Elephants, humans, and bison are all k-selected species. ... These species often have short life expectancies, produce as many offspring as they can, and invest very low amounts of parental care. R-selected species can include mosquitos, mice, and bacteria.
What are examples of K strategists?
- Occasional breeding.
- Longer gestation periods and give birth to one or two offspring at a time.
- Offspring take time to grow, and do so under the constant care and supervision of their parents.
What trees are K-selected species?
Examples of K-selected species are primates including humans, other mammals such as elephants, and plants such as oak trees . In plants, scientists think of parental care more broadly: how long fruit takes to develop or how long it remains on the plant are determining factors in the time to the next reproductive event.
Are Type 1 species k-selected?
Because time, energy and resources are invested into child rearing, K -selected species tend to have a Type 1 and Type 2 survivorship curve. Offspring live longer lives and grow slowly until their habitat hits the carrying capacity.
Are turtles R or K-selected?
r/K selection as a continuous spectrum
Similarly, reptiles such as sea turtles display both r- and K-traits: although large organisms with long lifespans (should they reach adulthood), they produce large numbers of unnurtured offspring.
Are trees K-selected species?
In our forest example, the large trees (maple, ash, oak, and others) are K-selected. They live a long time, grow very slowly, and can get large enough to outcompete smaller species. Like the elephant, most birds and mammals develop slowly, care for only a few young over multiple births, and are strong competitors.
Are cats K-selected species?
Cats and dogs are r-selected compared to humans, but K-selected compared to mice and rats . Mice and rats, in turn, are K-selected compared to most insects. We can think of an r-K selection continuum and an organism’s position along it in a particular environment at a given instant in time (Pianka 1970).
What are some characteristics of K strategists?
K-selected species are characterized by long gestation periods lasting several months, slow maturation (and thus extended parental care), and long life spans . In addition, they tend to inhabit relatively stable biological communities, such as late-successional or climax forests (see ecological succession).
What is R vs K selection?
r-selected babies grow rapidly , and tend to be found in less competitive, low quality environments. ... K-selected species produce offspring that each have a higher probability of survival to maturity.
Are frogs K-selected species?
Why doesn’t a frog, which is an r-selected species, care for its offspring in the way a wolf, which is a Kselected species, cares for its offspring? a. Frogs have been selected by stable, predictable environments , therefore they do not feel the need to care for their offspring like wolves.
Are invasive species usually K-selected?
Biologists characterize most invasive species as r-selected. ... While K-selected species exhibit low mortality , the majority of an r-selected species’ offspring are sure to perish; however, a few are likely to navigate the world successfully, mature and reproduce.
What are 3 characteristics of R-selected species?
- Rapid development.
- High reproductive rate.
- Early reproductive age.
- Small body size.
- One reproductive cycle.
- Short lifespan.
- Poor competitive ability.
- High mortality of offspring.
Why are K-selected species competitor species?
By contrast, K-selected species display traits associated with living at densities close to carrying capacity and typically are strong competitors in such crowded niches, that invest more heavily in fewer offspring, each of which has a relatively high probability of surviving to adulthood (i.e., low r, high K).
What animals are r-selected?
Typical examples of r-species are mice, rabbits, weeds and bacteria , which have a lot of offspring, but a short life expectancy. Examples of organisms undergoing K-selection are tortoises, elephants, people, and sequoia trees: their offspring are few but long-lived.
Are plants r-selected or K-selected?
Plants such as dandelions are another good example of an r-selected species . The r/k selection theory should be thought of as a spectrum. Some organisms may produce a medium number of offspring but those offspring still grow quickly and the parents provide little care.
Is a whooping crane R or K-selected?
Not much is known about the learning that takes place in this K-selected species over the almost one year that the young whooping crane colt remains with its adult parents.
