Data from: Parental age effects and the evolution of senescence

To gain a broader understanding of how parental age effects may shape age-trajectories of selection, we extend the classic age-structured population projection model to also account for parental age structure, and apply this model to empirical data from an aquatic plant known to exhibit parental age effects (the duckweed Lemna minor), as well as a diverse set of simulated life cycles. Our results suggest that parental age effects alter predictions from classic theory on the evolution of senescence.

Age-related declines in offspring quality reduce the relative value of late-life reproduction, leading to steeper age-related declines in the force of natural selection than would otherwise be expected, and potentially favoring the evolution of more rapid rates of senescence.