Peer-reviewed papers included in topic model of old animal ecology and conservation

Earth’s old animals are in decline. Despite this, emerging research is
revealing the vital contributions of older individuals to cultural
transmission, population dynamics, and ecosystem processes and services.
Often the largest and most experienced, old individuals are most valued by
humans and make important contributions to reproduction, information
acquisition and cultural transmission, trophic dynamics, and resistance
and resilience to natural and anthropogenic disturbance. These
observations contrast with the senescence-focused paradigm of old age that
has dominated the literature for over a century yet are consistent with
findings from behavioral ecology and life-history theory. Here, we review
why the global loss of old individuals can be particularly detrimental to
long-lived animals with indeterminate growth, increasing reproductive
output with age, and those dependent on migration, sociality and cultural
transmission for survival. Longevity conservation is needed to protect the
important ecological roles an ecosystem services provided by old animals.