Effect of the social environment on the expression of mating preferences in livebearing fishes (Poeciliidae)

社会环境对活鱼（Poeciliidae）交配偏好表达的影响

• 批准号: 111165339
• 负责人: Privatdozent Dr. Martin Plath
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Department of Integrative Biology
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Fellowships
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2008-12-31 至 2009-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/111165339?language=en
• 关键词: Effect; social; environment; expression; mating

Traditionally, mate choice is viewed as an exchange of information between just two individuals. More recently, studies have highlighted the role of social context for mating decisions, which acknowledges that individuals other than the intended receiver can use public information. My previous studies have shown that Poecilia mexicana males (Poeciliidae), when observed during mate choice by an audience male, show weaker expression of mating preferences. This may be an adaptation to avoid sperm competition, since other males likely share intrinsic mating preferences, or even copy the focal male’s mate choice. In this project I will (1) use a comparative approach to examine if audience effects are common in various poeciliids with different mating systems. (2) I will examine if a same-sex audience also affects female mate choice. (3) I will test for a correlation between male aggression and the strength of audience effects, testing the (“split–attention”) hypothesis that an aggressive rival would simply divert males from mate choice. (4) I will examine whether the social environment during ontogeny (male- vs. female-biased sex ratios) affects the strength of audience effects, which will be examined in an experimental approach and in the field. Overall, this project will allow important new insights into the strength of male and female mate choice in natural populations.

传统上，择偶被视为两个人之间的信息交换。最近，研究强调了社会背景在择偶决策中的作用，承认除预期接收者之外的个人可以使用公共信息。我之前的研究表明，当男性观众在择偶过程中观察墨西哥Poecilia mexicana雄性（Poeciliidae）时，它们表现出较弱的交配偏好表达。这可能是为了避免精子竞争而进行的适应，因为其他雄性可能具有内在的交配偏好，甚至复制焦点雄性的择偶选择。在这个项目中，我将（1）使用比较方法来检查观众效应在具有不同交配系统的各种鳅科动物中是否常见。 （2）我将研究同性观众是否也会影响女性择偶。 （3）我将测试雄性攻击性与观众效应强度之间的相关性，测试（“注意力分散”）假设，即攻击性的竞争对手只会转移雄性对配偶的选择。 （4）我将研究个体发育期间的社会环境（男性与女性偏重的性别比例）是否会影响观众效应的强度，这将通过实验方法和现场进行检验。总体而言，该项目将为了解自然种群中男性和女性择偶的强度提供重要的新见解。