Phenotypic assortment mediates the effect of social selection in a wild beetle population

Social interactions often have major fitness consequences, but little is known about how specific interacting phenotypes affect the strength of natural selection. Social influences on the evolutionary process can be assessed using a multilevel selection approach that partitions the effects of social partner phenotypes on fitness (referred to as social or group selection) from those of the traits of a focal individual (nonsocial or individual selection). To quantify the contribution of social selection to total selection affecting a trait, the patterns of phenotypic association among interactants must also be considered. We estimated selection gradients on male body size in a wild population of forked fungus beetles (Bolitotherus cornutus). We detected positive nonsocial selection and negative social selection on body size operating through differences in copulation success, indicating that large males with small social partners had highest fitness. In addition, we found that, in low-density demes, the phenotypes of focal individuals were negatively correlated with those of their social partners. This pattern reversed the negative effect of group selection on body size and led to stronger positive selection for body size. Our results demonstrate multilevel selection in nature and stress the importance of considering social selection whenever conspecific interactions occur nonrandomly.     

Characterizing selection in black‐throated blue warblers using a sexual network approach

Our understanding of trait evolution is built upon studies that examine the correlation between traits and fitness, most of which implicitly assume all individuals experience similar selective environments. However, accounting for differences in selective pressures, such as variation in the social environment, can advance our understanding of how selection shapes individual traits and subsequent fitness. In this study, we test whether variation in the social environment affects selection on individual phenotype. We apply a new sexual network framework to quantify each male's social environment as the mean body size of his primary competitors. We test for direct and social selection on male body size using a 10‐year data set on black‐throated blue warblers (Setophaga caerulescens), a territorial species for which body size is hypothesized to mediate competition for mates. We found that direct selection on body size was weak and nonsignificant, as was social selection via the body size of the males' competitors. Analysing both types of selection simultaneously allows us to firmly reject a role for body size in competitive interactions between males and subsequent male fitness in this population. We evaluate the application of the sexual network approach to empirical data and suggest that other phenotypic traits such as song characteristics and plumage may be more relevant than body size for male–male competition in this small passerine bird.     

INTERACTING PHENOTYPES AND THE EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS. III. SOCIAL EVOLUTION

Interactions among conspecifics influence social evolution through two distinct but intimately related paths. First, they provide the opportunity for indirect genetic effects (IGEs), where genes expressed in one individual influence the expression of traits in others. Second, interactions can generate social selection when traits expressed in one individual influence the fitness of others. Here, we present a quantitative genetic model of multivariate trait evolution that integrates the effects of both IGEs and social selection, which have previously been modeled independently. We show that social selection affects evolutionary change whenever the breeding value of one individual covaries with the phenotype of its social partners. This covariance can be created by both relatedness and IGEs, which are shown to have parallel roles in determining evolutionary response. We show that social selection is central to the estimation of inclusive fitness and derive a version of Hamilton's rule showing the symmetrical effects of relatedness and IGEs on the evolution of altruism. We illustrate the utility of our approach using altruism, greenbeards, aggression, and weapons as examples. Our model provides a general predictive equation for the evolution of social phenotypes that encompasses specific cases such as kin selection and reciprocity. The parameters can be measured empirically, and we emphasize the importance of considering both IGEs and social selection, in addition to relatedness, when testing hypotheses about social evolution.     

Sexual selection and interacting phenotypes in experimental evolution: a study of Drosophila pseudoobscura mating behavior

Sexual selection requires social interactions, particularly between the sexes. When trait expression is influenced by social interactions, such traits are called interacting phenotypes and only recently have the evolutionary consequences of interacting phenotypes been considered. Here we investigated how variation in relative fitness, or the opportunity for sexual selection, affected the evolutionary trajectories of interacting phenotypes. We used experimentally evolved populations of the naturally promiscuous Drosophila pseudoobscura , in which the numbers of potential interactions between the sexes, and therefore relative fitness, were manipulated by altering natural levels of female promiscuity. We considered two different mating interactions between the sexes: mating speed and copulation duration. We investigated the evolutionary trajectories of means and (co)variances ( P ) and also the influence of genetic drift on the evolutionary response of these interactions. Our sexual selection treatments did not affect the means of either mating speed or copulation duration, but they did affect P . We found that the means of both traits differed among replicates within each selection treatment whereas the P s did not. Changes as a consequence of genetic drift were excluded. Our results show that although variable potential strengths of sexual interactions influence the evolution of interacting phenotypes, the influence may be nonlinear.     

