BIO SCI 94 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Metapopulation, Population Ecology, Population Momentum

• School: UC-Irvine
• Department: Biological Sciences
• Course: BIO SCI 94
• Professor: Robin Bush

Document Summary

Altruism = behavior that has a fitness cost to the individual exhibiting the behavior and fitness benefit to the recipient. We sometimes help our relatives, even at a cost to ourselves. The theory of kin selection proposes an explanation. Kin selection - natural selection that acts through benefits to relatives and results in increased indirect fitness. Kin selection is formalized by hamilton"s rule, which tells us that individuals can pass on their alleles to the next generation not only by having their own offspring, but also by helping close relatives produce more offspring. Direct fitness derived from individual"s own offspring. Indirect fitness derived from helping relatives produce more offspring than they could produce on their own. Combination of direct and indirect fitness components called inclusive fitness. Cooperation should be done when it increases your fitness, no matter how you calculate it (direct or indirect) Reciprocal altruism - exchange of fitness benefits that are separated in time.