MSc Student
Advisor: Günter Gollmann

Unit for Theoretical Biology, Department of Evolutionary Biology
University of Vienna

Abstract

The European fire-bellied toad (Bombina bombina) exhibits different life strategies and reproductive patterns depending on the variable environmental conditions of its habitats, which this study compares between dynamic and stable environments in Obere Lobau Vienna, over a period of eight years.  The ontogenesis of amphibians involves a sequence of developmental events ordered to optimize survival and reproductive outputs. Over a lifetime, energy and trophic resources are allocated between growth, somatic maintenance, and reproductive effort. Growth and somatic maintenance contribute to longevity, while reproductive effort focuses on offspring production. Stochastic environmental variation influences energy expenditure at each stage of development. It acts as a selective force, shaping or limiting possible life history traits.

When environmental fluctuation generates substantial variation in adult mortality, natural selection favours early maturity and large reproductive outputs. These substantial variations are characterized as "fast" life histories along a "slow–fast continuum".
In contrast, environmental fluctuation affecting birth rate and juvenile mortality contributes to the selection for a longer lifespan, later maturity, and smaller reproductive outputs, characterized as "slow" life histories.