Social phenotype extended to communities: Expanded multilevel social selection analysis reveals fitness consequences of interspecific interactions

In social species, fitness consequences are associated with both individual and social phenotypes. Social selection analysis has quantified the contribution of conspecific social traits to individual fitness. There has been no attempt, however, to apply a social selection approach to quantify the fitness implications of heterospecific social phenotypes. Here, we propose a novel social selection based approach integrating the role of all social interactions at the community level. We extended multilevel selection analysis by including a term accounting for the group phenotype of heterospecifics. We analyzed nest activity as a model social trait common to two species, the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) and jackdaw (Corvus monedula), nesting in either single‐ or mixed‐species colonies. By recording reproductive outcome as a measure of relative fitness, our results reveal an asymmetric system wherein only jackdaw breeding performance was affected by the activity phenotypes of both conspecific and heterospecific neighbors. Our model incorporating heterospecific social phenotypes is applicable to animal communities where interacting species share a common social trait, thus allowing an assessment of the selection pressure imposed by interspecific interactions in nature. Finally, we discuss the potential role of ecological limitations accounting for random or preferential assortments among interspecific social phenotypes, and the implications of such processes to community evolution.     

Social Selection and Indirect Genetic Effects in Structured populations

Social selection and indirect genetic effects (IGEs) are established concepts in both behavioural ecology and evolutionary genetics. While IGEs describe effects of an individual’s genotype on phenotypes of social partners (and may thus affect their fitness indirectly), the concept of social selection assumes that a given phenotype in one individual affects the fitness of other individuals directly. Although different frameworks, both have been used to investigate the evolution of social traits, such as cooperative behaviour. Despite their similarities (both concepts consider interactions among individuals), they differ in the type of interaction. It remains unclear whether the two concepts make the same predictions about evolutionary trajectories or not. To address this question, we investigate four possible scenarios of social interactions and compare the effects of IGEs and social selection for trait evolution in a multi-trait multi-member model. We show that the two mechanisms can yield similar evolutionary outcomes and that both can create selection pressure at the group level. However, the effect of IGEs can be stronger due to the possibility of feedback loops. Finally, we demonstrate that IGEs, but not social selection gradients, may lead to differences in the direction of evolutionary response between genotypes and phenotypes.     

The evolution of social interactions changes predictions about interacting phenotypes

In many traits involved in social interactions, such as courtship and aggression, the phenotype is an outcome of interactions between individuals. Such traits whose expression in an individual is partly determined by the phenotype of its social partner are called "interacting phenotypes." Quantitative genetic models suggested that interacting phenotypes can evolve much faster than nonsocial traits. Current models, however, consider the interaction between phenotypes of social partners as a fixed phenotypic response rule, represented by an interaction coefficient (ψ). Here, we extend existing theoretical models and incorporate the interaction coefficient as a trait that can evolve. We find that the evolution of the interaction coefficient can change qualitatively the predictions about the rate and direction of evolution of interacting phenotypes. We argue that it is crucial to determine whether and how the phenotypic response of an individual to its social partner can evolve to make accurate predictions about the evolution of traits involved in social interactions.     

Assortment and the analysis of natural selection on social traits

A central problem in evolutionary biology is to determine whether and how social interactions contribute to natural selection. A key method for phenotypic data is social selection analysis, in which fitness effects from social partners contribute to selection only when there is a correlation between the traits of individuals and their social partners (nonrandom phenotypic assortment). However, there are inconsistencies in the use of social selection that center around the measurement of phenotypic assortment. Here, we use data analysis and simulations to resolve these inconsistencies, showing that: (i) not all measures of assortment are suitable for social selection analysis; and (ii) the interpretation of assortment, and how to detect nonrandom assortment, will depend on the scale at which it is measured. We discuss links to kin selection theory and provide a practical guide for the social selection approach.     

The maintenance of heritable variation through social competition

The paradoxical persistence of heritable variation for fitness-related traits is an evolutionary conundrum that remains a preeminent problem in evolutionary biology. Here we describe a simple mechanism in which social competition results in the evolutionary maintenance of heritable variation for fitness related traits. We demonstrate this mechanism using a genetic model with two primary assumptions: the expression of a trait depends upon success in social competition for limited resources; and competitive success of a genotype depends on the genotypes that it competes against. We find that such social competition generates heritable (additive) genetic variation for "competition-dependent" traits. This heritable variation is not eroded by continuous directional selection because, rather than leading to fixation of favored alleles, selection leads instead to allele frequency cycling due to the concerted coevolution of the social environment with the effects of alleles. Our results provide a mechanism for the maintenance of heritable variation in natural populations and suggest an area for research into the importance of competition in the genetic architecture of fitness related traits.     

