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Environmental variability and the persistence of multiple emergence strategies

  • Behavioural Ecology
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Abstract

Studies of plant and animal populations have demonstrated the occurrence of multiple and mixed life history strategies such as polymodal timing of germination and emergence from dormancy. We present the results of a simulation model used to test whether between-year variance in mortality can lead to the persistence of multiple hatching strategies considered over an ecological time scale (50 years). The model is based on the general life history characteristics of a population of planktonic copepods (Diaptomus sanguineus) in Bullhead Pond, Rhode Island. Our model results demonstrate that, given a range of between-year variance in mortality, multiple strategies for timing of emergence can persist in a common environment for ecologically relevant periods of time. A qualitative test of the model comparing field estimates of mean and variance of mortality in Bullhead Pond with the region of persistence indicates that the model results are in approximate agreement with field estimates. The results suggest that variability in year-to-year selection pressures, such as predation or harsh winters, may play an important role in determining the evolution of life histories.

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  1. Bart T. De Stasio Jr

    Present address: Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 680 N. Park Street, 53706, Madison, WI, U.S.A.

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  1. Section of Ecology and Systematics, Corson Hall, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY, U.S.A.

    Bart T. De Stasio Jr & Nelson G. Hairston Jr

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  2. Nelson G. Hairston Jr
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De Stasio, B.T., Hairston, N.G. Environmental variability and the persistence of multiple emergence strategies. Bltn Mathcal Biology 54, 313–334 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02464836

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02464836

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