Behavioral types, social plasticity and the effects of variation in social situations on sexual selection

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A major issue in modern ecology, evolution and behavior for all organisms, including humans, is to understand factors that explain why some individuals have higher mating and reproductive success than others. What traits (e.g., behaviors or morphological characters) make some individuals more successful than others, and how might these key traits differ depending on the social situation? This project provides a new framework for quantifying how differences among individuals in behavioral type (or personality; e.g. boldness, aggressiveness, social flexibility) interacts with variations in social situation (e.g., group size, sex ratio, mix of personalities and patterns of social interaction within the group) to determine individual behaviors, group social dynamics and mating patterns. To exemplify and refine the new framework a model system that is ideal for studies of mating patterns is used, namely the stream water strider, Aquarius remigis. These animals mate frequently and are unusually easy to observe. The experimental approach involves repeated observations of the behavior of male and female water striders in semi-natural streams in a range of experimentally determined social situations. Based on preliminary work, the results are expected to show that individual variation in 'social skill' (the ability to choose good social situations, appropriate mating partners and the ability to respond effectively to those partners) will have major impacts on mating success. Although anecdotes suggest that social skill is crucial for success in humans and other animals, this project will provide a new, statistically sophisticated, quantitative framework to scientifically study this hypothesis in animals in general, including humans. Previous work conducted by the investigator on this basic topic has been widely cited in scientific journals, and widely covered by popular and scientific media (newspapers, magazines, radio). The project will train several Ph. D. students and undergraduates (including women and minorities) in modern behavioral, experimental and statistical methods.