Sex differences in dispersal syndrome are modulated by environment and evolution

Abstract

Dispersal syndromes (i.e. suites of phenotypic correlates of dispersal) are potentially important determinants of local adaptation in populations. Species that exhibit sexual dimorphism in their life history or behaviour may exhibit sex-specific differences in their dispersal syndromes. Unfortunately, there is little empirical evidence of sex differences in dispersal syndromes and how they respond to environmental change or dispersal evolution. We investigated these issues using two same-generation studies and a long-term (greater than 70 generations) selection experiment on laboratory populations of There was a marked difference between the dispersal syndromes of males and females, the extent of which was modulated by nutrition availability. Moreover, dispersal evolution via spatial sorting reversed the direction of interaction in one trait (desiccation resistance), while eliminating the sex difference in another trait (body size). Thus, we show that sex differences obtained through same-generation trait-associations ('ecological dispersal syndromes') are probably environment-dependent. Moreover, even under constant environments, they are not good predictors of the sex differences in 'evolutionary dispersal syndrome' (i.e. trait-associations shaped during dispersal evolution). Our findings have implications for local adaptation in the context of sex-biased dispersal and habitat-matching, as well as for the use of dispersal syndromes as a proxy of dispersal.This article is part of the theme issue 'Linking local adaptation with the evolution of sex differences'.

Dispersibility of the Pale Grass Blue Butterfly Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) Revealed by One-Individual Tracking in the Field: Quantitative Comparisons between Subspecies and between Sexes

“…This is the largest value among subspecies and sexes examined in this study. The larger dispersal ranges in males are consistent with studies of other butterflies [47] and fruit flies [5], in which males have higher dispersibility than females. These results indicate that individuals belonging to two different populations that are more than several hundred meters apart from each other are difficult to intermix, at least within a single generation.…”

“…The dispersal range of an organism (the mobility of an individual in its lifetime) has crucial importance in ecology, population biology, evolutionary biology, and environmental sciences because the dispersal range of a given individual defines the population structures of that species [1][2][3][4][5]. Dispersal trait polymorphisms among individuals within a population are responsible for the isolation (fragmentation) and unification of populations [2,6].…”

“…To choose a candidate indicator species, understanding the dispersal trait, in addition to the other ecological traits of the species, is essential, although there are several criteria for an indicator species [11]. One study [12] described 10 indispensable criteria for an indicator organism as follows: (1) easy species identification; (2) amenability to field survey; (3) independence from weather and time; (4) reasonably low survey cost; (5) wide distribution range; (6) small dispersal range; (7) high population density; (8) easy quantification; (9) monophagous nature; and (10) practicality and easiness for citizens including children to survey. Although these criteria are not applicable to the evaluation of the specificity of the environment, which is the role of, for example, keystone species, these criteria are useful for identifying indicator species that could reflect the biotic safety of the environment [12].…”

Mate-finding dispersal reduces local mate limitation and sex bias in dispersal

“…Finally, sex differences have been reported in life-history/behavioral traits related to dispersal (Legrand et al 2016;Mishra et al 2018a). Sex bias in mate-finding dispersal can thus interact with these sex differences in life history or behavior, to modulate the final distribution of individuals in spatially structured populations.…”

“…We used two-patch source-path-destination setups (sensu Mishra et al 2018a;Mishra et al 2018b;Tung et al 2018b) to study fly dispersal. A source container (100-mL conical glass flask) is connected to a 2-m long path (transparent plastic tube; inner diameter ~1 cm), the other end of which opens into a destination container (250-mL plastic bottle) ( Fig.…”