Predator‐induced maternal and paternal effects independently alter sexual selection

Abstract

Parental experience alters survival‐related phenotypes of offspring in both adaptive and nonadaptive ways, yielding rapid inter‐ and transgenerational fitness effects. Yet, fitness comprises survival and reproduction, and parental effects on mating decisions could alter the strength and direction of sexual selection, affecting long‐term evolutionary trajectories. We used a full factorial design in which threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) mothers, fathers, both, or neither were exposed to a model predator at developmentally appropriate times to test for predator‐induced maternal, paternal, and joint parental effects on daughters’ mating behavior. We tested the responsiveness, preferences, and mate choices of adult daughters in no‐choice trials with wild‐caught males who had varied sexual signals. Maternal and paternal predator exposure independently yielded daughters who preferred males who were intermediate in conspicuousness (with duller nuptial coloration and who courted less vigorously), relaxing the typical preference for the most conspicuous males. The combined effects of maternal and paternal predator exposure were not cumulative; when both parents were predator exposed, single‐parent effects on mate preferences were reversed. Thus, we cannot assume that maternal and paternal effects additively combine to produce “parental” effects. Further, joint parental predator exposure yielded daughters who were three times less likely to mate at all. Stress‐induced intergenerational parental effects on reproductive decisions such as those observed here may potentiate rapid transgenerational responses to novel and changing mating environments.

Paternal care effects outweigh gamete-mediated and personal environment effects during the transgenerational estimation of risk in fathead minnows

“…2 a) and the on average greatest extent of risk allocation (Fig. 3 a), suggesting that maternal and paternal perceived risk have additive effects on offspring, in accordance with some previous stickleback studies [ 83 ] but contrasting other stickleback research suggesting non-additive effects [ 16 , 84 ]. These additive effects between maternal and paternal environments are then further additively exacerbated by high-risk parental care (Figs.…”

Interactions Between Maternal, Paternal, Developmental, and Immediate Environmental Effects on Anti-predator Behavior of the Snail Physa acuta

“…However, in plants, huge differences in gamete and seed dispersals between male and female functions may promote sexspecific TGP (Galloway, 2001; but see Akkerman et al, 2016). In animals, evidence of sex-specific TGP often used species with sexspecific selection pressures or species providing uniparental care (e.g., Shama et al, 2014;Emborski and Mikheyev, 2019;Lehto and Tinghitella, 2020). Our results suggest that sex-specific TGP may be driven by other factors than sex-specific selection pressures and uniparental care.…”

Transgenerational Plasticity in Flower Color Induced by Caterpillars

“…The consequences of transgenerational plasticity through shared pathways and potential pleiotropies with traits that affect reproductive capabilities in offspring, remain understudied but potentially significant (Lehto and Tinghitella, 2020). Our work suggests transgenerational effects of herbivory, related to epigenetic modifications, on flower color variation within a species, improving our understanding of flower color evolutionary processes.…”