Longevity and ageing: appraising the evolutionary consequences of growing old

Senescence or ageing is an increase in mortality and/or decline in fertility with increasing age. Evolutionary theories predict that ageing or longevity evolves in response to patterns of extrinsic mortality or intrinsic damage. If ageing is viewed as the outcome of the processes of behaviour, growth and reproduction then it should be possible to predict mortality rate. Recent developments have shown that it is now possible to integrate these ecological and physiological processes and predict the shape of mortality trajectories. By drawing on the key exciting developments in the cellular, physiological and ecological process of longevity the evolutionary consequences of ageing are reviewed. In presenting these ideas an evolutionary demographic framework is used to argue how trade-offs in life-history strategies are important in the maintenance of variation in longevity within and between species. Evolutionary processes associated with longevity have an important role in explaining levels of biological diversity and speciation. In particular, the effects of life-history trait trade-offs in maintaining and promoting species diversity are explored. Such trade-offs can alleviate the effects of intense competition between species and promote species coexistence and diversification. These results have important implications for understanding a number of core ecological processes such as how species are divided among niches, how closely related species co-occur and the rules by which species assemble into food-webs. Theoretical work reveals that the proximate physiological processes are as important as the ecological factors in explaining the variation in the evolution of longevity. Possible future research challenges integrating work on the evolution and mechanisms of growing old are briefly discussed.

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Microscale insight into microbial seed banks

10.7287/peerj.preprints.2321v1 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Kenneth J Locey ◽

Melany C Fisk ◽

Jay T Lennon

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Seed Banks ◽

Life History Trait ◽

Ecological Processes ◽

Microbial Life ◽

Chemical Complexity ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Individual Based Models ◽

Boom And Bust ◽

Insight Into

Dormancy is a general microbial life-history trait that leads to the emergence of seed banks across diverse ecosystems. While the primary forces driving seed banks include macroscale factors like resource supply, the importance of microscale factors such as individual encounters with resource molecules are often overlooked. Here, we used >10,000 individual based models (IBMs) to simulate energetic, physiological, and ecological processes across combinations of resource-, spatial-, and trophic-complexity. We found that increasing rates of encounter of individual organisms with resource molecules led to greater abundance, greater productivity, and larger seed banks. We also found that the chemical complexity of resource molecules reduced encounter rates, which led to increased variability in the size of seed banks. Encounter-driven ‘boom and bust’ dynamics also caused resource-rich environments to simultaneously host large seed banks and serve as hotbeds of microbial activity. In conclusion, microscale phenomena appear to be essential for understanding the emergence of seed banks, the energetic basis of microbial life history trade-offs, and variation in the abundance and activity of microbial communities.

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Microscale insight into microbial seed banks

10.7287/peerj.preprints.2321 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Kenneth J Locey ◽

Melany C Fisk ◽

Jay T Lennon

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Seed Banks ◽

Life History Trait ◽

Ecological Processes ◽

Microbial Life ◽

Chemical Complexity ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Individual Based Models ◽

Boom And Bust ◽

Insight Into

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Mapping the adaptive landscape of a major agricultural pathogen reveals evolutionary constraints across heterogeneous environments

The ISME Journal ◽

10.1038/s41396-020-00859-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anik Dutta ◽

Fanny E. Hartmann ◽

Carolina Sardinha Francisco ◽

Bruce A. McDonald ◽

Daniel Croll

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Large Scale ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Stress Factors ◽

Life History Trait ◽

Adaptive Landscape ◽

Heterogeneous Environments ◽

Growth Responses ◽

Trade Offs

AbstractThe adaptive potential of pathogens in novel or heterogeneous environments underpins the risk of disease epidemics. Antagonistic pleiotropy or differential resource allocation among life-history traits can constrain pathogen adaptation. However, we lack understanding of how the genetic architecture of individual traits can generate trade-offs. Here, we report a large-scale study based on 145 global strains of the fungal wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici from four continents. We measured 50 life-history traits, including virulence and reproduction on 12 different wheat hosts and growth responses to several abiotic stressors. To elucidate the genetic basis of adaptation, we used genome-wide association mapping coupled with genetic correlation analyses. We show that most traits are governed by polygenic architectures and are highly heritable suggesting that adaptation proceeds mainly through allele frequency shifts at many loci. We identified negative genetic correlations among traits related to host colonization and survival in stressful environments. Such genetic constraints indicate that pleiotropic effects could limit the pathogen’s ability to cause host damage. In contrast, adaptation to abiotic stress factors was likely facilitated by synergistic pleiotropy. Our study illustrates how comprehensive mapping of life-history trait architectures across diverse environments allows to predict evolutionary trajectories of pathogens confronted with environmental perturbations.

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RETRACTED ARTICLE: Novel life history strategy in a deep sea fish challenges assumptions about reproduction in extreme environments

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-60534-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Randal A. Singer ◽

Jon A. Moore ◽

Edward L. Stanley

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Deep Sea ◽

Extreme Environments ◽

Life History Strategy ◽

Deep Ocean ◽

Homogeneous System ◽

Life History Strategies ◽

Life History Trait ◽

Retracted Article ◽

Sea Fish

Abstract The deep ocean is frequently assumed to be a homogeneous system lacking the same diverse life history strategies found in shallower waters. However, as our methods for exploring the deep ocean improve, common assumptions about dispersal, reproduction and behavior are constantly being challenged. Fishes exhibit the most diverse reproductive strategies among vertebrates. Understanding life history strategies in deep-sea environments is lacking for many species of fishes. Here, we report a novel reproductive strategy where a fish (Parazen pacificus) provides parental care via mouth brooding. This behavior is observed from a specimen collected with eggs present in the buccal cavity, along with other specimens exhibiting pre-brooding morphologies. This is the first description of this unique life history trait in a deep-sea fish and fills in a gap in the larval literature for this family of fishes and prompts further investigation into other novel reproductive modes of deep-sea fauna.

