Variable Signals in a Complex World

Patricelli, Gail L.; Krakauer, Alan H.; Taff, Conor C.

doi:10.1016/bs.asb.2016.02.002

Cited by 32 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 257 publications

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“…It is important to remember that male activities are typically a mixture of activity typesintense activities may be carried out infrequently and contribute little to total energetic demand (Clark, 2012), whereas low-intensity activities are likely to be carried out more frequently and for longer duration (McElligott et al, 1998). Species may show a mixture of activity types sensu multimodal signalling (Bro-Jørgensen, 2010;Patricelli et al, 2016), which may come with differing energetic requirements (Hack, 1997;Cady et al, 2011). There may be one final constraint acting on male resource choice: breeding season duration.…”

Section: Southern Elephant Sealmentioning

confidence: 99%

Income and capital breeding in males: energetic and physiological limitations on male mating strategies

Soulsbury

2019

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Income and capital breeding describe two dichotomous breeding strategies that characterise the allocation of resources to reproduction. Capital breeders utilise stored endogenous resources (typically lipids) to finance reproduction, whereas income breeders use exogenous resources (typically carbohydrates). The basis for such characterisation has mainly come from studying females, yet for many species, male and female reproductive success may be determined by substantially different factors. Females allocate resources to offspring production, whereas males typically allocate resources to accessing mating opportunities, e.g. from contests or displays. The primary metabolic fuel (lipids or carbohydrates) in males appears to be dependent on the type of activity being performed (i.e. high versus low intensity or long versus short duration), rather than capital or income breeding strategy per se. Males performing sustained, long-duration effort typically utilise lipids, whereas those undergoing intense activity more often utilise carbohydrates. As a result, either fuel type can be used in either strategy. Breeding season duration can constrain strategy choice; lipids and carbohydrates can be used in short breeding season species, but only lipids provide a viable fuel source for long breeding season capital breeders. Both capital-and income-breeding males must manage their resource use during the breeding season, but capital breeders must also cope with physiological stressors associated with extended fasting. Overall, the capital-income breeding concept applies equally to male reproduction, but compared with females, there are different physical and physiological constraints that shape choice of strategy. This Commentary also highlights some key future areas that need to be investigated to further understand how capital-income breeding strategies shape male mating strategies.

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Section: Southern Elephant Sealmentioning

confidence: 99%

Income and capital breeding in males: energetic and physiological limitations on male mating strategies

Soulsbury

2019

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…The consequences of plasticity integration parallel those described above for phenotypic integration; in this case, there is the potential for trade‐offs or constraints on optimal signal expression within an individual across environments. Signal expression is generally highly dependent on environmental context, with signal characteristics varying with factors as diverse as temperature, habitat type, competition from conspecifics, and the presence of predators (Gerhardt, ; Gross, Pasinelli, & Kunc, ; Patricelli, Krakauer, & Taff, ; Ziegler, Arim, & Narins, ; Zuk & Kolluru, ). However, while much is known about changes in individual signal characteristics in varying physical and social environmental conditions, it is unknown whether P itself is robust to such variation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, while much is known about changes in individual signal characteristics in varying physical and social environmental conditions, it is unknown whether P itself is robust to such variation. If signal characteristics vary independently of one another, then the nature of multivariate signal evaluation (and, indeed, measurements of P by external observers) may be context‐dependent (Patricelli et al., ). Indeed, there is some evidence that for female evaluations of male‐mating signals, multivariate preferences are expressed differently under different environmental conditions (Reichert & Höbel, ; Reichert & Ronacher, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic integration and the evolution of signal repertoires: A case study of treefrog acoustic communication

