RESTITUTION OF r- AND K-SELECTION AS A MODEL OF DENSITY-DEPENDENT NATURAL SELECTION

Dawkins (36, p. 293) observes that "ecologists enjoy a curious love/hate relationship with the r/K concept, often pretending to disapprove of it while finding it indispensable." Others have suggested that the model of rand K-selection is inadequate and outmoded and does not further our understanding of life history phenomena (105, 120, 123). These views unfortunately result from frequent misuse and overgeneralization of the model. I contend that rand K-selection may have important ramifications for our understanding of life history evolution, but for the model to be useful, it must be interpreted strictly as it was originally formulated: as a model of density-dependent natural selection. To minimize confusion, I begin this review with an outline of rand K-selection explicitly as a model of density-dependent natural selection. I then attempt to place this model within a historical context with other life history theory. As with recent criticisms of competition theory (109), I find that rand K-selection suffers from a lack of true tests of its hypotheses. Although it may play a significant role in the evolution of life histories, there are few empirical studies that can identify density dependence that is independent of other potential selective forces.

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