What is "fitness benefits" here?

Question

"In some cases, the habitat that provides the best opportunity for survival may not be the same habitat as the one that provides for highest reproductive capacity because of requirements specific to the reproductive period. Thus, individuals of many resident species, confronted with the *fitness benefits* of control over a productive breeding site, may be forced to balance costs in the form of *lower nonbreeding survivorship* by remaining in the specific habitat where highest breeding success occurs."

Q1. What is "fitness benefits" here? Is it about some benefits from fitness which means 'health' or something?

Q2. What does "lower nonbreeding survivorship" mean here? It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

anonymousQ1. What is "fitness benefits" here? Is it about some benefits from fitness which means 'health' or something?

That looks like jargon from evolution science. Evolution is often summarized as "survival of the fittest". "Fit" means "suitable" here, not "strong and healthy". Those that are best suited to the environment they find themselves in will produce the most offspring.

anonymousQ2. What does "lower nonbreeding survivorship" mean here? It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Yeah, this is rather heavy going. If, from the standpoint of evolution, you set aside considerations of a population's breeding success and look only at the likelihood of the individuals not dying, you can call that "nonbreeding survivorship".

AlpheccaStars · Answer

anonymousQ1. What is "fitness benefits" here? Is it about some benefits from fitness which means 'health' or something

No. Fitness is a scientific term in evolutionary biology. Basically, the more fitness the species has, the more surviving offspring they have to reproduce in the next generation. But some habitats that are beneficial for the long life of an individual may have a lower fitness value for the species.

The only example I can think of is a dairy farm. The dairymen take care of the female cows and they live long lives, individually. But they do not have many offspring because there are no bulls in the herd. As a species, they do not have much fitness, but as individuals, they have excellent health and well-being.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitness_(biology)

anonymousQ2. What does "lower nonbreeding survivorship" mean here? It doesn't seem to make sense to me.

In the example of the cows, if they want to maximize their offspring, they have to accept shorter and unhealthier lives. Eg. the average lifetime in the breeding population (the free-roaming herds) will be lower than those in the non-breeding population (the dairy farm).

What is "fitness benefits" here?

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