Multi-objective optimization shapes ecological variation
- Ecological systems contain a huge amount of quantitative variation between and within species and locations, which makes it difficult to obtain unambiguous verification of theoretical predictions. Ordinary experiments consider just a few explanatory factors and are prone to providing oversimplified answers because they ignore the complexity of the factors that underlie variation. We used multi-objective optimization (MO) for a mechanistic analysis of the potential ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences of variation in the life-history traits of a species of moth. Optimal life-history solutions were sought for environmental conditions where different life stages of the moth were subject to predation and other known fitness-reducing factors in a manner that was dependent on the duration of these life stages and on variable mortality rates. We found that multi-objective optimal solutions to these conditions that the moths regularly experience explained most of the life-history variation within this species. Our results demonstrate that variation can have a causal interpretation even for organisms under steady conditions. The results suggest that weather and species interactions can act as underlying causes of variation, and MO acts as a corresponding adaptive mechanism that maintains variation in the traits of organisms.
Author: | Pekka Kaitaniemi, Annette Scheiner, Tero Klemola, Kai Ruohomäki |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-301165 |
Parent Title (English): | Proceedings of the Royal Society B |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2013/06/20 |
Year of first Publication: | 2012 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2013/06/20 |
Tag: | computational ecology; life history; optimization; variation |
Volume: | 279 |
Issue: | 1729 |
Page Number: | 6 |
First Page: | 820 |
Last Page: | 825 |
Note: | Postprint version. Original publication in: Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2012) 279(1729): 820-825; doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2311.2009.01154.x |
HeBIS-PPN: | 347413277 |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie) |
Sammlungen: | Sammlung Biologie / Sondersammelgebiets-Volltexte |
Licence (German): | Deutsches Urheberrecht |