Differential allocation of parental investment and the trade-off between size and number of offspring.

ABSTRACT: When parents decide how much to invest in current versus future offspring and how many offspring to divide their current investments between, the optimal decision can be affected by the quality of their partner. This differential allocation (DA) is highly dependent on exactly how partner quality affects reproductive costs and offspring benefits. We present a stochastic dynamic model of DA in which females care for a series of clutches when mated with males of different quality. In each reproductive event, females choose the size and number of offspring. We find that if partner quality affects reproductive costs, then DA in total reproductive investment occurs only via changes in the number of offspring. DA in the optimal size of the offspring occurs only if partner quality affects the offs

SUBMITTER: Ratikainen II 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6111174 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature