Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Biodemography of Human Reproduction and Fertility pp 135–160Cite as

A Life History Approach to Fertility Rates in Rural Gambia: Evidence for Trade-offs or Phenotypic Correlations?

  • Chapter

Abstract

Life history theory predicts that a trade-off will occur between investment in current and future reproduction. We test this hypothesis in a rural Gambian population by determining whether women who have invested heavily in reproduction in the past have lower reproductive rates in the present. We find the opposite: women of high parity for a given age have higher reproductive rates than those of lower parity. We also find no differences in fertility rate between women who began reproducing early and those who began reproducing later, nor does the sex of the child at the start of the birth interval affect subsequent fertility rate. These results suggest that phenotypic correlations are prevalent in this population. Women of high quality are able to reproduce at a high rate throughout their reproductive careers, women of low quality are only able to devote relatively little effort to reproduction throughout their lives. We have tried to control for this heterogeneity among women by including variables for phenotypic condition in our model. Condition was measured by adult height, weight and haemoglobin level. Weight (controlling for height) and haemoglobin were positively correlated with fertility rate, which reinforces the view that phenotypic correlations are prevalent. Even controlling for these variables, a positive correlation was still observed between investment in past and present reproduction. This suggests the heterogeneity between women that leads to these phenotypic correlations is not adequately captured by these measures of female body condition. In this population, some of this unexplained heterogeneity may be related to genetic variance in the ability to resist disease.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Aguirre, G. P., Palloni, A., & Jones, R. E. (1998). Effects of lactation on post-partum amenorrhoea: re-estimation using data from a longitudinal study in Guatemala. Population Studies, 52(2), 231–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, D. J. (1990). On the evolution of human brood size. Evolution, 44(2), 438–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersson, G. (1999). Selectivity in higher-order childbearing in Sweden (Stockholm Research Reports in Demography No. 137). Stockholm: Demography Unit, Stockholm University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, R. C., Jenike, M. R., Ellison, P. T., Bentley, G. R., Harrigan, A. M., & Peacock, N. R. (1992). The ecology of birth seasonality among agriculturalists in central Africa. Journal of Biosocial Science, 24, 393–412.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bantje, H. F. W. (1988). Female stress and birth seasonality in Tanzania. Journal of Biosocial Science. 20(2), 195–202.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beisel, W. R. (1982). Synergism and antagonism of parasitic diseases and malnutrition. Reviews of Infectious Diseases, 4, 746–750.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, G. R. (1999). Aping our ancestors: Comparative aspects of reproductive ecology. Evolutionary Anthropology, 7(5), 175–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Billewicz, W. Z., & McGregor, I. A. (1981). The demography of two West African (Gambian) villages, 1951–75. Journal of Biosocial Science, 13, 219–240.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Billewicz, W. Z., & McGregor, I. A. (1982). A birth-to-maturity study of heights and weights in two West African (Gambian) villages, 1951–75. Annals of Human Biology, 9, 309–320.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, R., & Bogaert, A. F. (1997). The relation of closed birth intervals to the sex of the preceding child and the sexual orientation of the succeeding child. Journal of Biosocial Science. 29( 1), 111–118.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bledsoe, C., Banja, F., & Hill, A. G. (1998). Reproductive mishaps and western contraception: an African challenge to fertility theory. Population and Development Review, 24(1), 15–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bongaarts, J., Frank, O., & Lesthaeghe, R. (1984). The proximate determinants of fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. Population and Development Review, 10, 511–537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (1989). Early maturing Kipsigis women have higher reproductive success than late maturing women and cost more to marry. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, 24, 145–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, S., Colson, E., Lee, J., & Scudder, T. (1995). Ten thousand Tonga: a longitudinal anthropological study from Southern Zambia, 1956–1991. Population Studies, 49, 91–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronk, L. (2000). Female-biased parental investment and growth performance among the Mukogodo. In L. Cronk & N. Chagnon & W. Irons (Eds.), Adaptation and Human Behaviour: an Anthropological Perspective (pp. 203–221). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delgado, H. L., Martorell, R., & Klein, R. E. (1982). Nutrition, lactation, and birth interval components in rural Guatemala. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 35(6), 1468–1476.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dew, J. E., Don, R. A., Hughes, G. J., Johnson, T. C., & Steigrad, S. J. (1998). The influence of advanced age on the outcome of assisted reproduction. Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, 15(4), 210–214.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, P. T. (1994). Advances in human reproductive ecology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 23, 255–275.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fink, A. E., Fink, G., Wilson, H., Bennie, J., Carroll, S., & Dick, H. (1992). Lactation, nutrition and fertility and the secretion of prolactin and gonadotropins in Mopan Mayan women. Journal of Biosocial Science, 24(1), 35–52.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. A. (1930). The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, H. (1995). Multilevel Statistical Models (Second ed.). London: Edward Arnold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossman, C. J. (1985). Interactions between the gonadal steroids and the immune system. Science. 227, 257–261.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gustafsson, L. (1994). Infectious disease, reproductive effort and the cost of reproduction in birds. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B. 346, 323–331.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, E. M., & Low, B. S. (1992). Contemporary abortion patterns: A life-history approach. Ethology and Sociobiology, 13, 35–48.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, K., & Hurtado, A. M. (1996). Ache Life History: The Ecology and Demography of a Foraging People. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmans, M. D. A. F., Obermann-de Boer, G. L., Florack, E. I. M., van Kampen-Donker, M., & Kromhout, D. (1988). Determinants of growth during early infancy. Human Biology, 60(2), 237–249.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huffman, S. L., Ford, K., Allen, H. A., & Streble, P. (1987). Nutrition and fertility in Bangladesh: breast-feeding and post-partum amenorrhoea. Population Studies, 41(3), 447–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jain, A. K., Hermalin, A. I.,& Sun, T. H. (1979). Lactation and natural fertility. In H. Leridon & J. Menken (Eds.), Natural Fertility (pp. 149–194). Liege: Ordina.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jasienska, G., & Ellison, P. T. (1998). Physical work causes suppression of ovarian function in women. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B. 265 ( 1408), 1847–1851.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Johnsen, T. S., & Zuk, M. (1999). Parasites and tradeoffs in the immune response of female red jungle fowl. Oikos, 86(3), 487–492.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kent, S. (1992). Anemia through the ages: changing perspectives and their implications. In P. Stuart-Macadam & S. Kent (Eds.), Diet, Demography and Disease: Changing Perspectives on Anemia (pp. 1–30). New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, K. M., Blomberg, S. P., Duffy, D. L., Heath, A. C., Owens, I. P. F. & Martin, N. G. (2001). Natural selection and quantitative genetics of life-history traits in western women: a twin study. Evolution, 55, 423–435.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Komura, H., Miyake, A., Chen, C. F., Tanizawa, O., & Yoshikawa, H. (1992). Relationship of age at menarche and subsequent fertility. European Journal of Obstetrics Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 44(3), 201–203.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Korpelainen, H. (2000). Fitness, reproduction and longevity among European ar istocrats and rural Finnish families in the 1700s and 1800s. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, 267, 1765–1770.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lamb, W. H., Lamb, C. M. B., Foord, F. A., & Whitehead, R. G. (1984). Changes in maternal and child mortality rates in three isolated Gambian villages over ten years. Lancet, 2 (8408), 912–9 14.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, U., Chung, W., & Das Gupta, M. (1998). Fertility and son preference in Korea. Population Studies, 52(3), 317–325.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, U., & Vaupel, J. W. (1993). Hutterite fecundability by age and parity: strategies for frailty modelling of event histories. Demography, 30(1), 81–102.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lochmiller, R. L., & Deerenberg, C. (2000). Trade-offs in evolutionary immunology: just what is the cost of immunity? Oikos, 88(1), 87–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Low, B. S. (1991). Reproductive life in nineteenth century Sweden: an evolutionary perspective on demographic phenomena. Ethology and Sociobiology, 12, 411–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lunn, P. G. (1992). Breast-feeding patterns, maternal milk output and lactational infecundity. Journal of Biosocial Science, 24(3), 317–324.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lycett, J. E., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (1999). Abortion rates reflect the optimization of parental investment strategies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, 266(1436), 2355–2358.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mace, R., & Sear, R. (1997). The birth interval and the sex of children in a traditional African population: an evolutionary analysis. Journal of Biosocial Science, 29, 499–507.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Madrigal, L. (1993). Lack of birth seasonality in a 19th century agricultural population: Escazu, Costa-Rica. Human Biology, 65(2), 255–271.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Margulis, S. W., Altmann, J., & Ober, C. (1993). Sex-biased lactational duration in a human population and its reproductive costs. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, 32, 41–45.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N. (1992). Endemic disease, nutrition and fertility in developing countries. Journal of Biosocial Science, 24, 355–365.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McFalls, J. A., & McFalls, M. H. (1984). Disease and Fertility. London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGregor, I. A. (1991). Morbidity and mortality at Keneba, the Gambia, 1950–75. In R. G. Feacham & D. T. Jamison (Eds.), Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 306–324). Oxford: Oxford University Press for the World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGregor, I. A., Williams, K., Billewicz, W. Z., & Thomson, A. M. (1966). Haemoglobin concentration and anaemia in young West African (Gambian) children. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 60, 650–667.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Møller, A. P. (1997). Parasitism and the evolution of host life history. In D. H. Clayton & J. Moore (Eds.), Host-Parasite Evolution: General Principles and Avian Models. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreno, J., Sanz, J. J., & Arriero, E. (1999). Reproductive effort and T-lymphocyte cell-mediated immunocompetence in female pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, 266(1424), 1105–1109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nath, D. C., Leonetti, D. L., & Steele, M. S. (2000). Analysis of birth intervals in a non-contracepting Indian population: an evolutionary ecological approach. Journal of Biosocial Science, 32(3), 343–354.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nath, D. C., Singh, K. K., Land, K. C., & Talukdar, P. K. (1993). Breast-feeding and postpartum amenorrhea in a traditional society: a hazards model analysis. Social Biology, 40( 1–2), 74–86.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, K., & Evans, M. R. (2000). Ecological immunology: life history trade-offs and immune defense in birds. Behavioural Ecology, 11(1), 19–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, K. A., Holman, D. J., & Wood, J. W. (1998). Declining fecundity and ovarian ageing in natural fertility populations. Maturitas, 30(2), 127–136.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Otor, S. C. J., & Pandey, A. (1998). Puberty and the family formation process in Sudan: age-at-menarche differential fecundity hypothesis revisited. Social Biology. 45(3–4), 246–259.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Panterbrick, C., Lotstein, D. S., & Ellison, P. T. (1993). Seasonality of reproductive function and weight-loss in rural Nepali women. Human Reproduction, 8(5), 684–690.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pathak, S. K., & Mathur, R. S. (1988). Immune-endocrine interactions. In S. Mathur & C. M. Fredericks (Eds.), Perspectives in Immunoreproduction (pp. 22–34). New York: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennington, R., & Harpending, H. (1993). The Structure of an African Pastoralist Community: Demography, History and Ecology of the Ngamiland Herero. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popkin, B. M., Guilkey, D. K., Akin, J. S., Adair, L. S., Udry, J. R., & Flieger, W. (1993). Nutrition, lactation, and birth spacing in Filipino women. Demography, 30(3), 333–352.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodgers, J. L., Kohler, H. P., Kyvik, K. O., & Christensen, K. (2001). Behavior genetic modeling of human fertility: findings from a contemporary Danish twin study. Demography, 38(1), 29–42.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roff, D. A. (1992). The Evolution of Life Histories. New York: Chapman and Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saino, N., Calza, S., & Moller, A. P. (1997). Immunocompetence of nestling barn swallows in relation to brood size and parental effort. Journal of Animal Ecology, 66(6), 827–836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sear, R., Mace, R., Shanley, D., & McGregor, I. A. (2001). The fitness of twin mothers: evidence from rural Gambia. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 14, 433–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sear, R. S. (2001). Evolutionary Demography of a Rural Gambian Population. Unpublished PhD thesis, University College London, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sear, R., Mace, R., & McGregor, I. A. (in press). The effects of kin on female fertility in rural Gambia. Evolution and Human Behavior.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, B. C., & Verhulst, S. (1996). Ecological immunity: costly parasite defences and trade-offs in evolutionary ecology. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 11, 317–321..

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, J. D., & Willett, J. B. (1993). Its about time: using discrete-time survival analysis to study duration and the timing of events. Journal of Educational Statistics, 18(2), 155–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skarstein, F., Folstad, I., & Liljedal, S. (2001). Whether to reproduce or not: immune suppression and costs of parasites during reproduction in the Arctic charr. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 79(2), 271–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snijders, T., & Bosker, R. (1999). Multilevel Analysis: an Introduction to Basic and Advanced Multilevel Modelling. London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steams, S. C. (1992). The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stover, J. (1998). Revising the proximate determinants of fertility framework: What have we learned in the past 20 years? Studies in Family Planning, 29(3), 255–267.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strassmann, B. I., & Warner, J. H. (1998). Predictors of fecundability and conception waits among the Dogon of Mali. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 105, 167–184.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swenson, I., & Thang, N. M. (1993). Determinants of birth interval in Vietnam: a hazard model analysis. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, 39, 163–167.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, E. D. B. (1965). Marriage, Childbirth and Early Childhood in a Gambian Village: a Socio-Medical Study. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tracer, D. P. (1996). Lactation, nutrition, and postpartum amenorrhea in lowland Papua New Guinea. Human Biology, 68(2), 277–292.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tullberg, B. S., & Lummaa, V. (2001). Induced abortion ratio in modern Sweden falls with age, but rises again before menopause. Evolution and Human Behavior, 22(1), 1–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Udry, J. R. (1979). Age at menarche, at first intercourse and at first pregnancy. Journal of Biosocial Science, 11, 433–441.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Udry, J. R., & Cliquet, R. L. (1982). A cross-cultural examination of the relationship between ages at menarche, marriage, and 1st birth. Demography, 19(1), 53–63.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, L. T., & Beckerleg, S. (1993). Is health sustainable ? A village study in the Gambia. Lancet, 341, 1327–1330.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. W. (1994). Dynamics of Human Reproduction: Biology, Biometry and Demography. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. W., & Weinstein, M. (1988). A model of age-specific fecundability. Population Studies, 42, 85–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguchi, K. (1991). Event History Analysis. California: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaldivar, M. E., Lizarralde, R., & Beckerman, S. (1991). Unbiased sex ratios among the Bari: an evolutionary interpretation. Human Ecology, 19(4), 469–498.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Rebecca Sear
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ruth Mace
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ian A. McGregor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oklahoma Norman, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

    Joseph Lee Rodgers

  2. Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

    Hans-Peter Kohler

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sear, R., Mace, R., McGregor, I.A. (2003). A Life History Approach to Fertility Rates in Rural Gambia: Evidence for Trade-offs or Phenotypic Correlations?. In: Rodgers, J.L., Kohler, HP. (eds) The Biodemography of Human Reproduction and Fertility. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1137-3_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1137-3_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5410-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1137-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation