Sex allocation / Stuart A. West.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

West, Stuart A., 1970-

Series:

Monographs in population biology ; 44.

Monographs in population biology ; 44

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sex allocation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (481 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of theoretical and empirical studies of sex allocation, transforming how we understand the allocation of resources to male and female reproduction in vertebrates, invertebrates, protozoa, and plants. In this landmark book, Stuart West synthesizes the vast literature on sex allocation, providing the conceptual framework the field has been lacking and demonstrating how sex-allocation studies can shed light on broader questions in evolutionary and behavioral biology. West clarifies fundamental misconceptions in the application of theory to empirical data. He examines the field's successes and failures, and describes the research areas where much important work is yet to be done. West reveals how a shared underlying theoretical framework unites findings of sex-ratio variation across a huge range of life forms, from malarial parasites and hermaphroditic worms to sex-changing fish and mammals. He shows how research on sex allocation has been central to many critical questions and controversies in evolutionary and behavioral biology, and he argues that sex-allocation research serves as a key testing ground for different theoretical approaches and can help resolve debates about social evolution, parent-offspring conflict, genomic conflict, and levels of selection. Certain to become the defining book on the subject for the next generation of researchers, Sex Allocation explains why the study of sex allocation provides an ideal model system for advancing our understanding of the constraints on adaptation among all living things in the natural world.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1. Sex Allocation

CHAPTER 2. The Düsing-Fisher Theory of Equal Investment

CHAPTER 3. Interactions between Relatives I: Cooperation and Competition

CHAPTER 4. Interactions between Relatives II: Local Mate Competition

CHAPTER 5. Interactions between Relatives III: Extended Local Mate Competition Theory

CHAPTER 6. Conditional Sex Allocation I: Basic Scenarios

CHAPTER 7. Conditional Sex Allocation II: Population Consequences and Further Complications

CHAPTER 8. Sex Allocation When Generations Overlap

CHAPTER 9. Conflict I: Between Individuals

CHAPTER 10. Conflict II: Sex Allocation Distorters

CHAPTER 11. General Issues

References

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612458620

9781282458628

1282458620

9781400832019

1400832012

OCLC:

592756161