Individual heterogeneity in reproductive rates and cost of reproduction in a long-lived vertebrate.

ABSTRACT: Individual variation in reproductive success is a key feature of evolution, but also has important implications for predicting population responses to variable environments. Although such individual variation in reproductive outcomes has been reported in numerous studies, most analyses to date have not considered whether these realized differences were due to latent individual heterogeneity in reproduction or merely random chance causing different outcomes among like individuals. Furthermore, latent heterogeneity in fitness components might be expressed differently in contrasted environmental conditions, an issue that has only rarely been investigated. Here, we assessed (i) the potential existence of latent individual heterogeneity and (ii) the nature of its expression (fixed vs. variable)

SUBMITTER: Chambert T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3728946 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature