WE Web Ecology WE Web Ecol. 1399-1183 Oikos Editorial Office Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/we-1-82-2000 Evolution of age specific dispersal: a general discussion from the standpoint of the invasion fitness concept Johst K. 1 Brandl R. 2 Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle Ltd., Dept. of Ecological Modelling, Permoserstr. 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle Ltd., Dept. of Community Ecology, Theodor-Lieser Str. 4, 06120 Halle, Germany 13 11 2000 1 1 82 85 Copyright: © 2000 K. Johst 2000 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://we.copernicus.org/articles/1/82/2000/we-1-82-2000.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://we.copernicus.org/articles/1/82/2000/we-1-82-2000.pdf

The age of dispersers is one of the important factors influencing the ecology and evolution of dispersal. Explanations in textbooks assume special social or genetic advantages to predict the dispersing age class. However, recent theoretical results suggest that age specific dispersal can evolve even without special advantages for the dispersing age class. Here we discuss and interpret these results on the basis of the invasion fitness concept and show with general arguments that the evolution of age specific dispersal is possible for purely demographic reasons. This furthers our general understanding of the evolution of age specific dispersal.