Reichert

Höbel

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Animal signals are inherently complex phenotypes with many interacting parts combining to elicit responses from receivers. The pattern of interrelationships between signal components reflects the extent to which each component is expressed, and responds to selection, either in concert with or independently of others. Furthermore, many species have complex repertoires consisting of multiple signal types used in different contexts, and common morphological and physiological constraints may result in interrelationships extending across the multiple signals in species’ repertoires. The evolutionary significance of interrelationships between signal traits can be explored within the framework of phenotypic integration, which offers a suite of quantitative techniques to characterize complex phenotypes. In particular, these techniques allow for the assessment of modularity and integration, which describe, respectively, the extent to which sets of traits covary either independently or jointly. Although signal and repertoire complexity are thought to be major drivers of diversification and social evolution, few studies have explicitly measured the phenotypic integration of signals to investigate the evolution of diverse communication systems. We applied methods from phenotypic integration studies to quantify integration in the two primary vocalization types (advertisement and aggressive calls) in the treefrogs Hyla versicolor, Hyla cinerea, and Dendropsophus ebraccatus. We recorded male calls and calculated standardized phenotypic variance–covariance (P) matrices for characteristics within and across call types. We found significant integration across call types, but the strength of integration varied by species and corresponded with the acoustic similarity of the call types within each species. H. versicolor had the most modular advertisement and aggressive calls and the least acoustically similar call types. Additionally, P was robust to changing social competition levels in H. versicolor. Our findings suggest new directions in animal communication research in which the complex relationships among the traits of multiple signals are a key consideration for understanding signal evolution.

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“…Fourth, we have modeled the display as either purely static or purely dynamic, but most displays in nature have both static and dynamic components (Patricelli et al, 2016). Past models suggest that it is difficult to sustain costly preferences for multiple indicators of the same aspect of quality (van Doorn & Weissing, 2004), so given the dynamic display's poorer information content, we might expect the dynamic display to be lost and the static display retained if the two were initially active in the present model as separate, non-interacting traits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, there are three possible types of display in our typology: (1) static displays; (2) non-flexible, dynamic displays; and (3) flexible, dynamic displays (Figure 1). However, few real-world displays are likely to be well approximated as purely static or dynamic or as purely flexible or non-flexible (Patricelli et al, 2016); this is merely a simplified representation to make models more tractable. In reality, displays may consist of multiple components, each with varying degrees of dynamism depending on the timescale over which they are adjusted, from very rapid movements during a single courtship event to seasonal or even longer-term changes.…”

Section: Static Dynamic and Flexible Displaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution of Dynamic and Flexible Courtship Displays That Reveal Individual Quality

Hollon

Ruiz

Veen

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Sexual selection is a major force shaping morphological and behavioral diversity. Existing theory focuses on courtship display traits such as morphological ornaments whose costs and benefits are assumed be to fixed across individuals' lifetimes. In contrast, empirically observed displays are often inherently dynamic, as vividly illustrated by the acrobatic dances, loud vocalizations, and vigorous motor displays involved in courtship behavior across a broad range of taxa. One empirically observed form of display flexibility occurs when signalers adjust their courtship investment based on the number of rival signalers. The predictions of established sexual selection theory cannot readily be extended to such displays because display expression varies between courtship events, such that any given display may not reliably reflect signaler quality. Thus, we lack an understanding of how dynamic displays coevolve with sexual preferences and how signalers should tactically adjust their display investment across multiple courtship opportunities. To address these questions, we extended an established model of the coevolution of a female sexual preference and a male display trait to allow for dynamic, flexible displays. We find that a dynamic display can coevolve with a sexual preference away from their naturally selected optima, though display intensity is a weaker signal of male quality than for static ornaments. Furthermore, we find that males evolve to decrease their display investment when displaying alongside more rivals. This research represents a first step towards generalizing the findings of sexual selection theory to account for the ubiquitous dynamism of animal courtship.

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Variable Signals in a Complex World

Cited by 32 publications

References 257 publications

Income and capital breeding in males: energetic and physiological limitations on male mating strategies

Income and capital breeding in males: energetic and physiological limitations on male mating strategies

Phenotypic integration and the evolution of signal repertoires: A case study of treefrog acoustic communication

The Evolution of Dynamic and Flexible Courtship Displays That Reveal Individual Quality

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