Evol Ecol Res 8: 103-113 (2006)     Full PDF if your library subscribes.

When boys want to be girls: effects of mating system and dispersal on parent–offspring sex ratio conflict

Ido Pen*

Theoretical Biology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands


e-mail: i.r.pen@rug.nl

ABSTRACT

Question: How is parent–offspring conflict over the sex ratio affected by mating system and sex-specific dispersal?

Methods: Inclusive fitness maximization models and dynamic simulations.

Life cycle: Patch-structured diploid population, fixed number of adult females per patch, sex-specific dispersal of offspring, mating after dispersal, competition for breeding sites. The mating system is monogamous, polygynous or polyandrous.

Results: In geographically structured populations, offspring can prefer a sex ratio more biased than that preferred by parents if the mating system is polygynous and dispersal is female-biased. This can be understood from an inclusive fitness perspective: offspring have to balance the benefits of belonging to the minority sex – which enjoys a higher reproductive success than the majority sex – with the cost of increased competition between relatives. Simulations confirm these results and show that mating system and dispersal regime can determine the invasion prospects of feminizing or masculinizing genes, and hence may be important for the evolution of sex-determining systems.

Keywords: inbreeding, inclusive fitness, kin selection, monogamy, parent–offspring conflict, polyandry, polygyny, sex allocation, sex determination, sex-specific dispersal.

DOWNLOAD A FREE, FULL PDF COPY
IF you are connected using the IP of a subscribing institution (library, laboratory, etc.)
or through its VPN.

 

        © 2006 Ido Pen. All EER articles are copyrighted by their authors. All authors endorse, permit and license Evolutionary Ecology Ltd. to grant its subscribing institutions/libraries the copying privileges specified below without additional consideration or payment to them or to Evolutionary Ecology, Ltd. These endorsements, in writing, are on file in the office of Evolutionary Ecology, Ltd. Consult authors for permission to use any portion of their work in derivative works, compilations or to distribute their work in any commercial manner.

       Subscribing institutions/libraries may grant individuals the privilege of making a single copy of an EER article for non-commercial educational or non-commercial research purposes. Subscribing institutions/libraries may also use articles for non-commercial educational purposes by making any number of copies for course packs or course reserve collections. Subscribing institutions/libraries may also loan single copies of articles to non-commercial libraries for educational purposes.

       All copies of abstracts and articles must preserve their copyright notice without modification.