Search results for "Evolutionary selection"

Social versus individual learning: fitness consequences of two different strategies for defence

2014

Rats bred for low aerobic capacity become promptly fatigued and have slow metabolic recovery after stimulated, maximal muscle contractions.

2012

AIM. Muscular fatigue is a complex phenomenon affected by muscle fiber type and several metabolic and ionic changes within myocytes. Mitochondria are the main determinants of muscle oxidative capacity which is also one determinant of muscle fatigability. By measuring the concentrations of intracellular stores of high-energy phosphates it is possible to estimate the energy production efficiency and metabolic recovery of the muscle. Low intrinsic aerobic capacity is known to be associated with reduced mitochondrial function. Whether low intrinsic aerobic capacity also results in slower metabolic recovery of skeletal muscle is not known. Here we studied the influence of intrinsic aerobic capac…

Laboratory relationships between adult lifetime reproductive success and fitness surrogates in a Drosophila littoralis population.

2011

The difficulties in measuring total fitness of individuals necessitate the use of fitness surrogates in ecological and evolutionary studies. These surrogates can be different components of fitness (e.g. survival or fecundity), or proxies more uncertainly related to fitness (e.g. body size or growth rate). Ideally, fitness would be measured over the lifetime of individuals; however, more convenient short-time measures are often used. Adult lifetime reproductive success (adult LRS) is closely related to the total fitness of individuals, but it is difficult to measure and rarely included in fitness estimation in experimental studies. We explored phenotypic correlations between female adult LRS…

“The tale of the three little tits”: Different nest building solutions under the same environmental pressures

2020

Evolutionary selection pressures, and species-specific ecology and behavior, promote a great variability in the size and composition of nests. However, it would be expected that phylogenetically close species, with similar ecological needs, breeding at the same time in the same place, would also build similar nests. In contrast with this, previous studies have found differences in nest mass and composition among closely related sympatric species. These differences have been attributed to small differences in body size (smaller species building larger and/or more insulated nests), or to the different ways in which species perceive the environment (e.g. perceived predation risk). In this stud…

Evolutionary selection and variation in family businesses

2011

PurposeThis qualitative study attempts to understand what kinds of evolutionary selection and variation occur in family businesses during the preparation of a managerial and ownership succession.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted by interviewing members of one family business in Louisiana, USA and one in Finland in order to contribute to the understanding of succession preparation in small family businesses with two generations. Evolutionary economics was adapted for this interdisciplinary study to explain evolutionary changes in a family business succession.FindingsThe findings indicate that both selection and variation can take place through different routes during the pre…