On the Adaptive Significance of Territoriality

It is proposed that natural selection favors individuals that defend territories larger than necessary to include resources just sufficient for survival and/or reproduction. These are referred to as super territories. Defense of a disproportionate share of space/resources by more aggressive individuals reduces the possibility of survival and/or reproduction of less aggressive conspecifics. The effect is to increase the relative contribution to future gene pools of individuals capable of defending territories in optimum habitat. Alternative hypotheses are compared, and ways are suggested to distinguish among them. Available empirical evidence seems to fit the present hypothesis better than other commonly held explanations of the adaptive function of territoriality, and the hypothesis provides a reasonable explanation for the evolution not only of breeding territories but of winter territories among resident as well as migratory species.