When infant mortality is high
[ Select ]
individuals should invest in survival.
individuals should invest in reproduction.

When adult mortality is high
[ Select ]
individuals should invest in reproduction.
individuals should invest in survival.

Question

When infant mortality is high 
[ Select ]
individuals should invest in survival.
individuals should invest in reproduction.

When adult mortality is high 
[ Select ]
individuals should invest in reproduction.
individuals should invest in survival.

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question presents two life-history trade-off decisions under different mortality pressures, formatted as two dropdowns. We will evaluate each possible choice for both blanks and explain why each option might be considered or rejected based on (or contrasted with) typical life-history reasoning.

First blank (When infant mortality is high):
- Option: invest in survival. Probing the idea, one might reason that when infant mortality is high, individuals could benefit from allocating energy toward surviving early life to ensure they reach reproductive age and realize future reproductive opportunities. Survival investments could include somatic maintenance or parental/behavioral strategies that reduce early-life mortality, potentially increasing the chance of reaching the reproductive window.
- Option: invest in reproduction. A common life-history expectation under high juvenile mortality is to favor early or rapid reproduction to ensure some offspring are produced before death occurs, i.e., passing genes before an early fatal event. This would be a strategy emphasizing early reproductive effort over long-term survival investments.
- Why one might be uncertain: The balancing act hinges on whether increasing early-life survival probability or increasing early reproduction yields higher expected lifetime fitness given the harsh juvenile environment. Different models or species contexts can tilt the optimal strategy one way or the other.

Second blank (When adult mortality is high):
- Option: invest in reproduction. The logic here is that if adults are unlikely to survive many more years, it can be advantageous to allocate energy toward current reproduction rather than delaying offspring production for survival-enhancing traits. This maximizes short-term reproductive output before death, aligning with a strategy to exploit the remaining lifespan.
- Option: invest in survival. Alternatively, one could argue for continuing to invest in survival to prolong the window for reproduction, in case survival gains later opportunities to reproduce or to reliably produce more and/or higher-quality offspring. However, if adult mortality is already high, the return on further survival investments may be limited, making immediate reproduction more favorable.

Now, applying the provided answer list to these options:
- For the infant-mortality-high scenario, the selected option is invest in survival. This choice suggests an interpretation where ensuring survival to reach later reproductive opportunities is prioritized despite high juvenile mortality, possibly reflecting a strategy where the probability of surviving to adulthood is so critical that any survival-enhancing investment yields greater fitness payoffs than early reproduction.
- For the adult-mortality-high scenario, the selected option is invest in reproduction. This aligns with the idea that when adults are likely to die soon, it is advantageous to allocate energy toward producing offspring now rather than delaying reproduction for survival gains that may not materialize before death.

Assessing why the other combinations are less favored here:
- Infant mortality high and invest in reproduction would emphasize early offspring output at the expense of survival gains during infancy; if the model or species context indicates that reaching adulthood is a crucial bottleneck, this switch could produce lower lifetime fitness by failing to overcome early-life hazards.
- Infant mortality high and invest in survival (as chosen) presumes that improving juvenile survival has a larger marginal effect on expected reproduction later, which can be the case in some life-history strategies where survival to a stable adult state unlocks substantial future reproductive potential.
- Adult mortality high and invest in survival would be optimal only if extending life markedly increases future reproduction potential, but if death is likely in the near term, delaying reproduction for survival may yield diminished returns.
- Adult mortality high and invest in reproduction emphasizes capitalizing on immediate reproductive opportunities, which is often favored when remaining lifespan is limited.

In summary, the two selected choices correspond to prioritizing survival during infancy to secure future reproductive chances, and prioritizing immediate reproduction when adults are at high risk of dying soon. The reasoning above contrasts each option, highlighting the trade-offs and potential fitness consequences behind each choice.

BIOL 1001 (090-095) Unit 4.1 Learning Quiz: Evolutionary ecology of aging

When infant mortality is high [ Select ] individuals should invest in survival. individuals should invest in reproduction. When adult mortality is high [ Select ] individuals should invest in reproduction. individuals should invest in survival.

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