Final answer:
K-selected species produce fewer, larger offspring with significant parental investment and live close to carrying capacity in stable environments, such as elephants and oak trees. They contrast with r-selected species, which produce many small offspring with little parental care in unstable environments. The concept of K-selected versus r-selected is a spectrum rather than an absolute classification.
Step-by-step explanation:
K-selected species are organisms that thrive in stable environments and prioritize quality of offspring over quantity. These species produce fewer offspring, but invest a significant amount of resources into each one. This reproductive strategy includes a long gestation period, fewer large offspring, and extended parental care. Species that are K-selected tend to live close to their carrying capacity, the maximum population size an environment can sustain, and face high levels of intraspecific competition as resources are limited
Examples of K-selected species include large mammals like elephants and primates, including humans, which have long life spans, mature slowly, and provide substantial care to their young. In the plant kingdom, species such as oak trees are also considered K-selected because of their longevity and delayed maturation, even though they do not provide parental care in a traditional sense. Instead, the care is reflected in the amount of time and resources allocated to nurturing each seed to fruition.
The opposite end of this reproductive strategy spectrum is represented by r-selected species, which are adapted to unstable and unpredictable environments. They produce a large number of small offspring with minimal parental investment. Species with this strategy include organisms like jellyfish and dandelions.
K-selected and r-selected strategies are part of a continuum, and a species can exhibit traits from both ends. While these strategies help describe general patterns in reproductive behavior, it should be noted that they have been the subject of ongoing debate and refinement within the field of population biology.