INtro to ecology and evolution
1. While females are usually the choosy sex, males in some species are quite choosy. Male seahorses brood the developing eggs in a special pouch, and they are picky about which females place eggs there. Why does this life history make the males the choosy sex in this species?
2. Lobelia telekii and its relative, L. keniensis, both grow on Mount Kenya in Africa and have a similar potential lifespan (about 10 years). L. telekii grows on dry rocky slopes, where the annual rainfall is highly variable from year to year. During dry years, L. telekii individuals can survive but not reproduce.
L. keniensis is found in moist valley bottoms with more stable moisture supplies. As a result, each L. keniensis individual will likely experience several years with adequate moisture for reproduction.
Based on your knowledge of the ecological factors that promote semelparity, which of these species is more likely to be semelparous, and why?
1:) In animal kingdom usually females are invest more energy in reproduction & parental care. But in seahorses females are deposit eggs on males, then male releases sperms to fertilise the eggs. For next several weeks male take care of offsprings, produce hormones & then dispels them. More invested sex being the more choosy one.
2:) L. Telekii is Semelparous (a species is characterised by a single reproductive episode before death). L. telekii is monocarpic, produce a single rosette. The inflorescence of L. Telekii is larger in wet period (variable rainfall) than dry period. Here ecological factor are rosette size (correlated with inflorescence) & weather (dry/moist).
INtro to ecology and evolution 1. While females are usually the choosy sex, males in some...