Evolution of Stable Population Dynamics through Natural Selection

Analyses of very simple models of population growth indicate that the dynamic behaviour of populations may be very complex — ranging from stable equilibrium points through limit cycles to chaos — even in constant environments. Yet, convincing evidence for chaotic dynamics in natural populations is l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 1996-09, Vol.263 (1374), p.1145-1151
Main Authors: Ebenman, Bo, Johansson, Annie, Jonsson, Tomas, Wennergren, Uno
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chaos theory
Demography
Ecological genetics
Ecological modeling
Evolution
Natural sciences
Natural selection
Naturvetenskap
Population density
Population dynamics
Population ecology
Population growth rate
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Summary:Analyses of very simple models of population growth indicate that the dynamic behaviour of populations may be very complex — ranging from stable equilibrium points through limit cycles to chaos — even in constant environments. Yet, convincing evidence for chaotic dynamics in natural populations is limited to very few cases. This apparent paradox has received considerable attention among ecologists. We have investigated the population dynamic consequences of density dependent selection in a stage-structured population model by means of an invasibility-analysis. We focus on the situation where juvenile survival and maturation rates are density dependent, which is common in organisms with plastic growth. Based on energetic considerations we assume that there exists a trade-off between the sensitivities of juvenile survival and maturation rate to population density. Given this plausible assumption we show that selection tends to minimize the sensitivity of juvenile survival to population density at the expense of a lower maturation rate and hence a longer time to reach maturity. As a consequence selection will often lead to more stable populations.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.1996.0167