TRAJECTORIES OF MORTALITY AND REPRODUCTION IN A NATURAL POPULATION

摘要：产品说明：（改编自应用程序）：本研究员的早期工作，在本计划项目中，挑战了长期以来对老龄化人口统计学的信念。 大规模的实验研究表明，五个物种的死亡率随着年龄的增长而下降。这些结论的普遍性，以及这些死亡率模式的原因反映在个人的生命过程动态，需要确定。 植物物种Plantago lanceolata提供了一个独特的实验系统来监测在进化力量已经作用了几代人的条件下的大量个体。本研究旨在确定生命后期死亡率轨迹的细节，以确定自然人群中是否发生死亡率减速。 此外，通过每个个体的年龄特异性道德和生殖信息，这些研究者将能够确定生活史的细节，包括死亡率和生殖之间的相关性，以及生殖和生长之间的年龄特异性分配。这些数据也将被用来测试当前衰老进化理论的假设。 此外，这个实验系统使我们有独特的机会使用保存的个体的遗传克隆来完成我们对生命过程动态的分析，以确定是否有独特的因素有助于“最古老的”的非凡寿命。

Abstract: DESCRIPTION: (adapted from the application): The earlier work of this investigator, within this Program Project, challenges long-held beliefs about the demography of aging. The large scale experimental studies have shown that for five species, mortality decelerates at older ages. The generality of these conclusions, and the causes of these mortality patterns as reflected in individual life-course dynamics, needs to be determined. The plant species Plantago lanceolata offers a unique experimental system to monitor a large population of individuals under the conditions which evolutionary forces have been acting on for generations. This study is designed to determine the details of the mortality trajectory late in life in order to identify whether mortality deceleration occurs in a natural population. In addition, with information on age-specific morality and reproduction for each individual, these investigators will be able to determine details of the life history including the correlations between mortality and reproduction, and the age- specific allocation panems between reproduction and growth. This data will also be used to test assumptions of the current evolutionary theories of senescence. In addition, this experimental system allows us the unique opportunity to use genetic clones of preserved individuals to complete our analysis of the life-course dynamics in order to determine if there are unique factors which contribute to the extraordinary longevity of the 'oldest-old'.