In 1996, however, Joe Abraham presented a re-interpretation of the problem. In polygamous species, males generally contribute nothing to the nurturing of offspring, but nevertheless continue to consume finite resources. In such situations, males effectively become competitors with females and young once they are finished mating. This gives females a reason to sabotage males, and mating gives them an opportunity to do so. By choosing to mate exclusively with males who are unlikely to survive because of their burdens, the females ensure that as the males die, more food and other resources will remain for females and their young. Because females are the limiting resource in most species, as their numbers increase, population fitness will also increase.