Dissertation Research: Disentangling the Effects of Female Choice, Contest Competition and Scramble Competition for Mates

论文研究：解开女性选择，比赛竞争和Scamble竞争的影响。南希·G所罗门道格拉斯B。作者：Mark D.性选择是由一种性别的成员在影响配偶获得的性状上的差异引起的交配成功的差异。虽然性选择是行为生态学领域研究最深入的领域之一，但令人惊讶的是，人们对性选择不同机制的相对重要性知之甚少。拟进行的研究的主要目标是确定相对重要性的女性选择，比赛竞争，争夺竞争的配偶在决定交配成功的男性。雌性选择是指雌性根据显眼的装饰或行为选择与雄性交配。竞赛竞争涉及雄性之间的直接攻击性互动，而争夺竞争则涉及雄性快速准确地找到配偶的能力。草原田鼠被用作研究物种，因为过去的研究表明，所有这三种性选择机制都发生在这些啮齿动物中。雄性导航能力被认为是争夺竞争所青睐的性状，雄性优势等级被认为是竞争竞争所青睐的性状。此外，女性的选择对这两个特征的影响将被测试。具体目标是确定：（1）男性导航能力和男性交配成功之间的关系，（2）男性田鼠的优势和导航能力之间的关系，（3）优势和导航能力对男性交配成功的相对影响，以及（4）女性交配偏好不同水平的导航能力和优势的男性。一系列的实验室和现场实验将被用来实现这些目标。导航能力将通过对每只雄性完成迷宫测试的能力进行评分来测量，雄性优势将通过对竞技场试验中成对雄性之间的攻击性进行评分来测试。将使用遗传亲子关系分析确定男性生殖成功率。该项目的结果将是理解性选择如何塑造物种进化的重要下一步。

Dissertation Research: Disentangeling the Effects of Female Choice, Contest Competition and Scamble Competition for MatesDrs. Nancy G. Solomon & Douglas B. Meile; Mark D. SpritzerSexual selection is differential mating success caused by variation among members of one sex in a trait that influences acquisition of mates. Although sexual selection is one of the most intensively studied areas in the field of behavioral ecology, surprisingly little is known about the relative importance of the different mechanisms of sexual selection. The main goal of the proposed research is to determine the relative importance of female choice, contest competition, and scramble competition for mates in determining the mating success of males. Female choice involves females choosing to mate with a male based on conspicuous ornaments or behaviors. Contest competition involves direct aggressive interactions between males and scramble competition, in contrast, involves a male's ability to rapidly and accurately locate mates. Meadow voles were used as the study species because past studies suggest that all three of these mechanisms of sexual selection occur among these rodents. Male navigation ability was chosen as a trait believed to be favored by scramble competition, and male dominance rank was chosen as a trait believed to be favored by contest competition. In addition, the influence of female choice upon both of these traits will be tested. The specific objectives are to determine: (1) the relationship between male navigation ability and male mating success, (2) the relationship between dominance and navigation ability among male voles, (3) the relative influence of dominance and navigation ability upon male mating success, and (4) female mating preferences for males with varying levels of navigation ability and dominance. A series of lab and field experiments will be used to achieve these objectives. Navigation ability will be measured by scoring each male's ability to complete a maze test, and male dominance will be tested by scoring aggression between pairs of males in arena trials. Male reproductive success will be determined using genetic paternity analyses. The results of this project will be an important next step in understanding how sexual selection shapes the evolution of a species.