Sexual Selection in Natural Populations
One area of active
research in our lab centers on the mechanisms of sexual selection and
animal reproductive ecology. We are particularly interested in the ecological
context of sexual selection, including how fluctuating sex ratios and
population densities might alter selection gradients. We are also interested
in learning how pre-copulatory, peri-copulatory, and post-copulatory
reproductive fitness components interact to determine individuals' overall
reproductive success. As part of this work, we study the evolutionary
phenomenon of sperm precedence, a key fitness component reflecting differences
in the relative paternity success achieved by mating males. We anticipate
that this work will ultimately help us understand how Darwinian selection
shapes the behavior, morphology, and physiology of organisms.
