scholarly journals Sexual selection, environmental robustness and evolutionary demography of maladapted populations: a test using experimental evolution in seed beetles

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivain Martinossi-Allibert ◽  
Emma Thilliez ◽  
Göran Arnqvist ◽  
David Berger
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Fecundity Selection ◽  
Environmental Robustness ◽  
Seed Beetles

AbstractWhether sexual selection impedes or aids adaptation has become a pressing question in times of rapid environmental change and parallels the debate about how the evolution of individual traits impacts on population dynamics and viability. The net effect of sexual selection on population viability results from a balance between genetic benefits of “good genes” effects and costs of sexual conflict. Depending on how these facets of sexual selection are affected under environmental change, extinction of maladapted populations could either be avoided or accelerated. Here, we evolved seed beetles under three alternative mating regimes (polygamy, monogamy and male-limited selection) to disentangle the contributions of sexual selection, fecundity selection and male-female coevolution to individual reproductive success and population fitness. We compared these contributions between the ancestral environment and two new stressful environments (temperature and host plant shift). Evolution under polygamy resulted in the highest individual reproductive success in competitive context for both sexes. Moreover, females evolving only via sexual selection on their male siblings in the male-limited regime had similar reproductive success and higher fertility than females evolving under monogamy, suggesting that sexual selection on males had positive effects on female fitness components. Interestingly, male-limited sexual selection resulted in males that were robust to stress, compared to males from the two evolution regimes applying fecundity selection. We quantified the population-level consequences of this sex-specific adaptation and found evidence that costs of socio-sexual interactions were higher in male-limited lines compared to polygamous lines, and that this difference was particularly pronounced at elevated temperature to which males from the male-limited regime were more robust compared to their conspecific females. These results illustrate the tension between individual-level adaptation and population-level viability in sexually reproducing species and suggest that sex-specific selection can cause differences in environmental robustness that may impact population demography under environmental change.

scholarly journals Sexual selection studies: a NESCent catalyst meeting

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Roughgarden ◽  
Elizabeth Adkins-Regan ◽  
Erol Akçay ◽  
Jeremy Chase Crawford ◽  
Raghavendra Gadagkar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Behavioral Theory ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Ethical Dimension ◽  
Dependent Process ◽  
Deep Disagreement ◽  
Fecundity Selection ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Political Economic

A catalyst meeting on sexual selection studies was held in July 2013 at the facilities of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) in Durham, NC. This article by a subcommittee of the participants foregrounds some of the topics discussed at the meeting. Topics mentioned here include the relevance of heritability estimates to assessing the presence of sexual selection, whether sexual selection is distinct from natural selection, and the utility of distinguishing sexual selection from fecundity selection. A possible definition of sexual selection is offered based on a distinction between sexual selection as a frequency-dependent process and fecundity selection as a density-dependent process. Another topic highlighted is a deep disagreement among participants in the reality of good-genes, sexy-sons, and run-away processes. Finally, the status of conflict in political-economic theory is contrasted with the status accorded to conflict in evolutionary behavioral theory, and the professional responsibility of sexual-selection workers to consider the ethical dimension of their research is underscored.

scholarly journals The effect of sexual selection on adaptation and extinction under increasing temperatures

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1877) ◽  
pp. 20180303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan M. Parrett ◽  
Robert J. Knell
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Indian Meal ◽  
Mating Opportunities ◽  
Entire Experiment ◽  
Positive Effect

Strong sexual selection has been reported to both enhance and hinder the adaptive capacity and persistence of populations when exposed to novel environments. Consequently, how sexual selection influences population adaption and persistence under stress remains widely debated. Here, we present two empirical investigations of the fitness consequences of sexual selection on populations of the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella, exposed to stable or gradually increasing temperatures. When faced with increasing temperatures, strong sexual selection was associated with both increased fecundity and offspring survival compared with populations experiencing weak sexual selection, suggesting sexual selection acts to drive adaptive evolution by favouring beneficial alleles. Strong sexual selection did not, however, delay extinction when the temperature became excessively high. By manipulating individuals' mating opportunities during fitness assays, we were able to assess the effect of multiple mating independently from the effect of population-level sexual selection, and found that polyandry has a positive effect on both fecundity and offspring survival under increasing temperatures in those populations evolving with weak sexual selection. Within stable temperatures, there were some benefits from strong sexual selection but these were not consistent across the entire experiment, possibly reflecting changing costs and benefits of sexual selection under stabilizing and directional selection. These results indicate that sexual selection can provide a buffer against climate change and increase adaptation rates within a continuously changing environment. These positive effects of sexual selection may, however, be too small to protect populations and delay extinction when environmental changes are relatively rapid.

