Trade-offs between growth and mortality and the maintenance of individual variation in growth

Abstract

Trade-offs between growth and mortality can occur for a variety of reasons. These include foraging and predation risk, growth and mature function, growth and somatic development, growth and immune function, or growth and resistance to physiological stressors. We use a simple life-history model to show how individual trade-offs between growth and mortality can lead to the maintenance of individual variation in growth rates through nearly equal fitness (solution of the Euler-Lotka equation) for individuals growing at different rates. We explore these consequences for the relationships between other life-history variables.