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

论文研究：理清女性选择、竞赛竞争和骗局竞争对博士学位的影响。南希·G·所罗门和道格拉斯·B·梅尔；马克·D·斯普里特：性选择是由于某一性别成员在某一性状上的差异而导致的差异性交配成功，这种差异会影响到配偶的获得。尽管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，人们对性选择的不同机制的相对重要性知之甚少。这项拟议的研究的主要目的是确定雌性选择、竞争和争夺配偶在决定雄性交配成功方面的相对重要性。雌性选择是指雌性根据显眼的装饰品或行为选择与雄性交配。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迅速准确地找到配偶的能力。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。男性导航能力被选为争抢比赛青睐的性状，男性优势排名被选为竞赛青睐的性状。此外，还将检验女性选择对这两个特征的影响。具体目的是确定：(1)雄性导航能力和雄性交配成功的关系；(2)雄性田鼠的优势和导航能力之间的关系；(3)优势和导航能力对雄性交配成功的相对影响；(4)雌性对导航能力和优势程度不同的雄性的交配偏好。为了实现这些目标，将进行一系列的实验室和现场实验。导航能力将通过对每个男性完成迷宫测试的能力进行评分来衡量，而男性的优势将通过在竞技场选拔赛中对男性之间的攻击性评分来测试。男性的生殖成功将通过遗传亲子关系分析来确定。这个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.