Dissertation Research: Sexual Selection: Female Preference in the wild

野外雌性偏好的研究。巴里河Sinervo和Ryan Calsbeek女性在选择配偶时应该是有选择性的，因为女性通常比男性在生产和/或照顾后代方面投入更多。当可供交配的雌性数量有限时，雄性应该争夺雌性。虽然大量的证据支持这样一种观点，即女性的选择可以深刻地影响自然种群的进化，但关于女性从选择性交配中受益的机制，人们几乎没有达成一致。雌性选择配偶可能是为了直接利益（领土质量，父母的照顾，婚姻礼物）和/或间接利益（雄性的优良基因）。直接和间接利益的相对重要性将在侧斑蜥蜴，Uta stansburiana中进行测试。在这种蜥蜴中，雄性建立的领土在热资源的可用性方面差异很大。通常情况下，控制最佳领土的雄性也是大型的，原因如下。热资源对蜥蜴来说至关重要，它们从太阳获得热量以维持较高的体温。高体温和活动促进高生长速度和身体大小。雄性领地的热量资源与栖息地中岩石的数量相关。配偶在领土质量和其他物理属性，如身体大小方面存在差异。为了了解直接和间接利益的重要性，领土质量和身体大小将被实验解耦。直接好处：将在成对的相邻雄性之间进行领土质量的实验性操纵。在早春绘制完所有领地的地图后，岩石将从大型雄性的领地上移走，并沉积在它们较小的雄性邻居的邻近领地上。这种操纵将有效地扭转大男性体型和高质量领土的相关性，这通常存在于自然界中。女性领地位置的变化将作为领地质量变化的函数来衡量，领地质量变化衡量的是女性对领地质量直接好处的偏好。衡量女性的生殖成功率将测试女性在高质量领土上获得的直接利益。雌性繁殖成功的方面将包括：雌性父母的条件和生存，产生后代的数量，后代的大小和条件，后代的后续生长和生存，雌性产卵的巢穴的热特性也将被测量。在这种情况下，雌性会选择可能携带基因的大雄性，这些基因可能会提高后代的生长速度，使其成熟或存活。在这个物种中，雌性与许多配偶交配，这些配偶可以在雄性身体大小上变化。在自然界中，DNA亲子鉴定方法将用于确定雌性窝中每个后代的父亲。将测量来自大雄性和小雄性的后代的性能。此外，雌性将在实验室中与大型和小型雄性交配，并在将后代释放到自然界的实验地块后跟踪个体后代的表现。最后，将进行配偶选择试验，以评估雌性是否表现出对雄性体型的强烈偏好。结合领域质量的田间实验和实验室实验，将有力地检验领域质量的直接效益和优良基因的间接效益对雌性后代生长和存活的相对贡献。

Studies of female preference in the wild. Barry R. Sinervo and Ryan CalsbeekFemales should be selective in their choice of mate, since females typically invest more in the production and/or care of offspring than do males. When there are a limited number of females available for mating, males should vie for access to females. Though abundant evidence supports the notion that female choice can profoundly affect the evolution of natural populations, there is little agreement regarding the mechanisms by which females benefit from mating selectively. Females may choose mates for direct benefits (territory quality, parental care, nuptial gifts), and/or indirect benefits (the contribution of good genes by the male). The relative importance of direct and indirect benefits will be tested in the side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana. In this lizard, males set up territories that vary greatly in the availability of thermal resources. Normally, males that control the best territory also are of large size for the following reason. Thermal resources are crucial for lizards, which obtain heat for maintaining high body temperature from the sun. High body temperature and activity promote high growth rate and body size. The thermal resources on a males territory are correlated with the amount of rock in the habitat. The mates vary in territory quality and in other physical attributes such as body size. To understand the importance of direct and indirect benefits, territory quality and body size will be experimentally uncoupled. Direct Benefits: Experimental manipulations of territory quality will be performed between pairs of neighboring males. After all territories are mapped in early spring, rock will be removed from the territories of large males and deposited on adjacent territories of their smaller male neighbors. This manipulation will effectively reverse the correlation of large male body-size and high-quality territories that is normally present in nature. Changes in the location of female territories will be measured as a function of changes in territory quality, which measures female preference for direct benefits of territory quality. Measuring female's reproductive success will test for the direct benefits accrued by females on high quality territories. Aspects of female reproductive success will include: the condition and survival of the female parent, numbers of offspring produced, size and condition of offpsring, subsequent growth and survival of offspring, The thermal properties nest sites where females lay eggs will also be measured.Indirect Benefits: The indirect benefits of mate choice are associated with genes that a high quality mate passes on to the female's progeny. In this case, females would be expected to select large males which are likely to carry genes that might enhance progeny growth rate to maturity or perhaps survival. In this species, the female mates with many mates which can vary in male body size. In nature, DNA paternity methods will be used to determine the father of each progeny in the female's clutch. The performance of progeny from large and small males will be measured. In addition, females will be mated in the laboratory to large and small males and the performance of individual progeny will be followed after the progeny are released onto experimental plots in nature. Finally, mate choice trials will be carried out to assess whether females exhibit a strong preference for male body size.The combination field experiments of territory quality and laboratory experiments will provide a strong test of the relative contribution of direct benefits of territory quality and indirect benefits of good genes for the growth and survival of the female's progeny.