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r selection

American

Also r-selection

Ecology.

selection occurring when a population is far below the carrying capacity of an unstable environment: tends to favor individuals that reproduce early, quickly, and in large numbers so as to make use of ephemeral resources and ensure that at least some offspring survive.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023