Search results for "Sex allocation"
showing 8 items of 28 documents
Evidence for an even sex allocation in haplodiploid cyclical parthenogens
2002
Recent theoretical work has shown that haplodiploid cyclical parthenogens, such as rotifers, are expected to have an equal frequency of male-producing and resting-egg producing females during their sexual phase. We tested this prediction by following sexual reproduction dynamics in two laboratory populations and one field population of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis through two growing seasons. We recorded population density, proportion of sexual females, and sex allocation (the proportion of male-producing sexual females as a fraction of total sexual females). We found this sex allocation ratio to vary from 0.3 to 1.0 in single sampling events. However, when we computed sex allocation b…
No room for males in caves : Female‐biased sex ratio in subterranean amphipods of the genus Niphargus
2021
Sex allocation theory predicts that the proportion of daughters to sons will evolve in response to ecological conditions that determine the costs and benefits of producing each sex. All else being equal, the adult sex ratio (ASR) should also vary with ecological conditions. Many studies of subterranean species reported female-biased ASR, but no systematic study has yet been conducted. We test the hypothesis that the ASR becomes more female-biased with increased isolation from the surface. We compiled a dataset of ASRs of 35 species in the subterranean amphipod Niphargus, each living in one of three distinct habitats (surface-subterranean boundary, cave streams, phreatic lakes) representing …
Mate‐Search Efficiency Can Determine the Evolution of Separate Sexes and the Stability of Hermaphroditism in Animals
2002
Limited availability of mating partners has been proposed as an explanation for the occurrence of simultaneous hermaphroditism in animals with pair mating. When low population density or low mobility of a species limits the number of potential mates, simultaneous hermaphrodites may have a selective advantage because, first, they are able to adjust the allocation of resources between male and female functions in order to maximize fitness; second, in a hermaphroditic population the likelihood of meeting a partner is higher because all individuals are potential mates; and, third, in the absence of mating partners, many simultaneously hermaphroditic animals have the option of reproducing throug…
Physiological and reproductive differences between hermaphrodites and males in the androdioecious plant Fraxinus ornus
2004
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Allocation patterns in modes of reproduction in two facultatively sexual cryptic rotifer species
2015
Many zooplankters rely on diapausing stages to survive unsuitable conditions in time-varying habitats. In facultativesexualrotifers, reproductive effortallocatedtothe sexuallyproduced diapausingeggs isat the expenseofthe subitaneousparthenogenetic eggs, generatingatrade-offbetweencurrentand future population growth.Thetimingand the amountof sex (the sexual pattern) affect diapausing-egg production. This switch to sex is complex because the reproductivemode is separated in distinct females: asexual (female-producing), unfertilized sexual (male-producing) and fertilizedsexual (diapause-egg-producing). We studied sexual patterns and life-history variation of these females in two crypticspecies…
Sex Allocation Theory for Facultatively Sexual Organisms Inhabiting Seasonal Environments: The Importance of Bet Hedging
2018
Adaptive explanations for dormancy often invoke bet hedging, where reduced mean fitness can be adaptive if it associates with reduced fitness variance. Sex allocation theory typically ignores variance effects and focuses on mean fitness. For many cyclical parthenogens, these themes become linked, as only sexually produced eggs undergo the dormancy needed to survive harsh conditions. We ask how sex allocation and the timing of sex evolve when this constraint exists in the form of a trade-off between asexual reproduction and sexual production of dormant eggs—the former being crucial for within-season success and the latter for survival across seasons. We show that male production can be tempo…
Data from: Daphnia females adjust sex allocation in response to current sex ratio and density
2019
Cyclical parthenogenesis presents an interesting challenge for the study of sex allocation, as individuals’ allocation decisions involve both the choice between sexual and asexual reproduction, and the choice between sons and daughters. Male production is therefore expected to depend on ecological and evolutionary drivers of overall investment in sex, and those influencing male reproductive value during sexual periods. We manipulated experimental populations, and made repeated observations of natural populations over their growing season, to disentangle effects of population density and the timing of sex from effects of adult sex ratio on sex allocation in cyclically parthenogenetic Daphnia…
Kin selection in interactions between gametes: Gamete competition, gamete limitation, and sex allocation
2023
Kin selection on one hand, and gamete interactions in post-ejaculatory sexual selection on the other are two major research themes that have risen to prominence over the past half century and have simultaneously developed into central fields of research in evolutionary biology. There is a natural connection between the two: when gametes interact with each other, very commonly many of them originate from the same parent and are thus siblings. For example, sperm competition will almost always involve competition between sibling gametes even if the interacting parents are not related to each other. If parents are related to each other, the relatedness between gametes increases further. Here we…