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、竞赛竞争和争夺配偶的影响

• 批准号: 0206473
• 负责人: Nancy Solomon
• 金额: $ 1万
• 依托单位: Miami University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-06-01 至 2004-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0206473&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Disentangling; Effects; Female

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.

论文研究：厘清女性选择、竞争竞争和争夺竞争对配偶的影响。南希·g·所罗门；道格拉斯·b·梅尔；性选择是由同一性别的成员在影响获得配偶的特征上的差异所引起的不同的交配成功。尽管性选择是行为生态学中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。本研究的主要目的是确定雌性选择、竞争竞争和争夺配偶竞争在决定雄性交配成功中的相对重要性。雌性的选择包括雌性根据显眼的装饰品或行为选择与雄性交配。竞争包括雄性之间直接的攻击性互动，而争夺竞争则涉及雄性快速准确定位配偶的能力。草地田鼠被用作研究物种，因为过去的研究表明，这三种性选择机制都发生在这些啮齿动物身上。男性导航能力被认为是争夺竞争所青睐的性状，男性支配地位被认为是竞争竞争所青睐的性状。此外，将测试女性选择对这两种特征的影响。具体目的是确定：(1)雄性导航能力与雄性交配成功之间的关系；(2)雄性田鼠的优势与导航能力之间的关系；(3)优势和导航能力对雄性交配成功的相对影响；(4)雌性对不同导航能力和优势水平的雄性的交配偏好。一系列的实验室和实地实验将用于实现这些目标。导航能力将通过给每个雄性完成迷宫测试的能力打分来衡量，雄性的统治力将通过在竞技场测试中对雄性之间的攻击性打分来测试。男性生殖成功将通过遗传父权分析来确定。这个项目的结果将是理解性选择如何影响物种进化的重要下一步。