Definition
Fast and slow life history strategies are predictable patterns in energy allocation that fall on a life history “continuum” of how organisms allocate their limited energetic resources between the competing demands of somatic development and reproduction so as to maximize fitness in their local ecology. Strategies with a bias in effort made towards somatic development are called slow life history strategies, while strategies with a bias in effort made towards reproduction are called fast life history strategies.
Introduction
Life history theory states that energy is inherently limited and that tradeoffs must be made in how energy is spent because organisms cannot simultaneously invest energy into multiple competing needs. Thus, organisms should make tradeoffs in allocations that best help to enhance fitness in their local ecology (Roff 1992). The predictable patterns of tradeoffs made across organisms’ lifespans can...
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Prokosch, M.L., Corrigan, E. (2016). Fast Versus Slow Strategies. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1917-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1917-1
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