Measuring the cost of reproduction. I. The correlation structure of the life table of a plankton rotifer.

Abstract

The cost hypothesis states that any increment in present reproduction is associated with a decrement in the expectation of future reproduction. The passive experiment described here used the life tables of 15 clones of the rotifer Platyias patulus to study the variable and acquired survival and fecundity costs. The negative correlations predicted by the cost hypothesis were not found in any case; instead, correlations tended to be positive. Possible reasons are examined.-from Author