The force of selection on the human life cycle

In this article, I present evidence for a robust and quite general force of selection on the human life cycle. The force of selection acts in remarkably invariant ways on human life histories, despite a great abundance of demographic diversity. Human life histories are highly structured, with mortality and fertility changing substantially through the life cycle. This structure necessitates the use of structured population models to understand human life history evolution. Using such structured models, I find that the vital rates to which fitness is most sensitive are prereproductive survival probabilities, particularly the survival of children ages 0 to 4 years. The fact that the preponderance of selection falls on transitions related to recruitment combined with the late age at first reproduction characteristic of the human life cycle creates a fitness bottleneck out of recruitment. Because of this, antagonistic pleiotropy with any trait that detracts from the constituent transitions to recruitment is expected. I explore the predictors of variation in the force of selection on early survival. High fertility increases the selective premium placed on early survivorship, whereas high life expectancy at birth decreases it.     

Multiple mating reduces male survivorship but not ejaculate size in the polygamous insect Stenomacra marginella (Heteroptera: Largidae)

In polygamous species, successful males should be able to inseminate multiple females, to defeat sperm from previous males, to avoid sperm displacement by other males, and to induce females to use his sperm during fertilization. Since resources are limited, adaptations to perform any of these functions may conflict with each other (and with other life-history traits) and trade-offs are expected to evolve. We studied if males of the polygamous true bug Stenomacra marginella face a trade-off between multiple mating and survivorship, by comparing the survivorship of virgin and multiply mated males. We also looked for physiological costs of ejaculate production by examining ejaculate production in consecutive matings in multiple mated males. Multiply mated males were able to produce ejaculates of similar size in up to six consecutive copulations but they had decreased survivorship in comparison with virgin males. There was no difference in survivorship between males mated three and six consecutive times, suggesting that the negative relation between survivorship and number of copulations is not linear. The decrease in survivorship seems to be a cost of mating and ejaculate production. This cost could favor the evolution of prudence in the allocation of resources to ejaculate production (e.g., cryptic male choice).     

Energy beyond the pupal stage: larval nutrition and its long-time consequences for male mating performance in a scorpionfly

The basic requirement for selection to take effect is variation in fitness relevant traits among individuals of a population. This study is concerned with the question whether environmental conditions met during an early phase of life history that is dominated by the natural component of selection will affect traits and behaviour in a sexual selection context after metamorphosis in a holometabolous insect species. We examined the effects of nutrition as a proximate factor responsible for intrasexual phenotypic variation in the mating performance of male Panorpa vulgaris (Mecoptera: Panorpidae). For this purpose, we manipulated food availability during larval development as well as during adulthood. To obtain matings and to increase their reproductive success males must secrete salivary masses which are then consumed by the females during copulation. The results of the present study are consistent with those of previous studies demonstrating a strong effect of nutrition during adulthood on various fitness relevant traits (salivary gland development, saliva investment in copulations, etc.). But moreover, we could show that food availability during larval development affected male body weight and that there was an interaction between larval and adult diet affecting salivary gland weight relative to body weight. Therefore, food availability during the larval stage can become an important and limiting factor for salivary gland development (and mating success) depending on food availability during adulthood. Several other variables (number of salivary masses, copulation duration, salivary mass weight and saliva investment) seemed not to be associated with larval nutrition.     

Group size and composition of black-and-gold howler monkeys (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Alouatta caraya</Emphasis>) on the Upper Paraná River,Southern Brazil

In social mammals, group size, sex and age-class composition are important parameters that are required to understand population dynamics and determine conservation strategies. These parameters are known only poorly for the black-and-gold howler monkey (Alouatta caraya). Here, we studied groups of A. caraya on islands and adjacent banks of the Upper Paraná River of southern Brazil, to examine variability in group size and composition. This location is important for this species because of the high density of howlers. Group size was large, varying from 6 to 18 individuals (average = 11.5, standard deviation = 3.3, n = 13). Groups were multi-male, and adult females outnumbered adult males. On average, groups had the following ratios: 1 adult male: 0.5 subadult male: 1.9 adult females: 0.9 juveniles: 0.5 infants. The ratio of 0.2 infant: 1 adult female is less than that in other species, but typical of other studies of the black-and-gold howlers. Here, we discuss environmental and social pressures that may impose structure on large groups of howlers in terms of strategies for living in high densities. We also compare these data with those of the area of sympatry shared between A. caraya and A. clamitans, and suggest that competition may occur between the two species and that reduced fitness may be a consequence of mixed groups. Contribution number 1,746 of the Departamento de Zoologia of Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR).     

