A Primer of Life Histories: Ecology, Evolution, and Application

241 Pages·2021·4.941 MB·English

by  Jeffrey A. Hutchings

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: ,
a primer of life histories ecology
,
evolution and application
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 28/07/21, SPi
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 28/07/21, SPi
A Primer of Life Histories
Ecology, Evolution, and Application
Jeffrey A. Hutchings
Professor of Biology, Department of Biology,
Dalhousie University, Canada
1
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1
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DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198839873.001.0001
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To my parents, Wendy and Alexander Hutchings
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Preface
Science is a way of seeing the world through description, analysis, and interpretation of
empirical patterns and processes. Many of the mechanics of science are technical in
nature. One may need to know how to run a model simulation, isolate DNA, set a trap,
raise seedlings, use a centrifuge, operate a boat engine. The technical demands of
research are often obvious.
Less obvious is the need to identify a contextual, interpretative, and analytical frame-
work that allows you to make sense of research findings and to draw conclusions about
their potential utility or significance. Are there overarching principles, theories, or other
generalities that would aid you in interpreting your research, communicating it to others,
and increasing the probability that your work will in some small or large way advance
knowledge and understanding? As a naïve master’s student in the early 1980s, I strug-
gled to identify such a framework. I had little confidence in my ability to distinguish
fundamentally important from fundamentally mundane questions.
My confidence received an unexpected boost by Stephen Stearns’ 1976 review on
life- history evolution, written when he was a graduate student at University of British
Columbia. It offered a fresh, taxonomically broad way of thinking about adaptation and
natural selection. Why, indeed, should an organism reproduce once in its life and die
immediately thereafter?
By 1992, sufficient life-h istory data were available that allowed for the testing of ideas,
the poking of model assumptions, and the prodding of hypotheses. The stage was thus
set for the first two general books on life- history evolution. Stearns wrote one; Derek
Roff of McGill University wrote the other. Although bearing the same title (Evolution of
life histories), there were differences in how topics were approached. Reaction norms
figured prominently in Stearns’ contribution; quantitative genetics was emphasized by
Roff. Joined by Roff’s Life history evolution (2002), these works contributed immeasur-
ably to the torrid pace of life- history research that continues unabated (Figure 1).
Given this apparent enthusiasm, it seemed an opportune time to engage and hope-
fully enthuse new generations of students and researchers on the grandeur of life-h istory
evolution, its theoretical underpinnings, and some practical applications. Comprising
ten chapters, this primer is intended to be accessible to readers from a broad range of
academic backgrounds and experience who have interests in ecology, evolution, conser-
vation, or resource management.
Chapters 1 to 4 focus on core elements of life-h istory theory: population growth; trait
variability; trade- offs; genetic architecture; reaction norms; reproductive effort; and
reproductive costs. Chapter 5 offers tractable means of estimating fitness and predicting
optimal changes in life history, using life tables. The next three chapters examine life-
history evolution in variable environments, including bet- hedging (Chapter 6), theories
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viii Preface
5000
s
e
ori 4000
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hi
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n lif 3000
o
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er
p
a 2000
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mb 1000
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1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
Year of publication
Figure P.1 Annual number of published papers whose titles, abstracts, or keywords included ‘life history’
or ‘life histories’ (hyphenated and non- hyphenated), according to the Web of Science, from 1900 to 2020.
for the evolution of offspring number and size (Chapter 7), and alternative reproductive
tactics and strategies (Chapter 8).
Chapters 9 and 10 bridge the fundamentals of life- history theory to matters of applied
interest from conservation and resource-m anagement perspectives. Scaling u p from
individuals to species, Chapter 9 illustrates how life histories are inextricably linked to
the vulnerability of species to extinction, exploitation, and climate change. Chapter 10
completes the primer with a look at how life histories affect sustainable rates of ex ploit-
ation and how exploitation can, in turn, affect life histories.
The inspiration of this book is large enough. If it fails in its portrayal, the fault lies with
an art that is deficient rather than an enthusiasm that is wanting.
Jeffrey A. Hutchings
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
8 January 2021
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Acknowledgements
This primer had its genesis on a snowy winter evening in Skåne, Sweden, on 27 January
2014, the result of a lengthy conversation with Per Lundberg, professor of theoretical
and evolutionary ecology at Lund University. Four years later, having decided I could
create sufficient time to write, I travelled to Iceland to write chapter one in Auðunnarstofu,
the outstanding fourteenth-c entury replica building serving as the office of my official
host, the Bishop of Hólar, Solveig Lára Guðmundsdóttir. The trip, hosted also by my
dear friend and colleague Skúli Skúlason (professor of fish biology at Hólar University),
provided me with an ideal setting in which to think, walk, and write. Bjarni Kristófer
Kristjánsson (professor and head of the department of aquaculture and fish biology,
Hólar University) facilitated my interactions with the Icelandic academic and non-
academic communities, never failing to enlighten and inspire me with his cavernous
knowledge of Icelandic history. In central Finland, where I wrote considerable portions
of the book, I am indebted to Anna Kuparinen (professor of natural resources and
environment, University of Jyväskylä) for her patience, support, intellect, and sagacity.
There are many others to whom I wish to offer my sincere thanks, admiration, and
appreciation. First and foremost are those who reviewed portions, or the entirety, of one
or more draft chapters: Hugues Benoît, Anna Kuparinen, Andrew Simons, Doug Swain,
and Laura Weir. Several colleagues provided figures, photographs, data, published works,
or unpublished manuscripts during the writing period, including Ken Andersen, Spencer
Barrett, Eric Charnov, Larry Greenberg, David Hardie, Richard Law, Susan McRae,
Julian Olden, Fanie Pelletier, Jeremy Prince, William Le Quesne, and Patrick White. I am
very grateful to Jon Tremaine (Cornwall, UK) whose species-infused hare adorns the
book cover. Ian Sherman and Charles Bath (Oxford University Press) faithfully and
professionally advised me throughout the writing period.
I wish to acknowledge those who, perhaps unwittingly, provided mentorship and
guidance as I strived to educate myself on matters pertaining to life-h istory evolution
through the 1980s and 1990s: Graham Bell, Richard Law, Ransom Myers, Linda
Partridge, Derek Roff, and Robert Wootton. Lastly, I owe my greatest thanks to my PhD
supervisor Douglas Morris, not only for introducing me to Stearns’ (1976) review in
1983, but for impressing upon me the importance of intellectual honesty, academic
integrity, respectful interactions with others, and asking questions of fundamental
importance.