Day 21 April

th 12

Chapter 14

Life History
The

vital statistics of the species

Includes:

age at first reproduction, probabilities of survival and reproduction at each age, litter size and frequency, and longevity

Designing an Organism
To structure its life history for maximum fitness, create one that could: produce many offspring, beginning just after birth, continuing every year, while growing tremendously large, to reduce the predation risk and living forever.

Evolutionary Constraints
These traits

are not all possible because selection that changes one feature tends to adversely affect others. tradeoffs

Evolutionary

Three areas to which an organism can allocate its resources:

Growth

Reproduction

Survival

Which evolutionary tradeoff do you think humans utilize?

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Reproduction and survival Reproduction and growth Number and size of offspring 2 and 3 All of the above

14.10 Things fall apart: What is aging and why does it occur?

Physiological Deterioration over Time

Aging: an increased risk of dying with increasing age.

Why do organisms age?

The force of natural selection lessens with advancing age.

Many genetic diseases kill old people, but almost none kill children.
Why not?
1) Imagine a mutation that causes a person carrying it to die at age 10. Will the person carrying that mutation pass it on to many offspring? Of course not. The carrier of that mutant gene will die before she gets a chance to pass it on to anyone. Alternative versions of the gene that dont cause death will be the only ones that persist. 2) Now imagine a mutation that causes a person carrying it to die at age 150. Will the person carrying that mutation pass it on to many offspring? Yes! The carrier of this mutant gene will already have had childrenpassing on the mutant gene to them long before she even knows that she carries the killer gene. In fact, she will no doubt die long before this mutation even has the opportunity to exert its disastrous effect. The same thing happens if the mutation has its negative effect at age 100. . . or 70. . . or even 50.

Cleaning out the Gene Pool

Mutations That Arise and Cause Their Carrier to Be More Likely to Die Later in Life

Such mutations include those that increase the risk from cancers or heart disease or other types of ailments. Do not affect reproductive output.

Consequently, these mutants are never cleaned out of a population.

Which tradeoff cannot be influenced by natural selection?

1. 2. 3. 4. Reproduction vs. survival Reproduction vs. growth Number and size of offspring Lifespan after reproduction

Which tradeoff cannot be influenced by natural selection?

1. 2. 3. 4. Reproduction vs. survival Reproduction vs. growth Number and size of offspring Lifespan after reproduction

14.11 What determines the longevity of different species?

Hazard Factors
High-risk

worlds

Death from external sources Reproduce early

Low-risk worlds

Death from external sources low

Can you predict which species should age more slowly in captivity?
A

porcupine or a guinea pig?

at the environmental hazard factor!

Look

Is it low or high?

 A porcupine in captivity can live 21 years and a captive guinea pig lives less than 10 years. In the wild the difference is even greater (15 years for the porcupine and only three or four years for the guinea pig).

Which animal is most likely to live the longest because it encounters few hazard factors in the wild? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Non-poisonous snake Mouse Robin Star fish Great White Shark

Which animal is most likely to live the longest because it encounters few hazard factors in the wild? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Non-poisonous snake Mouse Robin Star fish Great White Shark

14.12 Can we slow down the process of aging?

Life extension is possible.

Actress Jane Seymour had twins at age 44. As women delay having children, do you think humans could extend the life span as seen in the fruit fly experiment? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

14.13 Age pyramids reveal much about a population.

What is the baby boom?

In the United States, approximately 79 million babies were born during the Baby Boom. Much of this cohort of nineteen years (1946-1964) grew up with Woodstock, the Vietnam War, and John F. Kennedy as president.

Why is it bad news for young people today?

the question of how their retirement and health care needs will be met is one of the biggest issues facing society.

Which country has the highest proportion of its population below age 10?

1. Norway

2. Kenya

3. USA

Which country has the highest proportion of its population below age 10?

1. Norway

2. Kenya

3. USA

Population growth is alarmingly slow in Sweden and alarmingly fast in Mexico.

Why is there a difference?

The median of all the old as well as the new estimates is just over 10 billion, and the United Nations conservatively suggests that it is somewhere between 7 and 11 billion.

How high can it go?!

Very difficult

to assess just how many resources each person needs.

Ecological footprints

Evaluating how much land, how much food and water, and how much fuel, among other things, are necessary.
From the perspective of ecological footprints, the populations of many countries including the United States, Japan, Germany, and Englandcurrently consume far more resources than are available to them. Their citizens are living at an unsustainable level.

The carrying capacity of the planet should maintain ecosystems and still provide existing humans with the quality of life found in the United States. This means fewer humans overall.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

Chapter 15: Ecosystems and Communities

Organisms and their environments

Lectures by Mark Manteuffel, St. Louis Community College ; Clicker Questions by Kristen Curran, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Organisms that live on the backs of weevils

Lichens Rotting wood Grazing animals Scavengers Parasites

Which scenario below exemplifies an ecosystem?

1. A group of organisms of the same species living in the same place at the same time 2. Different species interacting together at the same place and time 3. Different species interacting with each other at the same time in a desert 4. A smaller species living on a larger species in a mutually beneficial relationship

Which scenario below exemplifies an ecosystem?

1. A group of organisms of the same species living in the same place at the same time 2. Different species interacting together at the same place and time 3. Different species interacting with each other at the same time in a desert 4. A smaller species living on a larger species in a mutually beneficial relationship

15.2 A variety of biomes occur around the world, each determined by temperature and rainfall.

Biomes
What

is the average temperature? What is the average rainfall (or other precipitation)? Is the temperature relatively constant or does it vary seasonally? Is the rainfall relatively constant or does it vary seasonally?

Biomes
Temperature and

precipitation dictate:

Primary productivity levels

the amount of organic matter produced

The

numbers and types of primary producer:

are the chief determinants of the amount and breadth of other life in the region.

In which part of the world would you expect to find desert?

1. Northern half of South America 2. Northern half of Africa 3. East coast of North America 4. India