3.3 Survivorship Curves

Survivorship curve

line that shows the survival rate of a cohort in a population from birth to death

What is a cohort?

a group of same aged animals

A faster drop in line in a survivorship curve means

the quicker death of individuals

A slower drop in line in a survivorship curve means

a longer average lifespan

What are the characteristics of a Type 1

-they are mostly k selected

-they have early life survivorship due to high parental care

-they have mid life survivorship due to large size and defensive behavior

-they have late life survivorship due to old age setting in

examples include most mammals

What are the characteristics of a Type 2

-they are between r and k selected species

-they have steadily decreasing survivorship throughout life

What are the characteristics of a Type 3

-they are mostly r selected

-they have high mortality in early life, so survivorship is low

-midlife survivorship is a slow steady decline

-few make it to late life; slow surviorship decline in old age

examples include insects,fish, and plants