6. Ecological Evolutionary Demography

Ecological evolutionary demography is the branch of evolutionary demography that focuses on the potential adaptive value of demographic behavior at the level of the individual. First defined by Low and colleagues some 25 years ago, ecological evolutionary demography has gained important ground in developing our understanding of the ultimate evolutionary ecological drivers of fertility and mortality, often in combination with more proximate determinants of these demographic outcomes. In doing so, the field has provided solutions for apparent paradoxes associated with human fertility – how humans sustain high fertility despite highly dependent young and slow development of offspring, as well as the demographic transition – and has led to an improved understanding of the basic pattern of human mortality. A third core area in mainstream demography – migration – has received less attention from an ecological evolutionary perspective, but work on dispersal generates insights into how various ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors affect the costs and benefits of leaving the natal community, and how such strategies vary across individuals, households, and societies. Given the broad framework underlying ecological evolutionary demography investigations of demographic behavior, the field has outstanding potential for integration across demography and the evolutionary social sciences. We offer several potential pathways for immediate pursuit and anticipate that this will invigorate further the impact of the field on understanding human demographic behavior.