10.5061/DRYAD.9W0VT4BDG
Marie-Orleach, Lucas
0000-0003-3362-1500
University of Oslo
Vellnow, Nikolas
0000-0002-7054-3268
Bielefeld University
Schärer, Lukas
0000-0002-0209-9871
University of Basel
Data from: The repeatable opportunity for selection differs between pre-
and post-copulatory fitness components
Dryad
dataset
2020
Cryptic Female Choice, Hermaphrodites, Mate Choice, Measuring Selection,
Opportunity for Sexual Selection, Sperm Competition.
Swiss National Science Foundation*
31003A-143732
Swiss National Science Foundation*
P2BSP3_158842
Swiss National Science Foundation*
P300PA_171516
Swiss National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/00yjd3n13
31003A-143732
2020-11-30T00:00:00Z
2020-11-30T00:00:00Z
en
36078 bytes
3
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
In species with multiple mating, intense sexual selection may occur both
before and after copulation. However, comparing the strength of pre- and
postcopulatory selection is challenging, because i) postcopulatory
processes are generally difficult to observe and ii) the often-used
opportunity for selection (I) metric contains both deterministic and
stochastic components. Here, we quantified pre- and postcopulatory male
fitness components of the simultaneously hermaphroditic flatworm,
Macrostomum lignano. We did this by tracking fluorescent sperm—using
transgenics—through the transparent body of sperm recipients, enabling to
observe postcopulatory processes in vivo. Moreover, we sequentially
exposed focal worms to three independent mating groups, and in each
assessed their mating success, sperm-transfer efficiency, sperm
fertilising efficiency, and partner fecundity. Based on these multiple
measures, we could, for each fitness component, combine the variance (I)
with the repeatability (R) in individual success to assess the amount of
repeatable variance in individual success—a measure we call the repeatable
opportunity for selection (IR). We found higher repeatable opportunity for
selection in sperm-transfer efficiency and sperm fertilising efficiency
compared to mating success, which clearly suggests that postcopulatory
selection is stronger than precopulatory selection. Our study demonstrates
that the opportunity for selection contains a repeatable deterministic
component, which can be assessed and disentangled from the often large
stochastic component, to provide a better estimate of the strength of
selection.