Comment on "The illusion of invariant quantities in life histories".
Nee et al. (Reports, 19 August 2005, p. 1236) used a null model to argue that life history invariants are illusions. We show that their results are largely inconsequential for life history theory because the authors confound two definitions of invariance, and rigorous analysis of their null model demonstrates that it does not match observed data.
Savage
Van M
VM
Bauer Center for Genomics Research, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. vsavage@cgr.harvard.edu
White
Ethan P
EP
Moses
Melanie E
ME
Ernest
S K Morgan
SK
Enquist
Brian J
BJ
Charnov
Eric L
EL
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D049628:Body Size; D001835:Body Weight; D052284:Clutch Size; D006128:Growth; D008136:Longevity; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012098:Reproduction; D012741:Sexual Maturation