In a recent paper, Olofsson et al. (2009) explore the evolution of egg mass in a temporally variable environment using an individual-based simulation model. The model includes realistic assumptions such as density-dependent population growth and a fluctuating minimum size for survival. Their main focus was on the evolution of variation in egg mass both within and between clutches, and they explore whether this variation is adaptive, and if it is, how it should be distributed within and between clutches. Much of their discussion is couched in terms of evolutionary bet-hedging, the idea that a reduction in mean fitness can be selected for provided there is a corresponding decreases in the temporal variance in fitness (Seger & Brockmann 1987).
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