reproductive strategy
Mating system type
A reproductive strategy is a pattern of behaviors, timing, and resource allocation that organisms use to produce offspring.
Some species invest heavily in few young (elephants, humans), while others produce many offspring with minimal care (oysters, dandelions).
The term extends to mating systems: monogamy, polygamy, or promiscuity.
In evolutionary biology, reproductive strategies explain tradeoffs between quantity and quality of offspring, parental investment, and mate selection.
- assortative matingPairing by shared traits
- provisioningSupplying resources in advance
- sperm competitionMales' gametes competing for fertilization
- diapauseInsect developmental suspension
- resource allocationAssigning available means strategically
courtship displays · nest building · brood parasite · boom and bust · sexual selection · fecundity · sex ratio · parental · fertilization · lactation · ornamentation · breeding · mating · clutch · egg laying · live birth · offspring · spawning
reproductive strategysurvival strategy
Method ensuring continued existence
growth strategy · immune function · self-preservation · ontogeny · homeostasis
reproductive strategyasexual reproduction
Single-parent cloning process
sexual reproduction · parthenogenesis · binary fission · budding · outcrossing