Effects of density on the strength of sexual selection in the laboratory and in nature

Author:

Cothran Rickey D12,Schmidenberg David1,Stiff Andy R1,Wellborn Gary A3,Relyea Rick A14

Affiliation:

1. Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, University of Pittsburgh , Linesville, PA , USA

2. Department of Biological Sciences, Southwestern Oklahoma State University , Weatherford, OK , USA

3. Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma , Norman, OK , USA

4. Darrin Fresh Water Institute, Department of Biological Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , Troy, NY , USA

Abstract

Abstract There is a growing effort to understand how sexual selection varies over space and time under different ecological conditions and how this can maintain variation in sexual traits. An interesting ecological condition is population density, which can either increase or decrease sexual selection depending on the natural history of the species. We examined sexual and natural selection in an undescribed amphipod species (Hyalella sp.) using surveys of two natural populations that increase in density from spring to summer. We also conducted an experiment that directly manipulated density to assess the effects on sexual selection. In the field during spring (low density) and summer (high density), we documented sexual selection on male traits, including body size, gnathopods and antennae. We found that the magnitude and direction of this selection changed from spring to summer and that selection patterns differed between populations. In the experiment, we found no sexual selection occurred at low density, but found significant positive selection on all three male traits at medium and high densities. These results underline the importance of isolating individual ecological factors to determine their role in sexual selection while also documenting patterns in natural populations to understand how selection varies over space and time.

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

Subject

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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