title: Life-history evolution in the anthropocene: effects of increasing nutrients on traits and trade-offs.
abstract: Variation in life-history traits can have major impacts on the ecological and evolutionary responses of populations to environmental change. Life-history variation often results from trade-offs that arise because individuals have a limited pool of resources to allocate among traits. However, human activities are increasing the availability of many once-limited resources, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, with potentially major implications for the expression and evolution of life-history trade-offs. In this review, we synthesize contemporary life history and sexual selection literature with current research on ecosystem nutrient cycling to highlight novel opportunities presented by anthropogenic environmental change for investigating life-history trait development and evolution. Specifically, we review four areas where nutrition plays a pivotal role in life-history evolution and explore possible implications in the face of rapid, human-induced change in nutrient availability. For example, increases in the availability of nutrients may relax historical life-history trade-offs and reduce the honesty of signaling systems. We argue that ecosystems experiencing anthropogenic nutrient inputs present a powerful yet underexplored arena for testing novel and longstanding questions in organismal life-history evolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Snell-Rood
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA, USA ; Department of Biological Sciences, Southwestern Oklahoma State University Weatherford, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Rickey
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cothran
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, MN, USA ; Department of Biology, University of Nevada Reno, NV, USA.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Espeset
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Punidan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jeyasingh
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hobbie
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Nathan I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Morehouse
keywords: life-history traits; nitrogen; phosphorus; signals; trade-offs