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THE CONTEXT‐DEPENDENT EFFECT OF MULTIPLE PATERNITY ON EFFECTIVE POPULATION SIZE
Author(s) -
Lotterhos Katie E.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01249.x
Subject(s) - biology , sire , population , context (archaeology) , reproductive success , mating , avian clutch size , clutch , offspring , statistics , demography , reproduction , zoology , ecology , mathematics , genetics , pregnancy , paleontology , physics , sociology , thermodynamics
Effective population size (N e ) is important because it describes how evolutionary forces will affect a population. The effect of multiple sires per female on N e has been the subject of some debate, at the crux of which is the effects of monandry and multiple‐paternity (MP) on male variance in reproductive success. In both mating systems, females mate with several males over their lifetimes, but sire offspring with one male at a time in the former and have several sires per clutch in the latter. First, I theoretically show that whether the annual male variance in reproductive success in an MP population is greater or less than that of a monandrous population depends on the distributions of within‐clutch paternity. Then, I simulated different distributions of within‐clutch paternity under a range of parameters that characterize natural populations to show that an MP population can have an N e smaller or larger than that of a monandrous population with otherwise equal dynamics. The N e(MP) :N e(Monandry) ratio increased with mating frequency and female variance in reproductive success, was equalized by long generation times, and was affected by the distribution of within‐clutch paternities. The results of this model provide a unifying framework for the debate.