Using stochastic simulations and elasticity analysis, we show that there are inherent di!erencesin the risk of extinction between life histories with di!erent demographies. Which life history isthe most vulnerable depends on which vital rate varies. When juvenile survival variessemelparous organisms with delayed reproduction are the most vulnerable ones, while avarying developmental rate puts a greater threat to semelparous organisms with rapiddevelopment. Iteroparous organisms are the most vulnerable ones when adult survival varies.Generally, we do not expect to observe organisms in nature having variation in vital rates thatproduce a high risk of extinction. Given the results here we therefore predict that iteroparousorganisms should show low variation in adult survival. Moreover, we predict that semelparousorganisms should show low variation in juvenile survival and low variation in developmentalrate. The e!ect of temporal correlation on extinction risk is most pronounced in organismswith semelparous life histories.