Definition: The mortality rate doubling time (MRDT) is considered to be a measure of the rate of ageing. It is estimated from the slope of the Gompertz curve by: MRDT = 0.693/G where G is the exponential (Gompertz) mortality rate coefficient.
Definition: position of an organism in a food web. May be described verbally with descriptors including primary producer, herbivore or carnivore. If described numerically, 1 indicates a primary producer, 2 a herbivore, and so on up the food web.