Models that are designed to predict evolutionary changes in demographic rates assume that populations are stable over time. But most real populations violate this assumption. For example, in human populations, over the past two centuries demographers have witnessed a dramatic increase in survival rates and an equally dramatic decline in reproductive rates. New and more realistic models for evolution in age-structured populations are needed. This project has as its central aim the development of such a model. The model will rely on a set of theoretical quantitative genetic tools that have been developed over the past half century, but which have not hitherto been applied to questions related to demography.
This work should prove a valuable contribution on a variety of levels. A large body of evolutionary theory rests on models of evolution in age-structured populations. The new and more general model proposed here will help further our understanding of numerous fundamental evolutionary questions, including studies on the biology of aging, host-parasite interactions, and the origin of cooperation. These are all problems with direct impact on human populations, lending broader significance to this work.
