Bliard, L. orcid.org/0000-0002-2349-8513, Martin, J.S. orcid.org/0000-0001-8704-6076, Paniw, M. orcid.org/0000-0002-1949-4448 et al. (6 more authors) (2025) Detecting context dependence in the expression of life history trade‐offs. Journal of Animal Ecology, 94 (3). pp. 379-393. ISSN 0021-8790
Abstract
Life history trade-offs are one of the central tenets of evolutionary demography. Trade-offs, depicting negative covariances between individuals' life history traits, can arise from genetic constraints, or from a finite amount of resources that each individual has to allocate in a zero-sum game between somatic and reproductive functions. While theory predicts that trade-offs are ubiquitous, empirical studies have often failed to detect such negative covariances in wild populations. One way to improve the detection of trade-offs is by accounting for the environmental context, as trade-off expression may depend on environmental conditions. However, current methodologies usually search for fixed covariances between traits, thereby ignoring their context dependence. Here, we present a hierarchical multivariate ‘covariance reaction norm’ model, adapted from Martin (2023), to help detect context dependence in the expression of life-history trade-offs using demographic data. The method allows continuous variation in the phenotypic correlation between traits. We validate the model on simulated data for both intraindividual and intergenerational trade-offs. We then apply it to empirical datasets of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) and Soay sheep (Ovis aries) as a proof-of-concept showing that new insights can be gained by applying our methodology, such as detecting trade-offs only in specific environments. We discuss its potential for application to many of the existing long-term demographic datasets and how it could improve our understanding of trade-off expression in particular, and life history theory in general.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | covariance reaction norm; demography; heterogeneity; life‐history; mixed effects; multivariate model; phenotypic correlation; trade‐off |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 09 Sep 2024 10:53 |
Last Modified: | 07 Mar 2025 15:51 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/1365-2656.14173 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:216956 |