BioConcepts

K selectionK Selektion (ger.)

• A type of selection that favours organisms with a low rate of reproduction but whose populations expand to the maximum number of individuals that the habitat can support (the carrying capacity of the habitat). K-selected species (or K strategists) tend to be highly adapted to their environment and are able to compete successfully for food and other resources. They also tend to inhabit stable environments and have relatively long life spans. (Oxford Dict. of Biology 2008)
  category life history see also r selection

  1967

  in a crowded are, (K selection), genotypes which can at least replace themselves with a small family at the lowest food level will win, the food density being lowered so that large families cannot be fed. Evolution here favors efficiency of conversion of food into offspring—there must be no waste.

  MacArthur, R.H. & Wilson, E.O. (1967). The Theory of Island Biogeography: 149.