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Related Experiment Videos

Explaining the optimality of U-shaped age-specific mortality.

C Y Cyrus Chu1, Hung-Ken Chien, Ronald D Lee

  • 1Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica 128 Academia Road Sec. 2, Nankang, Taipei, Taiwan. cyruschu@gate.sinica.edu.tw

Theoretical Population Biology
|January 8, 2008
PubMed
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Optimal life history theory explains U-shaped mortality curves. Energy allocation to growth, fertility, and survival drives declining juvenile mortality and rising adult mortality, with potential for postreproductive survival due to intergenerational transfers.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Life History Theory
  • Ecology

Background:

  • Mortality patterns in many species exhibit a U-shaped curve with age.
  • This pattern involves declining mortality from birth to maturity, followed by an increase in adulthood.
  • Postreproductive survival is also observed in some species.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analytically explain the U-shaped mortality curve as an optimal life history strategy.
  • To investigate the role of energy allocation in shaping mortality patterns.
  • To integrate concepts of intergenerational transfers and adult experience into life history models.

Main Methods:

  • Analytical modeling of energy allocation strategies.
  • Mathematical derivation of optimal mortality schedules.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Comparison with existing life history theories (Hamilton, Lee).

    • Main Results:

    • Optimal life history for determinate growth species predicts U-shaped mortality.
    • Juvenile mortality declines due to investment in growth and protection of cumulative investments.
    • Adult mortality rises with declining reproduction, but intergenerational transfers can enable postreproductive survival.

    Conclusions:

    • The U-shaped mortality curve is an emergent property of optimal energy allocation in species with determinate growth.
    • Intergenerational transfers are crucial for understanding postreproductive survival.
    • Energetic efficiency gains with experience may lead to initially flat or declining adult mortality.