The evolution of labile traits in sex- and age-structured populations.

ABSTRACT: Many quantitative traits are labile (e.g. somatic growth rate, reproductive timing and investment), varying over the life cycle as a result of behavioural adaptation, developmental processes and plastic responses to the environment. At the population level, selection can alter the distribution of such traits across age classes and among generations. Despite a growing body of theoretical research exploring the evolutionary dynamics of labile traits, a data-driven framework for incorporating such traits into demographic models has not yet been developed. Integral projection models (IPMs) are increasingly being used to understand the interplay between changes in labile characters, life histories and population dynamics. One limitation of the IPM approach is that it relies on phenotypic associ

SUBMITTER: Childs DZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4768649 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature