DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Understanding Variation in Motor Performance and Mate Choice in a Lekking Species with Complex, Acrobatic Displays

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Many animals have complex courtship displays, and these displays are often essential for reproduction. This project asks how and why individuals differ in their performance of complex displays and the consequences of that variation. Research focuses on the complex, acrobatic displays of a small, tropical bird, the lance-tailed manakin. Researchers will analyze continuously recorded video of display sites to determine how the courtship performance of males is influenced by female preferences. Analyses will quantify fine-scale variation in complex displays and determine how courtship performance affects reproductive success. Undergraduate mentoring is an essential aspect of this research program, and will promote opportunities for minority students. Findings will be disseminated to the public through informal presentations, published in peer-reviewed journals, and presented at international conferences.Motor performance (the execution of visible body movements) is an integral component of many courtship displays and has the potential to be an important signal of male quality. The whole organism is used in the execution of such movements, which involve factors such as respiration, muscular capacity, and current energy reserves; therefore, motor performance may be an even more valuable signal than static traits more commonly investigated in sexual selection studies. In lekking species, mate choice by females is expected to depend on which males she observes. Therefore, it is important to quantify phenotypic variation among the particular subset of males among which each female is choosing. This research will investigate the causes of variation in the performance of complex, acrobatic displays in the lance-tailed manakin, and the fitness consequences of that variation, specifically addressing three key questions: 1) What factors influence variation in display performance? 2) How does male display performance influence female choice? and 3) How do males choose which female to direct their displays toward when multiple females are present? This research utilizes advances in video technology to quantify fine-scale variation in complex courtship displays. Researchers will employ genetic techniques to determine how display performance and female visitation patterns relate to genetic siring success. Understanding what causes variation in motor displays is the first essential step in disentangling complex courtship displays and how these displays may influence fitness. All data associated with this research will be archived at Florida State University for a minimum of 5 years following project completion.