LIFE-HISTORY AND THE FITNESS CONSEQUENCES OF IMPERFECT INFORMATION

The acquisition of information incurs costs in time, energy, exposure to predation, and/or lost opportunity. Without information, however, a nimals will be unable to assess the costs and benefits of decisions. O btaining perfect information may be impossible, but how close to perfe ct do animals need assessments of ecological factors, such as predatio n risk, before estimation errors affect fitness? A recent article sugg ested that animals should be tolerant to imperfect information about p redation risk, possibly relying on simple rules of thumb. Using a dyna mic state variable approach, we examine some of the assumptions underl ying this work, and show that tolerance towards imperfect information is dependent on life-history strategy. By changing the relationship be tween energy and fitness, assumptions about life-history strategies ca n be modified. Calculations show that tolerance to imperfect informati on is sensitive to these assumptions with some life histories leading to overestimation, while other life histories result in underestimatio n. One consistent effect across life histories is that animals with a higher rate of increase in fitness with respect to energy should show greater tolerance to imperfect information.