fecundity

(noun)

number, rate, or capacity of offspring production

Related Terms

  • Darwinian fitness
  • intraspecific
  • semelparous
  • iteroparous
  • interspecific
  • natural selection

Examples of fecundity in the following topics:

  • Density-Dependent and Density-Independent Population Regulation

    • The data shows that denser populations of the parasite exhibit lower fecundity: they contained fewer eggs .
    • The actual cause of the density-dependence of fecundity in this organism is still unclear and awaiting further investigation.
    • In this population of roundworms, fecundity (number of eggs) decreases with population density.
  • Life History Patterns and Energy Budgets

    • Fecundity is the potential reproductive capacity of an individual within a population.
    • In animals, fecundity is inversely related to the amount of parental care given to an individual offspring.
    • Plants with low fecundity produce few energy-rich seeds (such as coconuts and chestnuts) that have a good chance to germinate into a new organism.
    • Plants with high fecundity usually have many small, energy-poor seeds (as do orchids) that have a relatively-poor chance of surviving.
    • Some life history traits, such as fecundity, timing of reproduction, and parental care, can be grouped together into general strategies that are used by multiple species.
  • Natural Selection and Adaptive Evolution

    • An individual may carry a very beneficial genotype with a resulting phenotype that, for example, increases the ability to reproduce (fecundity), but if that same individual also carries an allele that results in a fatal childhood disease, that fecundity phenotype will not be passed on to the next generation because the individual will not live to reach reproductive age.
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