Abstract
Bilinear models are useful in ecology for two reasons. The trivial reason is that they represent the next step up from linearity, and therefore in the direction of increasing realism. The more substantive reason has to do with the nature of evolution by natural selection. According to the neo-Darwinian theory, reproductive and/or mortality advantages accrue to individuals whose physiology and behavior are better adapted to their environment than their compatriots. By “adapted,” one means simply “beter designed,” in the egineering sense.
Presented at the 1978 U.S. — Italy Symposium on Variable Structure Systems, (Taormina, Sicily, Sept. 1978).
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References
Macevicz, S. and G. Oster. 1976. Modelling social insect populations II. Optimal reproductive strategies in primitively eusocial insect colonies. J. Behav. Ecol. & Sociobiology, 1: 265–282.
Oster, G., and S. Rocklin. 1978. Optimization models in evolutionary Biology. In Some Mathematical Questions in Biology, ed. S. Levin, Providence: Amer. Math. Soc.
Oster, G., and E. O. Wilson. 1978. The Evolution and Ecology of Caste in Social Insects. Princeton Univ. Press (in press).
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© 1978 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Oster, G. (1978). Bilinear Models in Ecology. In: Mohler, R.R., Ruberti, A. (eds) Recent Developments in Variable Structure Systems, Economics and Biology. Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, vol 162. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45509-4_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-45509-4_19
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