r/K selection theory of growth and reproduction strategies
Post 39
Today I stumbled across the r/K selection theory. I asked ChatGPT to explain it here.
K/r selection theory is a biological concept that describes how different species of animals are adapted to different environments. The theory is based on the idea that species that are adapted to environments with a lot of resources (such as food and space) will tend to have fewer, but larger and more competitive, offspring. This is known as "r-selection," and it is characterized by a high rate of reproduction and low investment in individual offspring.
In contrast, species that are adapted to environments with limited resources will tend to have more, but smaller and less competitive, offspring. This is known as "K-selection," and it is characterized by a low rate of reproduction and high investment in individual offspring.
tl;dr it’s a theory about the trade-off between quantity and quality of offspring. r-strategists have many offspring and apply minimal parental care, e.g. dogs, cats, rabbits. K-strategists have few offspring but invest heavily in each, e.g. humans, elephants.
This view was popular up until the 1990s when it was critiqued as simplistic. Wikipedia says it has been replaced by life history theory but still includes r/K theory as a subset.