Age-Structured Adaptive Dynamics

Age structure can shift evolutionary stable strategy values and change interpretations of adaptive trade-offs. Classical adaptive dynamics had not rigorously derived TSS and Canonical Equation limits for populations where demographic rates depend on both age and trait. The resident state in age-structured adaptive dynamics is a full stationary age distribution associated with a trait. Mutation production rates, invasion probabilities, and fitness gradients are averaged over the resident age distribution. The paper studies adaptive evolution in populations structured by both heritable trait and age.