PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #2: Thermodynamics and Complexity. Presiding: T. Allen.
Monday, August 6, 2001. 8:00 AM to 11:45 AM. Madison Ballroom D.
Energy storage and the evolution of population dynamics.
Shertzer, Kyle1, Ellner, Stephen2, 1 2
ABSTRACT- We explore the mutual dependence of life-history evolution and population dynamics by modeling a structured rotifer population that preys on a dynamic food supply. A physiologically based sub-model describes how individual predators allocate assimilated energy amongst growth, reproduction, and storage. We use invasibility analyses to predict evolutionary stable strategies for energy allocation and focus on the ecological role of energy storage. Candidate criteria, potentially measurable in field studies, fail to elucidate the optimal allocation schemes. The predicted strategies indicate that selection strongly favors storage allocation for juveniles, but only for adults when prey densities are high. With the evolution of energy storage, population dynamics shift from aperiodic to stable cycles.
KEY WORDS: dynamic energy budget, evolutionary stable strategy, population dynamics, rotifer