Data and code from: Longevity hinders evolutionary rescue through slower growth but not necessarily slower adaptation

''Evolutionary rescue'' is the process by which
populations experiencing severe environmental change avoid extinction
through adaptation. Applying theory to natural populations and
conservation targets requires investigating the effects of several
life-history traits, including longevity. Theory demonstrates that
longevity can inhibit rescue through slower phenotypic adaptation when
selection acts once per lifetime, leaving open questions about
longevity's effects when individuals face multiple rounds of
selection. We developed a model integrating evolutionary rescue with
concepts from life-history theory, particularly the trade-off where
increasing longevity produces slower population growth rates. Our model
varies longevity by modifying the balance of survival and reproduction,
with selection acting on survival allowing for adaptation within cohorts.
We used this model to study life-history strategies with different
longevities responding to sudden environmental change. Simulations
demonstrated that higher longevity resulted in more time at low density
and increased extinction. With perfect trait heritability, rates of
adaptation were nearly identical across longevities. But at lower
heritabilities, repeated selection under longevity decoupled mean
population phenotypes and genotypes, producing a transient phase of rapid
phenotypic change. Our results demonstrate that longevity impedes rescue
by slowing population growth but does not always slow rates of adaptation.