DISSERTATION RESEARCH: A Test of the Generality of the Shuster and Wade Model

PI Lisette Waits (PI)提案编号：IOS-0807314标题：使用叉角羚来测试性选择的强度性选择，或由配偶竞争引起的选择，是进化的主要驱动力。为了了解野外的性选择，需要详细了解个体身份和交配成功率，但很少有这种知识。最近，有人提出了一种基于性接受女性在空间和时间上的分布的模型，作为在缺乏详细人口信息的情况下估计性选择强度的代理（Shuster 和 Wade 2003）。该模型的有效性将首次使用蒙大拿州国家野牛牧场发现的叉角羚（Antilocapra americana）种群进行测试。行为观察将用于根据 Shuster 和 Wade (2003) 模型计算性选择的强度。这些结果将与使用遗传亲子关系分析计算出的性选择强度进行比较。如果该模型有效，那么当接受性雌性在空间上聚集时，性选择应该是一种强大的力量，而当它们在时间上聚集时，性选择应该是一种弱力。使用行为数据确定的性选择强度的估计也应该与使用遗传分析发现的结果相关。作为更广泛的影响，这项研究的结果将涉及动物行为、进化和遗传学等多个领域。这些数据将为美国鱼类和野生动物管理局提供有关叉角羚基本种群参数的信息，用于叉角羚的管理。该项目涉及爱达荷大学两所学院之间的合作，并将培训一名女性博士。学生和大约12名本科生。该项目的信息不仅将在科学会议上展示，还将向高年级生物学专业动物行为课程、爱达荷州圣玛丽斯乡村圣玛丽斯高中的生物学学生以及国家野牛牧场的游客展示。

PI Lisette Waits (PI)Proposal number: IOS-0807314Title: Using the Pronghorn to Test the Strength of Sexual SelectionSexual selection, or selection caused by competition over mates, is a major driving force of evolution. To understand sexual selection in the wild, detailed knowledge of individual identities and mating success is required but is rarely available. Recently a model based on the distribution of sexually receptive females in space and time was proposed as a proxy to estimate the strength of sexual selection in the absence of detailed population information (Shuster and Wade 2003). For the first time, the validity of this model will be tested using the population of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) found on the National Bison Range, Montana. Behavioral observations will be used to calculate the intensity of sexual selection based on the Shuster and Wade (2003) model. These results will be compared to the intensity of sexual selection calculated using genetic paternity analyses. If the model is valid, sexual selection should be a strong force when receptive females are clustered in space and a weak force when they are clustered in time. The estimate of the intensity of sexual selection determined using behavioral data should also correlate with that found using the genetic analyses. As broader impacts, the results of this study will be pertinent to a variety of fields including animal behavior, evolution, and genetics. The data will provide information on basic population parameters to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for use in management of pronghorn. This project involves collaboration between two colleges at the University of Idaho, and will lead to the training of one female Ph.D. student and approximately 12 undergraduate students. Information from this project will not only be presented at scientific conferences, but also to an upper-division biology major Animal Behavior course, to biology students at St. Maries High School in rural St. Maries, Idaho, and to visitors at the National Bison Range.