Biologists describe two limiting cases of reproductive strategy - r and K
Population Biology PagesK strategy - long generations times, small numbers of offspring. They take good care of their young.
r strategy - short generation time, large numbers of offspring, little parental care.
and
Some people have described the War on Terror as an battle between r Strategists and K Strategists
r vs K strategyInterestingly, you can have both strategies in one species -
from the first link, at the bottom
Orange-throated lizards are r-strategists. In boom years, they were more successful than the yellow. The population explosion of young lizards produced by them led to next year's bust.
Yellow-throated lizards are K-strategists. Producing smaller numbers of larger lizards, they were more successful at leaving surviving offspring to lay the groundwork for the next boom year.
Which sort of lizard are you?