The ecological stage changes benefits of mate choice and drives preference divergence.

ABSTRACT: Preference divergence is thought to contribute to reproductive isolation. Ecology can alter the way selection acts on female preferences, making them most likely to diverge when ecological conditions vary among populations. We present a novel mechanism for ecologically dependent sexual selection, termed 'the ecological stage' to highlight its ecological dependence. Our hypothesized mechanism emphasizes that males and females interact over mating in a specific ecological context, and different ecological conditions change the costs and benefits of mating interactions, selecting for different preferences in distinct environments and different male traits, especially when traits are condition dependent. We test key predictions of this mechanism in a sympatric three-spine stickleback species p

SUBMITTER: Tinghitella RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7423281 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature