what is k strategy and r strategy?

Question

ned to define these terms for an essay the answer must be in terms of reproduction. can't understand it

omg i am only supposed to 350 words on the subject. thanks so far

Answer 1

Most creatures in the wild fall into two general survival strategies as far as reproduction is concerned, and some more strongly than others. One group survives simply by producing a kajillion offspring... even if most of them are squashed, the two that are left will breed a kajillion more. The other group survives by not getting killed in the first place if they can help it. This is obviously a lot harder to do, so they generally have much smaller numbers of offspring to accommodate the greater amounts of care and training they will require. Biologists call this being 'r-selected' or 'k-selected' (respectively) for variables in a particular population growth equation.

Fish and insects will lay hundreds of eggs at a time, and rats often have large litters and are always fertile. Typical for r-selected guys. Human are obviously k-selected, but they are hardly the only ones: puffins only lay one egg per year, lions require years to learn how to hunt well, and lost baby whales usually die. Humans are probably far more k-selected than the rest of these guys, but keep in mind too that baby kangaroos are born blind and almost completely helpless for months as well (there are only so many of them because they are perpetually pregnant). These seem like big disadvantages, but being born small and helpless generally allows a creature to be more able to grow into something much larger and more powerful.

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

They're reproductive strategies. A species can either follow K, the strategy of humans and nearly all other mammals, which is to have few offspring and invest resources in trying to help each survive, or R, the strategy of most fish and insect, which is to have a very large number of offspring and assume that in spite of high mortality some will survive to pass on the genes.

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
what is k strategy and r strategy?
ned to define these terms for an essay the answer must be in terms of reproduction. can't understand it

Answer 4

k strategy organisms are long lived, generally reproduce more slowly, don't reproduce til they're older. Elephants, turtles, oak trees, etc are all k-strategists.

R-strategists are short lived, reproduce a lot more offspring and can reproduce when they're young. Insects and dandelions are great examples.

R and k simply denote whether their population sizes can increase exponentiall (r-selected) or whether their populations sizes sort of fluctuate around a given number (known as the carrying capacity).

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Wifey is correct. It is K strategy. Having few atricial progeny and investing heavily in their upbringing.

Answer 7

r strategy: individuals reproduce very fast and live a short life
k strategy: the opposite.

It is much longer and complex, therefore I would suggest you to look at this page, where they explain it very well and easily: http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/biomes/breeding.html