Understanding a major global divergence in tropical life history strategies

生命史属性，如出生率、死亡率、增长率和发展率，通常以可预测的方式联系在一起，支持独特但成功的生活方式。典型地，出生率与成人寿命呈负相关，发育时间与终生生存呈正相关。发育缓慢和繁殖力低被认为是包括最长寿命在内的生命史的必要条件，并被认为通过改善后代的健康和生存而产生影响。然而，亚洲的热带鸟类似乎违反了这一模式，它们与新世界热带地区的鸟类一样长寿，但具有更高的繁殖力和发育速度。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。本研究将采用广泛和详细的比较调查，辅以一些实地实验，以检查马来西亚沙巴25-30种鸟类较高繁殖力和更快发育的可能环境原因。此外，这项工作将检查生育能力和发育速度在多大程度上决定后代的免疫功能，从而决定成年寿命。这项工作将对发育速度和繁殖力在通过免疫功能抵抗病原体的能力中的作用以及这一和其他后代质量指标对寿命的影响提供新的见解。它还将增进对出生率、死亡率和发展率变化的环境原因及其相互关系的了解。这些速度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乃至全世界生物多样性的能力。最后，这项工作包括对许多本科生和研究生进行大量的科学培训，包括目前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.