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Meta‐analysis shows the evidence for context‐dependent mating behaviour is inconsistent or weak across animals
Author(s) -
Dougherty Liam R.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.13679
Subject(s) - mating , context (archaeology) , biology , mating preferences , mate choice , sexual selection , meta analysis , ecology , predation , population , sexual conflict , mating system , animal sexual behaviour , zoology , demography , medicine , paleontology , sociology
Animals often need to invest significantly in mating behaviour in order to successfully mate. However, the expression of mating behaviour can be costly, especially in unfavourable environments, so animals are expected to adjust their behaviour in a context‐dependent way to mitigate these costs. I systematically searched the literature for studies measuring animal mating behaviour (sexual signalling, response to sexual signals or the strength of mate choice) in more than one environment, and used a phylogenetically controlled meta‐analysis to identify environmental factors influencing these behaviours. Across 222 studies, the strength of mate choice was significantly context‐dependent, and most strongly influenced by population density, population sex ratio and predation risk. However, the average effect sizes were typically small. The amount of sexual signalling and the strength of response to sexual signals were not significantly related to the environment. Overall, this suggests that the evidence for context‐dependent mating behaviour across animals is surprisingly weak.