Life history trade-offs represent constrains in the life of organisms. However, they can also contribute to balancing reproductive success. Here, I analyze how chronic and acute ecological burdens affect the demography of Cayo Santiago rhesus macaques and propose life history trade-offs as a potential mechanism for maintaining fitness when experiencing ecological adversity. Specifically, I decompose the effects of population density and hurricanes on population growth rate into survival and reproduction and quantify the life cycle transitions contributing the most to population fitness. My analysis shows that females exhibit a reduced reproductive output when experiencing these ecological adversities as a result of an overall decrease in mean age-specific fertility and a delay in sexual maturity. Yet, these females exhibit the survival and lifetime reproductive success expected from other females that did not experience the same level of adversity in life. My analysis supports trade-offs between survival and reproduction as a mechanism that allows females to suppress fertility during particular years and allocate more energy to growth or survival, in order to ensure future reproductive potential.