on key principles to offer a truly accessible, unintimidating treatment of evolutionary biology.

Primate Life Histories and Socioecology

Primate Life Histories and Socioecology PDF Author: Peter M. Kappeler
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226424642
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
We know a great deal about roles the environment plays in shaping survival, reproductive success, and even social systems among primates. But how do primate life histories affect social systems and vice versa? Do baboons' patterns of growth, for example, help to structure their societies? Does fission-fusion sociality interact with predator pressure to influence the timing of maturation in chimpanzees? Exploring these issues and many others, the contributors to Primate Life Histories and Socioecology provide the first systematic attempt to understand relationships among primate life histories, ecology, and social behavior conjointly. Topics covered include how primate life histories interact with rates of evolution, predator pressure, and diverse social structures; how the slow maturation of primates affects the behavior of both young and adult caregivers; and reciprocal relationships between large brains and increased social and behavioral complexity. The first collection of its kind, this book will interest a wide range of researchers, from anthropologists and evolutionary biologists to psychologists and ecologists. Contributors: Paul-Michael Agapow, Susan C. Alberts, Jeanne Altmann, Robert A. Barton, Nicholas G. Blurton Jones, Robert O. Deaner, Robin I. M. Dunbar, Jörg U. Ganzhorn, Laurie R. Godfrey, Kristen Hawkes, Nick J. B. Isaac, Charles H. Janson, Kate E. Jones, William L. Jungers, Peter M. Kappeler, Susanne Klaus, Phyllis C. Lee, Steven R. Leigh, Robert D. Martin, James F. O'Connell, Sylvia Ortmann, Michael E. Pereira, Andy Purvis, Caroline Ross, Karen E. Samonds, Jutta Schmid, Stephen C. Stearns, Michael R. Sutherland, Carel P. van Schaik, and Andrea J. Webster.

The Evolution of Human Life History

The Evolution of Human Life History PDF Author: Kristen Hawkes
Publisher: James Currey
ISBN:
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 532

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Book Description
Human beings may share 98 percent of their genetic makeup with their nonhuman primate cousins, but they have distinctive life histories. When and why did these uniquely human patterns evolve? To answer that question, this volume brings together specialists in hunter-gatherer behavioral ecology and demography, human growth, development, and nutrition, paleodemography, human paleontology, primatology, and the genomics of aging. The contributors identify and explain the peculiar features of human life histories, such as the rate and timing of processes that directly influence survival and reproduction. Drawing on new evidence from paleoanthropology, they question existing arguments that link human's extended childhood dependency and long 'post-reproductive'lives to brain development, learning, and distinctively human social structures. The volume reviews alternative explanations for the distinctiveness of human life history and incorporates multiple lines of evidence in order to test them.