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Environmental variation and the maintenance of polymorphism : the effect of ambient light spectrum on mating behaviour and sexual selection in guppies
journal contribution
posted on 2003-05-01, 00:00 authored by S Gamble, A Lindholm, John EndlerJohn Endler, R BrooksThe intensity of sexual selection is influenced by environmental conditions because these conditions influence signal propagation and the risks of the signal being exploited by predators and parasites. We explore the possibility that spatial or temporal heterogeneity in environmental signalling conditions (in this case light spectrum) may induce fluctuating sexual selection on male behaviour and ornamentation in guppies. We used shade cloth and filters to experimentally manipulate light spectrum, mimicking conditions found naturally: early morning/late afternoon light (SC treatment), midday forest shade (F89 filter treatment) and midday woodland shade (F55 filter treatment). Females were more responsive to male courtship and males were less likely to attempt sneak copulations under F55 light than the other two treatments. By contrast, male display rate was not influenced by treatment. Females tended to prefer the same males under SC and F55 light, but attractiveness in these treatments was unrelated to attractiveness under F89 light. There were similarities among treatments in the traits that females preferred: females preferred males with larger areas of orange in all three treatments. There were, however, also some differences, including preference for larger males under F89 light and for smaller males under the other treatments. Overall, the influence of ambient light spectrum on the relative importance of mate choice and male sneak copulation may have important implications for the mode and strength of sexual selection in different environments. The findings on attractiveness and preference functions, however, suggest that light spectrum only weakly affects the direction of sexual selection by female choice.
History
Journal
Ecology lettersVolume
6Issue
5Pagination
463 - 472Publisher
Wiley-BlackwellLocation
Oxford, EnglandPublisher DOI
ISSN
1461-023XeISSN
1461-0248Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2003, Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRSUsage metrics
Keywords
polymorphismmate choicelek paradoxsneak copulationPoecilia reticulataScience & TechnologyLife Sciences & BiomedicineEcologyEnvironmental Sciences & EcologyMALE-MALE COMPETITIONCOLOR PATTERNSQUANTITATIVE GENETICSPOECILIA-RETICULATAMALE TRAITSEVOLUTIONREPEATABILITYPREFERENCESEvolutionary BiologyEcology
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