Human biology in Tlaxcala, Mexico: demography

A demographic survey was conducted as part of an ongoing population study of large Mestizo and Indian communities in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Comparative data on population structure and movement, mate selection, age at marriage, differential fertility, and mortality were collected through the administration of a standardized demographic proforma, and then cross-tabulated by computer analysis. The resulting differences between the Indian and Mestizo populations are interpreted in terms of the relative importance of hybridization, natural selection, and genetic drift. Sizeable variance in achieved reproduction and the high neonatal mortality suggest the operation of natural selection in these two populations. Observed patterns of population movement and mate selection indicate that the Mestizo population of the city of Tlaxcala is highly hybridized, in contrast to the endogamous Indian community of San Pablo del Monte.     

Modeling intra-sexual competition in a sex pheromone system: how much can female movement affect female mating success?

Mating disruption theory predicts that high concentrations of female pheromone, and/or large numbers of release sites, should confuse males orienting to "calling" females, reduce the number of successful matings, and decrease the reproductive potential of the population. In this scenario, females are regarded as stationary point sources of pheromone. Past behavioral observations, however, have shown virgin female grape root borers, Vitacea polistiformis Harris, significantly alter their behavior in mating disruption treatments. Treated females call at different heights, move less before call initiation, and move more after call initiation than control females. Pheromone gland dragging and wing fanning also increase significantly during pheromone treatments. These behavioral differences are significant only if they alter the mating success of females. Because long-term field studies are impractical, we used known behavior of male and female GRB to build a Fortran language time step model, adding the effects of female movement to past models of male pheromone plume following. Females were distributed randomly, and then assigned a conditional movement strategy. If females were within the competitive portion of another female's plume, the downwind female moved. Except in the lowest population density tested, females moving upwind and crosswind when in a competing female's pheromone plume mated significantly more often than females remaining stationary. In all population simulations, mating success was significantly reduced when females moved downwind. These field and simulation studies provide strong evidence for female movement as a previously overlooked potential mechanism for resistance to mating disruption treatments, as well as a shaping behavior in the evolution of pheromone communication systems.     

A demographic analysis of skeletons from the Larson site (39WW2) Walworth County,South Dakota: Vital statistics

A life table methodology was used for paleodemographic analysis of skeletons from the Larson site (39WW2), an Arikara village and cemetery dated to circa A.D. 1750–1785. Vital statistics on mortality, survivorship, age-specific probability of death, life expectancy and crude mortality rate were derived from skeletal data. The population had an extremely high infant mortality rate and high rates of childhood mortality. The lowest probability of death was for adolescents. Mortality increased for young adults, ages 15–19. This increase was especially marked for females, the actual peak of adult female mortality was during ages 15–19. A second mode in the female mortality curve occurred at ages 35–39. The greatest percentage of male deaths was observed in the fourth decade, ages 30–34. Only 4.0% of the population attained the age of 50. The population crude death rate was 76 per thousand per year. This estimate, although high, is congruent with archaeological and historical sources which report a rapid Arikara population decline during the Post-Contact period. Causes of specific deaths appear to be linked to childbirth (affecting mother and infant), starvation, diseases especially tuberculosis, and intertribal warfare.     

QUANTITATIVE GENETICS OF SIZE AND PHENOLOGY OF LIFE-HISTORY TRAITS IN CHAMAECRISTA FASCICULATA

Despite numerous adaptive scenarios concerning the evolution of plant life-history phenologies few studies have examined the heritable basis for and genetic correlations among these phenologies. Documentation of genetic variation for and covariation among reproductive phenologies is important because it is this variation/covariation that will determine the potential for response to evolutionary forces. To address this problem, I conducted a breeding experiment to determine narrow-sense heritabilities for and genetic correlations among the phenologies of life-history events and plant size in Chamaecristafasciculata, a temperate summer annual plant species. Paternal families showed no evidence of heritable variation for two estimates of plant size, six measures of reproductive phenology or two fitness components. Similarly, paternal estimates of genetic correlations among these traits were low or zero. In contrast, maternal estimates of heritability suggested the influence of maternal parent on one estimate of plant size and four phenological traits. Likewise, maternal effects influenced maternal estimates of genetic correlations. These maternal effects can arise from three sources: endosperm nuclear, cytoplasmic genetic and/or maternal phenotypic. The degree to which the phenology of one life-history trait acts as a constraint on the evolution of other phenological traits depends on the source of the maternal influence in this species.     

