Multitasking and the evolution of optimal clutch size in fluctuating environments.

ABSTRACT: Adaptive studies of avian clutch size variation across environmental gradients have resulted in what has become known as the fecundity gradient paradox, the observation that clutch size typically decreases with increasing breeding season length along latitudinal gradients, but increases with increasing breeding season length along elevational gradients. These puzzling findings challenge the common belief that organisms should reduce their clutch size in favor of additional nesting attempts as the length of the breeding season increases, an approach typically described as a bet-hedging strategy. Here, we propose an alternative hypothesis-the multitasking hypothesis-and show that laying smaller clutches represents a multitasking strategy of switching between breeding and recovery from breedi

SUBMITTER: Liu M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6157677 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature