WITHIN-BROOD COMPETITION AND THE OPTIMAL PARTITIONING OF PARENTAL INVESTMENT

Authors
BONABEAU E DENEUBOURG JL THERAULAZ G
Citation
E. Bonabeau et al., WITHIN-BROOD COMPETITION AND THE OPTIMAL PARTITIONING OF PARENTAL INVESTMENT, The American naturalist, 152(3), 1998, pp. 419-427
Citations number
29
Categorie Soggetti
Ecology,"Biology Miscellaneous
Journal title
The American naturalist → ACNP
ISSN journal
00030147
Volume
152
Issue
3
Year of publication
1998
Pages
419 - 427
Database
ISI
SICI code
0003-0147(1998)152:3<419:WCATOP>2.0.ZU;2-L
Abstract
In this article, we introduce a simple within-brood competitive growth model that maximizes parental fitness in unpredictable food condition s in species that exhibit parental care, progressive provisioning, and an initial brood overproduction. We argue that competition between si blings may provide a proximate mechanism for parents to adjust the num ber of surviving offspring or the social organization of the group in social species to food conditions.