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The Evolutionary Life History Model of Externalizing Personality: Bridging Human and Animal Personality Science to Connect Ultimate and Proximate Mechanisms Underlying Aggressive Dominance, Hostility, and Impulsive Sensation Seeking

Review of General Psychology ◽

10.1037/gpr0000127 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 330-353 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Michael P. Hengartner

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Stress Response ◽

Sensation Seeking ◽

Inclusive Fitness ◽

Interpersonal Behavior ◽

Life History Strategies ◽

Proximate Mechanisms ◽

Response System ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Stress Response System

The present work proposes an evolutionary model of externalizing personality that defines variation in this broad psychobiological phenotype resulting from genetic influences and a conditional adaptation to high-risk environments with high extrinsic morbidity-mortality. Due to shared selection pressure, externalizing personality is coadapted to fast life history strategies and maximizes inclusive fitness under adverse environmental conditions by governing the major trade-offs between reproductive versus somatic functions, current versus future reproduction, and mating versus parenting efforts. According to this model, externalizing personality is a regulatory device at the interface between the individual and its environment that is mediated by 2 overlapping psychobiological systems, that is, the attachment and the stress-response system. The attachment system coordinates interpersonal behavior and intimacy in close relationships and the stress-response system regulates the responsivity to environmental challenge and both physiological and behavioral reactions to stress. These proximate mechanisms allow for the integration of neuroendocrinological processes underlying interindividual differences in externalizing personality. Hereinafter I further discuss the model's major implications for personality psychology, psychiatry, and public health policy.

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Alternative intrapopulation life-history strategies and their trade-offs in an African annual fish

Journal of Evolutionary Biology ◽

10.1111/jeb.12359 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 27 (5) ◽

pp. 854-865 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

M. Polačik ◽

R. Blažek ◽

R. Řežucha ◽

M. Vrtílek ◽

E. Terzibasi Tozzini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Life History Strategies ◽

Annual Fish ◽

Trade Offs

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Patterns of Life-History Diversification in North American Fishes: implications for Population Regulation

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f92-242 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 49 (10) ◽

pp. 2196-2218 ◽

Cited By ~ 850

Author(s):

Kirk O. Winemiller ◽

Kenneth A. Rose

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Parental Care ◽

North American ◽

Life Histories ◽

Egg Size ◽

Life History Strategies ◽

Large Species ◽

High Fecundity ◽

Adult Growth ◽

Trade Offs

Interspecific patterns of fish life histories were evaluated in relation to several theoretical models of life-history evolution. Data were gathered for 216 North American fish species (57 families) to explore relationships among variables and to ordinate species. Multivariate tests, performed on freshwater, marine, and combined data matrices, repeatedly identified a gradient associating later-maturing fishes with higher fecundity, small eggs, and few bouts of reproduction during a short spawning season and the opposite suite of traits with small fishes. A second strong gradient indicated positive associations between parental care, egg size, and extended breeding seasons. Phylogeny affected each variable, and some higher taxonomic groupings were associated with particular life-history strategies. High-fecundity characteristics tended to be associated with large species ranges in the marine environment. Age at maturation, adult growth rate, life span, and egg size positively correlated with anadromy. Parental care was inversely correlated with median latitude. A trilateral continuum based on essential trade-offs among three demographic variables predicts many of the correlations among life-history traits. This framework has implications for predicting population responses to diverse natural and anthropogenic disturbances and provides a basis for comparing responses of different species to the same disturbance.

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Epidemiological and evolutionary consequences of life‐history trade‐offs in pathogens

Plant Pathology ◽

10.1111/ppa.12129 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 62 (S1) ◽

pp. 96-105 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

A.‐L. Laine ◽

B. Barrès

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Evolutionary Consequences

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Cuckoos, cowbirds and hosts: adaptations, trade-offs and constraints

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2006.1849 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 362 (1486) ◽

pp. 1873-1886 ◽

Cited By ~ 93

Author(s):

Oliver Krüger

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Brood Parasitism ◽

Reproductive Strategies ◽

Life History Theory ◽

Model Systems ◽

Life History Strategies ◽

Host System ◽

Brood Parasites ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Evolution Of Life

The interactions between brood parasitic birds and their host species provide one of the best model systems for coevolution. Despite being intensively studied, the parasite–host system provides ample opportunities to test new predictions from both coevolutionary theory as well as life-history theory in general. I identify four main areas that might be especially fruitful: cuckoo female gentes as alternative reproductive strategies, non-random and nonlinear risks of brood parasitism for host individuals, host parental quality and targeted brood parasitism, and differences and similarities between predation risk and parasitism risk. Rather than being a rare and intriguing system to study coevolutionary processes, I believe that avian brood parasites and their hosts are much more important as extreme cases in the evolution of life-history strategies. They provide unique examples of trade-offs and situations where constraints are either completely removed or particularly severe.

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