杨柳田头菇交配型因子与菌丝生长速度关系

以杨柳田头菇（Agrocybe salicacola）菌株711子实体为材料,经担孢子弹射,用稀释分离法获得224个单孢菌株,其中单核菌株210个,交配试验及单孢出菇证明其性遗传模式为四极异宗结合,4种交配型的比例为AxBx∶AxBy∶AyBx∶AyBy为47∶59∶53∶51。研究结果还表明,杨柳田头菇4种交配型的数量、比例与单孢萌发速度、生长速度相关,生长速度较慢的菌株基本上属于一种交配型,只有少数生长慢的菌株属于另外两种交配型。值得注意的是,尽管快（F）-慢（S）配对的异核体与快（F）-快（F）配对的异核体在YPD平板上生长速度无明显差别,但在聚丙烯栽培袋上F-S异核体的生长速度明显快于F-F异核体,这说明交配因子A和B与生长速度基因可能连锁,且存在重组现象,F-S交配的异核体在生长上有优势,可能是人工选择后交配因子亚基减少导致偏分离发生的原因。     

Bone histology as an approach to providing data on certain key life history traits in mammals: Implications for conservation biology

The knowledge of the life histories of wild mammals is of crucial importance in the field of conservation management. The endangered status of many species calls for faster data collection that can be used in risk assessment and, ultimately, for designing conservation policies. This study is pioneering the potential of bone histology to provide data on life history traits crucial for conservation biology in long-lived mammals. Long bone cross-sections show pronounced annual cycles of growth arrest allowing application of skeletochronology (counts of lines of arrested growth ‘LAGs’). Consequently, the number of LAGs within the primary fast-growing bone tissue up to the outer cortical slow-growing bone tissue corresponds to the age at first reproduction; whereas the age at death can be estimated by the total number of rest lines throughout the whole of bone cross-section. Furthermore, the diameters of successive growth rings as well as the osteocyte lacuna density may shed light on growth rates. We use the endangered desert dwelling antelope Addax nasomaculatus as a case study. By analyzing different ontogenetic stages in five Addax individuals (three captive and two wild specimens) from a museum collection, we show that bone histology may be a reliable tool for determining certain key life history traits. In our sample, the wild Addax female attained reproductive maturity at three years, whereas the male specimens, both the captive and the wild ones, reached maturity at four years. This is congruent with data from other large antelopes with male-biased size dimorphism, but differs slightly from data on sexual maturity previously published for wild Addax. Moreover, quantification of osteocyte lacunae in both adult males provides a higher cell density in the captive one than in the wild one suggesting the strong effect of constant resources supply in individuals from zoos on growth rates. While age at first reproduction and longevity are essentials parameters to carry out demographic models, growth rates may allow evaluation of the health status of wild populations. This approach may provide useful data on life history traits when applied to bones collected in the wild.     

Substance use and mating success

Psychoactive substance use has been typical of most traditional and modern societies and is maintained in the population despite the potential for abuse and related harms, raising the possibility that it (or its underlying causes) confers fitness benefits that offset its costs. Although it seems plausible that psychoactive substances have facilitated survival among ancestral and modern humans, it is not clear that this enhancement has translated into Darwinian fitness through mating and ultimately reproductive success. In the current study, we discuss potential mechanisms by which substance use might make unique contributions to mating success, attend to the possibility that the effects between substance use and mating success are instead confounded, and use structural equations and nationally representative data to determine whether these effects are more likely causal or spurious. Our findings indicate that once we know participants' scores on “third” variables at each round in early young adulthood, their substance use gives us little additional information about their current prospects for acquiring sexual partners and no additional information about of their future prospects. Thus, if adaptations for substance use evolved, their adaptive value does not seem to be found in mating success.     

The influence of maternal age and mating frequency on egg size and offspring performance in Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Maternal age influences offspring quality of many species of insects. This observed maternal age influence on offspring performance may be mediated through maternal age effects on egg size, which in turn may be directly influenced by the female's nutritional state. Thus, behaviors that influence a female's nutritional status will indirectly influence egg size, and possibly offspring life histories. Because males provide nutrients to females in their ejaculate, female mating frequency is one behavior which may influence her nutritional status, and thus the size of her eggs and the performance of her offspring. In this paper, I first quantify the influences of maternal age on egg size and offspring performance of the bruchid beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. I then examine whether nutrients transferred during copulation reduce the magnitude of maternal age effects on egg size and larval performance when mothers are nutrient-stressed. Egg size and egg hatchability decreased, and development time increased, with increasing maternal age. Multiple mating and adult feeding by females both resulted in increased egg size. This increase in egg size of females mated multiply did not translate into reduced development time or increased body size and egg hatchability, but did correlate with improved survivorship of offspring produced by old mothers. Thus, it appears that because the influence of mating frequency on egg size is small relative to the influence of maternal age, the influence of nutrients derived from multiple mating on offspring life history is almost undetectable (detected only as a small influence on survivorship). For C. maculatus, female multiple mating has been demonstrated to increase adult female survivorship (Fox 1993a), egg production (Credland and Wright 1989; Fox 1993a), egg size, and larval survivorship, but, contrary to the suggestion of Wasserman and Asami (1985), multiple mating had no detectable influence on offspring development time or body size.     

