No senescence in a centenarian relict plant

Background/Question/Methods

The empirical evidence for senescence is equivocal, and particularly scarce among long-lived organisms. We collected demographic field data of the dioecious Borderea pyrenaica, a non-clonal relic herb with morphological features that enable precise age determination (300 years old). Senescence was judged on the basis of age-related changes in vital rates and reproductive values.

Results/Conclusions

Our study suggest that the negative effects of age can be very weak or absent in some organisms, enabling not only a very long life span but also a high performance at ages of several centuries. The lack of senescence may be related to the fact that B. pyrenaica individuals alternate meristems during their life span.