Understanding a major global divergence in tropical life history strategies

生活史属性，如出生、死亡、生长和发育速度，通常以可预测的方式相互关联，支持不同但成功的生活方式。通常情况下，出生率与成年寿命呈负相关，而发育时间与寿命呈正相关。发育缓慢和繁殖力低被认为是包括长最长寿命的生活史的关键，并被认为通过改善后代的健康和存活而产生影响。然而，亚洲的热带鸟类似乎违反了这一模式，与新大陆热带的鸟类一样长寿，但繁殖力和发育率更高。因此，低繁殖力和发育缓慢可能不是高后代质量和长寿所必需的。这项研究将使用广泛而详细的比较调查，并辅之以一些野外实验，以考察马来西亚沙巴州25-30种鸟类繁殖力更高、发展更快的可能环境原因。此外，这项工作还将研究繁殖力和发育率在多大程度上决定后代的免疫功能，从而决定成年寿命。这项工作将为发育率和繁殖力在通过免疫功能对抗病原体的能力中的作用以及这一指标和其他后代质量指标对寿命的影响提供新的见解。它还将提高对出生、死亡和发育速度差异的环境原因及其相互关系的理解。这些比率极大地影响了人口对环境变化的脆弱性，并可以极大地帮助我们维持北美以及世界各地的生物多样性。最后，这项工作包括对许多本科生和研究生进行实质性的科学培训，包括目前在科学界代表性不足的群体的成员。

Life history attributes such as rates of birth, death, growth, and development typically are related in predictable ways that support distinct, but successful, life styles. Typically, birth rate and adult longevity are negatively correlated and development time and life-time survival are positively correlated. Slow development and low fecundity are thought to be essential to a life history that includes long maximum life spans and are thought to have their effects through improving the health and survival of offspring. However, tropical birds of Asia appear to violate this pattern, being similarly long-lived to the birds of the New World tropics, but having higher fecundity and development rate. Therefore, low fecundity and slow development may not be necessary for high offspring quality and long life. This study will use extensive and detailed comparative surveys, complemented with some field experimentation, to examine possible environmental causes of the higher fecundity and faster development of 25-30 bird species in Sabah, Malaysia. Additionally, the work will examine the extent to which fecundity and development rate determine offspring immune function and thereby determine adult longevity. This work will provide new insight into the roles of development rate and fecundity in the ability to fight pathogens through immune function and of the influence of this and other indicators of offspring quality on longevity. It also will improve understanding of the environmental causes of variation in rates of birth, death, and development and their interrelationships. These rates greatly influence the vulnerability of populations to environmental change and can significantly aide our ability to sustain biodiversity in North America, as well as world-wide. Finally, this work includes substantial scientific training of many undergraduate and graduate students, including members of groups currently underrepresented in science.