The migration of spawning stocks of graylingThymallus thymallus, in Lake Mjøsa, Norway

Synopsis The migration of grayling was studied in Lake Mjøsa and 13 of its tributaries in which grayling spawn. The study demonstrate that grayling spawn in creeks in May/June and leave for Lake Mjøsa shortly after spawning to return the next spring. Once mature, the grayling spawn every year. Grayling mix in the lake and are found at a mean distance of 11.9 km from the estuary of their spawning creek in September. Grayling embryos hatch in June and the juveniles stay in the tributaries until September/October. Grayling spend the winter months in the lake. Out of 1599 grayling tagged in tributaries during the spawning season, 240 of 284 recaptures (84.5%) were made in subsequent spawning seasons in the same tributary in which they were first tagged. Forty-four grayling were recaptured in adjacent tributaries. These results demonstrate that, despite the fact that all grayling leave the tributaries and mix in the lake, there is a high precision of homing. It is suggested that the grayling population in lake Mjøsa is composed of stocks using specific tributaries for spawning.     

Different female mating rates in different populations do not reflect the benefits the females gain from polyandry in the adzuki bean beetle

The question why females in many species mate with several males (polyandry) has engaged the interest of evolutionary biologists for many years, and many studies have been conducted on the nature of the benefits that the females gain from polyandry. To understand the variation of female mating rates among species and populations it is indispensable to test the prediction that females of more polyandrous populations experience larger fitness benefit than those of less polyandrous populations. We compared the fitness components of two strains of the adzuki bean beetle Callosobruchus chinensis that have genetically different female mating rates. We measured the number of hatched eggs of once-copulated females and twice-copulated females in each strain. The statistical interaction for the number of hatched eggs between the number of matings and strains was determined. The increase in the number of hatched eggs is larger for the lower mating-rate strain than for the higher mating rate strain. This means that females of the lower mating-rate strain would have larger fitness gain from polyandry than those of the higher mating-rate strain. The actual mating rates of females did not reflect female interests in adzuki bean beetles, suggesting they are affected by sexual conflict.     

直播羊草在不同pH土壤环境下的生物学特性和生理反应

采用人工配制的不同pH梯度的碱化土进行盆栽试验,研究了直播羊草在不同pH土壤环境下的生物学特性和生理反应.结果表明:pH 8.50以下的弱碱性土壤环境有利于直播羊草的生长,但随着土壤pH的升高其分蘖和地上部生物量均呈下降趋势;当土壤pH达到9.78时,直播后第2年羊草总株数比对照(pH 7.15)降低了42.0%,地上部干质量比对照降低了74.1%.此外,在盐碱胁迫下,羊草地上部含水量、可溶性糖、叶绿素和K 含量亦呈下降趋势,Na 含量和叶片外渗液电导率显著升高,地上部K /Na 比值从对照的28.5下降到1.6(pH 9.78),说明较高的K 水平以及较高的K /Na 比值可能是羊草耐盐碱的重要生理机制.     

免疫能力与动物种群调节和生活史权衡的关系

在生物医学和动物科学领域,免疫能力是指有机体对疾病的抵抗能力.近年来,对野生动物免疫能力的研究是一个新兴的热点领域,它与生态学结合,产生了生态免疫学.本文从生态学的角度,介绍了免疫能力的概念、影响因素及其与动物种群调节机理的关系,概述了与小型哺乳动物种群密度波动有关的免疫衰退假说、免疫能力选择假说和冬季免疫增强假说,总结了免疫能力与能量代谢和内分泌特征之间的关系,并对免疫能力在生活史权衡研究中的最新进展,即有机体生长与免疫、繁殖与免疫之间的权衡关系等进行了阐述,最后结合国际上本学科研究的发展动态,提出了一些未来的研究方向.