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

PI Lisette Waits （PI）提案号：ios -0807314题目：用叉角羚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。为了理解野外的性选择，个体身份和交配成功的详细知识是必要的，但很少能得到。最近提出了一个基于空间和时间上的性接受性雌性分布的模型，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）。这一模型的有效性将首次通过在蒙大拿州国家野牛区发现的叉角羚（Antilocapra americana）的数量进行测试。行为观察将用于计算基于Shuster和Wade（2003）模型的性选择强度。这些结果将与使用遗传父权分析计算的性选择强度进行比较。如果这个模型是有效的，那么当接受性的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的力量。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联。作为更广泛的影响，这项研究的结果将涉及到包括动物行为、进化和遗传学在内的各个领域。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，用于管理叉角羚。该项目涉及爱达荷大学两个学院之间的合作，并将导致培训一名女博士生和大约12名本科生。这个项目的信息不仅将在科学会议上展示，而且还将展示给高年级生物学专业的动物行为课程、爱达荷州圣玛丽斯农村圣玛丽斯高中的生物学学生以及国家野牛牧场的游客。

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.