DYNAMIC-MODELS OF BEHAVIOR - AN EXTENSION OF LIFE-HISTORY THEORY

Life history theory and behavioral ecology, two branches in the study of adaptation, have relied extensively on mathematical models, but have tended to employ different types of models, and different currencies of fitness. Recently, a new approach based on dynamic, state-variable models has been increasingly applied to the study of behavioral adaptations. In fact, this approach amounts to a unification of life history theory and behavioral ecology, to the extent that the line separating the two fields is virtually obliterated. Dynamic models (usually solved by computer) can yield both general principles and testable, quantitative or qualitative predictions about specific behavioral and life history phenomena.