Social dilemmas in class-structured populations

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Animals and plants routinely face dilemmas. An animal, for instance, might have to choose between remaining committed to its present source of food (a "sure thing" so to speak) and leaving the food source in search of a richer one (possibly a "gamble"). Likewise, a plant might have to "choose" between using the energy it receives from the sun to produce seeds and using that same energy to grow taller. Of course, each fork in the road has an effect on the evolutionary success of the imaginary animal or plant. In some cases -- actually some of the most interesting cases -- decisions to stay or leave (grow or reproduce) have ripple effects, simultaneously altering the evolutionary success of a number of individuals nearby. In biological terms, these dilemmas are said to have "social consequences" and so they are appropriately dubbed "social dilemmas."