scholarly journals Sexual selection and the evolution of male and female cognition: a test using experimental evolution in seed beetles

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Baur ◽  
Jean d’Amour ◽  
David Berger
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Potential Force ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Rate Of Learning ◽  
Seed Beetles

Abstract“The mating mind hypothesis”, originally aimed at explaining human cognition, holds that the socio-sexual environment shapes cognitive abilities among animals. Similarly, general sexual selection theory predicts that mate competition should benefit individuals carrying “good genes” with beneficial pleiotropic effects on general cognitive ability. However, few experimental studies have evaluated these related hypotheses due to difficulties of performing direct tests in most taxa. Here we harnessed the empirical potential of the seed beetle study system to investigate the role of sexual selection and mating system in the evolution of cognition. We evolved replicate lines of beetle under enforced monogamy (eliminating sexual selection) or polygamy for 35 generations and then challenged them to locate and discriminate among mating partners (male assays) or host seeds (female assays). To assess learning, the same beetles performed the task in three consecutive rounds. All lines learned the task, improving both within and between trails. Moreover, polygamous males outperformed monogamous males. However, there were no differences in the rate of learning between males of the two regimes, and polygamous females showed no improvement in host search, and even signs of reduced learning. Hence, while sexual selection was a potent factor that increased cognitive performance in mate search, it did not lead to the general increase in cognitive abilities expected under the “mating mind” hypothesis or general “good genes” theory. Our results highlight sexually antagonistic (balancing) selection as a potential force maintaining genetic variation in cognitive traits.

scholarly journals Do we need demographic data to forecast plant population dynamics?

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T. Tredennick ◽  
Mevin B. Hooten ◽  
Peter B. Adler
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Forecast Accuracy ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Population Models ◽  
Demographic Model ◽  
Percent Cover ◽  
Climate Effects ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Significant Difference

1. Rapid environmental change has generated growing interest in forecasts of future population trajectories. Traditional population models built with detailed demographic observations from one study site can address the impacts of environmental change at particular locations, but are difficult to scale up to the landscape and regional scales relevant to management decisions. An alternative is to build models using population-level data that are much easier to collect over broad spatial scales than individual-level data. However, it is unknown whether models built using population-level data adequately capture the effects of density-dependence and environmental forcing that are necessary to generate skillful forecasts. 2. Here, we test the consequences of aggregating individual responses when forecasting the population states (percent cover) and trajectories of four perennial grass species in a semi-arid grassland in Montana, USA. We parameterized two population models for each species, one based on individual-level data (survival, growth and recruitment) and one on population-level data (percent cover), and compared their forecasting accuracy and forecast horizons with and without the inclusion of climate covariates. For both models, we used Bayesian ridge regression to weight the influence of climate covariates for optimal prediction. 3. In the absence of climate effects, we found no significant difference between the forecast accuracy of models based on individual-level data and models based on population-level data. Climate effects were weak, but increased forecast accuracy for two species. Increases in accuracy with climate covariates were similar between model types. 4. In our case study, percent cover models generated forecasts as accurate as those from a demographic model. For the goal of forecasting, models based on aggregated individual-level data may offer a practical alternative to data-intensive demographic models. Long time series of percent cover data already exist for many plant species. Modelers should exploit these data to predict the impacts of environmental change.

scholarly journals Sexual selection studies: a NESCent catalyst meeting

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Roughgarden ◽  
Elizabeth Adkins-Regan ◽  
Erol Akçay ◽  
Jeremy Chase Crawford ◽  
Raghavendra Gadagkar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Behavioral Theory ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Ethical Dimension ◽  
Dependent Process ◽  
Deep Disagreement ◽  
Fecundity Selection ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Political Economic

A catalyst meeting on sexual selection studies was held in July 2013 at the facilities of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) in Durham, NC. This article by a subcommittee of the participants foregrounds some of the topics discussed at the meeting. Topics mentioned here include the relevance of heritability estimates to assessing the presence of sexual selection, whether sexual selection is distinct from natural selection, and the utility of distinguishing sexual selection from fecundity selection. A possible definition of sexual selection is offered based on a distinction between sexual selection as a frequency-dependent process and fecundity selection as a density-dependent process. Another topic highlighted is a deep disagreement among participants in the reality of good-genes, sexy-sons, and run-away processes. Finally, the status of conflict in political-economic theory is contrasted with the status accorded to conflict in evolutionary behavioral theory, and the professional responsibility of sexual-selection workers to consider the ethical dimension of their research is underscored.

