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© 1998 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

research-article

Phenotypic plasticity in fluctuating environments: consequences of the lack of individual optimization

John M. McNamara

School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, University Walk Bristol BS8 1TW, UK

Address correspondence to J. M. McNamara. E-mail: Johns.McNamara{at}bristol.ac.uk

ABSTRACT

I consider the problem of characterizing the optimal plastic response when there are large-scale fluctuations in the environment affecting all population members. Individuals differ in their state, and each makes a reproductive decision before the environmental conditions are known. An individual's state, its decision, and environmental conditions together determine the number of descendants left at the next decision epoch. I restrict attention to the simple problem in which the state of the descendants left at this epoch does not depend on these three factors. Because the environment is fluctuating, there is no individual optimization; instead the best action in one state implicitly depends on the best action in other states. I characterize an optimal state-dependent strategy, give a method of computation, and show how behavior of each individual following the optimal strategy may be reinterpreted as a form of "individual optimization." Concepts are illustrated with an example of optimal dutch size as a function of territory quality.

Key words: clutch size, geometric mean fitness, fluctuating environment, life history, state dependence.


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