Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, CB2 3EJ.
Trends Ecol Evol. 2010 Oct;25(10):562-73. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2010.08.002. Epub 2010 Sep 7.
Many important questions in ecology and evolutionary biology can only be answered with data that extend over several decades and answering a substantial proportion of questions requires records of the life histories of recognisable individuals. We identify six advantages that long-term, individual based studies afford in ecology and evolution: (i) analysis of age structure; (ii) linkage between life history stages; (iii) quantification of social structure; (iv) derivation of lifetime fitness measures; (v) replication of estimates of selection; (vi) linkage between generations, and we review their impact on studies in six key areas of evolution and ecology. Our review emphasises the unusual opportunities and productivity of long-term, individual-based studies and documents the important role that they play in research on ecology and evolutionary biology as well as the difficulties they face.
许多生态学和进化生物学中的重要问题只能通过跨越几十年的数据来回答，而要回答很大一部分问题则需要可识别个体的生命史记录。我们确定了长期的、基于个体的研究在生态学和进化方面的六个优势：（i）年龄结构分析；（ii）生命史阶段的联系；（iii）社会结构的量化；（iv）终生适应度的测量；（v）选择估计的复制；（vi）代际之间的联系，我们回顾了它们对进化和生态学六个关键领域研究的影响。我们的综述强调了长期、基于个体的研究的独特机会和生产力，并记录了它们在生态学和进化生物学研究中所扮演的重要角色，以及它们所面临的困难。
