ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Reproductive success

Reproductive success means how good someone or something is at making babies. Just like plants make seeds, and animals make babies, humans also make babies to keep their family going.

To have good reproductive success, you need to be able to mate successfully with someone, and the baby that is born needs to be healthy and able to grow into an adult.

There are many things that can affect reproductive success, such as how healthy and strong the parents are, how much food and water they have, and also how much competition they face for mates. For example, if there are many other people who also want to mate with the same person as you, then it might be harder for you to succeed in having a baby with them.

In nature, animals and plants that have higher reproductive success are more likely to survive and pass on their genes to the next generation. This is important for keeping different species alive and healthy.