Objective Why do organisms age? This is surely one of the most compelling questions in biology. With advancing age, organisms can see physiological decline leading to higher mortality and lower fertility, a process known as ‘senescence’. The foundations of aging research state senescence should be inevitable in any organism, and is likely a by-product of attenuation in force of selection with age. But is senescence inevitable? Could senescence be adaptive?Senescence is not inevitable, according to recent research from the Max Planck Odense Center, University of Southern Denmark. Species’ aging trajectories are diverse; mortality and fertility may increase, decrease or stay constant with age. We need a new way to understand aging, which recognises this diversity and seeks to understand pattern and process in the evolution of aging across the tree of life. The WHYAGE project explores ecological consequences and evolutionary causes of diversity in aging from this ‘macro’ perspective.Senescence could be adaptive. This proposal presents a theoretical framework under which certain environmental disturbances affecting population age structures could, through population-level processes, favour senescent individuals. More generally, diverse environmental disturbance regimes could help explain diversity of aging across the tree of life.Three objectives facilitate the project. First, demographic method development will allow better understanding of aging trajectories in mortality and fecundity, and population dynamics influenced by these. Second, comparative phylogenetic analyses of global demographic databases of plants and animals will uncover the consequences of aging for population dynamics across the tree of life. This knowledge will inform the third objective; development of theoretical population models exploring how environmental disturbances and population dynamics feed into evolutionary processes, and using these to find conditions under which senescence may be adaptive. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiological morphologycomparative morphologynatural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabasesnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesevolutionary biologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesbotany Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2016 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2016 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator SYDDANSK UNIVERSITET Net EU contribution € 200 194,80 Address CAMPUSVEJ 55 5230 Odense M Denmark See on map Region Danmark Syddanmark Fyn Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 200 194,80