scholarly journals Sexual selection studies: A NESCent catalyst meeting

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Roughgarden ◽  
Elizabeth Adkins-Regan ◽  
Erol Akçay ◽  
Jeremy Chase Crawford ◽  
Raghavendra Gadagkar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Behavioral Theory ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Ethical Dimension ◽  
Dependent Process ◽  
Deep Disagreement ◽  
Fecundity Selection ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Political Economic

A catalyst meeting on sexual selection studies was held in July 2013 at the facilities of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) in Durham, NC. This article by a subcommittee of the participants foregrounds some of the topics discussed at the meeting. Topics mentioned here include the relevance of heritability estimates to assessing the presence of sexual selection, whether sexual selection is distinct from natural selection, and the utility of distinguishing sexual selection from fecundity selection. A possible definition of sexual selection is offered based on a distinction between sexual selection as a frequency-dependent process and fecundity selection as a density-dependent process. Another topic highlighted is a deep disagreement among participants in the reality of good-genes, sexy-sons, and run-away processes. Finally, the status of conflict in political-economic theory is contrasted with the status accorded to conflict in evolutionary behavioral theory, and the professional responsibility of sexual-selection workers to consider the ethical dimension of their research is underscored.

scholarly journals The efficacy of good genes sexual selection under environmental change

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1896) ◽  
pp. 20182313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivain Martinossi-Allibert ◽  
Claus Rueffler ◽  
Göran Arnqvist ◽  
David Berger
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Mating Systems ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Genetic Quality ◽  
Changing Environments ◽  
Sexually Selected Traits ◽  
Deleterious Alleles ◽  
Selected Traits ◽  
Mechanistic Basis

Sexual selection can promote adaptation if sexually selected traits are reliable indicators of genetic quality. Moreover, models of good genes sexual selection suggest that, by operating more strongly in males than in females, sexual selection may purge deleterious alleles from the population at a low demographic cost, offering an evolutionary benefit to sexually reproducing populations. Here, we investigate the effect of good genes sexual selection on adaptation following environmental change. We show that the strength of sexual selection is often weakened relative to fecundity selection, reducing the suggested benefit of sexual reproduction. This result is a consequence of incorporating a simple and general mechanistic basis for how sexual selection operates under different mating systems, rendering selection on males frequency-dependent and dynamic with respect to the degree of environmental change. Our model illustrates that incorporating the mechanism of selection is necessary to predict evolutionary outcomes and highlights the need to substantiate previous theoretical claims with further work on how sexual selection operates in changing environments.

scholarly journals Sexual selection studies: A NESCent catalyst meeting

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Roughgarden ◽  
Elizabeth Adkins-Regan ◽  
Erol Akçay ◽  
Jeremy Chase Crawford ◽  
Raghavendra Gadagkar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Behavioral Theory ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Ethical Dimension ◽  
Dependent Process ◽  
Deep Disagreement ◽  
Fecundity Selection ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Political Economic

A catalyst meeting on sexual selection studies was held in July 2013 at the facilities of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) in Durham, NC. This article by a subcommittee of the participants foregrounds some of the topics discussed at the meeting. Topics mentioned here include the relevance of heritability estimates to assessing the presence of sexual selection, whether sexual selection is distinct from natural selection, and the utility of distinguishing sexual selection from fecundity selection. A possible definition of sexual selection is offered based on a distinction between sexual selection as a frequency-dependent process and fecundity selection as a density-dependent process. Another topic highlighted is a deep disagreement among participants in the reality of good-genes, sexy-sons, and run-away processes. Finally, the status of conflict in political-economic theory is contrasted with the status accorded to conflict in evolutionary behavioral theory, and the professional responsibility of sexual-selection workers to consider the ethical dimension of their research is underscored.

scholarly journals The efficacy of sexual selection under environmental change

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivain Martinossi-Allibert ◽  
Claus Rueffler ◽  
Göran Arnqvist ◽  
David Berger
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Fertilization Success ◽  
Honest Signals ◽  
Sexually Selected Traits ◽  
Deleterious Alleles ◽  
Fecundity Selection ◽  
Selected Traits

AbstractSexual selection can promote adaptation if sexually selected traits are reliable indicators of genetic quality. Moreover, stronger sexual selection in males, as often reported in empirical studies, may help purge deleterious alleles at a low cost to population productivity. However, to what extent this remains true when a changing environment affects sexual selection dynamics has been debated. Here, we show that even if sexually selected traits remain honest signals of male quality in new environments, the efficacy of sexual selection will often be reduced under stress. We model the strength of sex-specific selection under different levels of environmental stress in a population in which males compete with each other for fertilization success and in which females experience fecundity selection. We observe that the strength of sexual selection is reduced relative to fecundity selection, resulting in a lowered potential for selection on males to aid adaptation under environmental change.

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