A theoretical investigation of parental decisions

Abstract

A key characteristic of living organisms is their ability to reproduce. By producing offspring, organisms inadvertently become parents. The relationship with the breeding partner, how many offspring are produced and the type and amount of parental care provided to offspring differs between species, populations and individuals.
This thesis investigates the decisions and behaviour of parents focussing on three important aspects of being a parent:
1. The breeding partner. Why do males and females of some species choose more than one breeding partner whilst others pair for life? The value of knowing one’s partner is considered as an explanation for the formation and maintenance of long term partnerships between breeding individuals through the effect of information on an individual’s behaviour.
2. Number of offspring. What affects a parent’s decision of how many offspring to have? The fertility decline in modern human societies is explored by considering the effect of copying role models on the fertility decisions of parents. Predicted trends for fertility and wealth inheritance are investigated when individuals copy their parents or a role model in the population.
3. Caring for offspring. When parents are caring for their dependent young, what effect does mortality risk have on the behaviour of the parent? The trade-off parents face during the breeding season between provisioning offspring with food for growth and mortality risk is explored. When a parent can control the growth rate of their offspring through the provisioning rate of food for their offspring, the effect of mortality risk on the behaviour of the parent (and thus the growth rate of the offspring) is investigated.

Date of Award	26 Sept 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Alasdair I Houston (Supervisor) & John M McNamara (Supervisor)