10.5061/DRYAD.H3B41
Compagnoni, Aldo
Rice University
Steigman, Kenneth
University of North Texas
Miller, Tom E. X.
Rice University
Data from: Can't live with them, can't live without them?
Balancing mating and competition in two-sex populations
Dryad
dataset
2017
2017-10-02T21:09:38Z
2017-10-02T21:09:38Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1999
377335 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Two-sex populations are usually studied through frequency-dependent models
that describe how sex ratio affects mating, recruitment, and population
growth. However, in two-sex populations, mating and recruitment should
also be affected by density and by its interactions with sex ratio.
Density may have positive effects on mating (Allee effects) but negative
effects on other demographic processes. In this study, we quantified how
positive and negative inter-sexual interactions balance in two-sex
populations. Using a dioecious grass (Poa arachnifera), we established
experimental field populations that varied in density and sex ratio. We
then quantified mating success (seed fertilization) and non-mating
demographic performance, and integrated these responses to project
population-level recruitment. Female mating success was positively
density-dependent, especially at female-biased sex ratios. Other
demographic processes were negatively density dependent and, in some
cases, frequency dependent. Integrating these results showed that
mate-finding Allee effects dominated other types of density-dependence,
giving rise to recruitment that increased with density and peaked at
intermediate sex ratios. Our results reveal, for the first time, the
balance of positive and negative inter-sexual interactions in
sex-structured populations. Models that account for both density- and sex
ratio- dependence, particularly in mating, may be necessary for
understanding and predicting two-sex population dynamics.
Data and analysis R scriptsData, metadata, and analysis R scripts
associated to the article "Can't live with them, can't live
without them? Balancing mating and competition in two-sex
populations".MatingVsCompetition_CodeData.rar