Evolutionary ecology of inducible morphological plasticity in predator–prey interaction: toward the practical links with population ecology

The outcome of species interactions is often strongly influenced by variation in the functional traits of the individuals participating. A rather large body of work demonstrates that inducible morphological plasticity in predators and prey can both influence and be influenced by species interaction strength, with important consequences for individual fitness. Much of the past research in this area has focused on the ecological and evolutionary significance of trait plasticity by studying single predator–prey pairs and testing the performance of individuals having induced and noninduced phenotypes. This research has thus been critical in improving our understanding of the adaptive value of trait plasticity and its widespread occurrence across species and community types. More recently, researchers have expanded this foundation by examining how the complexity of organismal design and community-level properties can shape plasticity in functional traits. In addition, researchers have begun to merge evolutionary and ecological perspectives by linking trait plasticity to community dynamics, with particular attention on trait-mediated indirect interactions. Here, we review recent studies on inducible morphological plasticity in predators and their prey with an emphasis on internal and external constraints and how the nature of predator–prey interactions influences the expression of inducible phenotypes. In particular, we focus on multiple-trait plasticity, flexibility and modification of inducible plasticity, and reciprocal plasticity between predator and prey. Based on our arguments on these issues, we propose future research directions that should better integrate evolutionary and population studies and thus improve our understanding of the role of phenotypic plasticity in predator–prey population and community dynamics.     

An evolutionary quantitative genetics model for phenotypic (co)variances under limited dispersal,with an application to socially synergistic traits

Darwinian evolution consists of the gradual transformation of heritable traits due to natural selection and the input of random variation by mutation. Here, we use a quantitative genetics approach to investigate the coevolution of multiple quantitative traits under selection, mutation, and limited dispersal. We track the dynamics of trait means and of variance–covariances between traits that experience frequency‐dependent selection. Assuming a multivariate‐normal trait distribution, we recover classical dynamics of quantitative genetics, as well as stability and evolutionary branching conditions of invasion analyses, except that due to limited dispersal, selection depends on indirect fitness effects and relatedness. In particular, correlational selection that associates different traits within‐individuals depends on the fitness effects of such associations between‐individuals. We find that these kin selection effects can be as relevant as pleiotropy for the evolution of correlation between traits. We illustrate this with an example of the coevolution of two social traits whose association within‐individuals is costly but synergistically beneficial between‐individuals. As dispersal becomes limited and relatedness increases, associations between‐traits between‐individuals become increasingly targeted by correlational selection. Consequently, the trait distribution goes from being bimodal with a negative correlation under panmixia to unimodal with a positive correlation under limited dispersal.     

Quantitative genetic versions of Hamilton's rule with empirical applications

Hamilton''s theory of inclusive fitness revolutionized our understanding of the evolution of social interactions. Surprisingly, an incorporation of Hamilton''s perspective into the quantitative genetic theory of phenotypic evolution has been slow, despite the popularity of quantitative genetics in evolutionary studies. Here, we discuss several versions of Hamilton''s rule for social evolution from a quantitative genetic perspective, emphasizing its utility in empirical applications. Although evolutionary quantitative genetics offers methods to measure each of the critical parameters of Hamilton''s rule, empirical work has lagged behind theory. In particular, we lack studies of selection on altruistic traits in the wild. Fitness costs and benefits of altruism can be estimated using a simple extension of phenotypic selection analysis that incorporates the traits of social interactants. We also discuss the importance of considering the genetic influence of the social environment, or indirect genetic effects (IGEs), in the context of Hamilton''s rule. Research in social evolution has generated an extensive body of empirical work focusing—with good reason—almost solely on relatedness. We argue that quantifying the roles of social and non-social components of selection and IGEs, in addition to relatedness, is now timely and should provide unique additional insights into social evolution.     

Offspring social network structure predicts fitness in families

Social structures such as families emerge as outcomes of behavioural interactions among individuals, and can evolve over time if families with particular types of social structures tend to leave more individuals in subsequent generations. The social behaviour of interacting individuals is typically analysed as a series of multiple dyadic (pair-wise) interactions, rather than a network of interactions among multiple individuals. However, in species where parents feed dependant young, interactions within families nearly always involve more than two individuals simultaneously. Such social networks of interactions at least partly reflect conflicts of interest over the provision of costly parental investment. Consequently, variation in family network structure reflects variation in how conflicts of interest are resolved among family members. Despite its importance in understanding the evolution of emergent properties of social organization such as family life and cooperation, nothing is currently known about how selection acts on the structure of social networks. Here, we show that the social network structure of broods of begging nestling great tits Parus major predicts fitness in families. Although selection at the level of the individual favours large nestlings, selection at the level of the kin-group primarily favours families that resolve conflicts most effectively.     

Among‐individual heterogeneity in maternal behaviour and physiology affects reproductive allocation and offspring life‐history traits in the garter snake Thamnophis elegans

Accumulating evidence suggests that within‐individual plasticity of behavioural and physiological traits is limited, resulting in stable among‐individual differences in these aspects of the phenotype. Furthermore, these traits often covary within individuals, resulting in a continuum of correlated phenotypic variation among individuals within populations and species. This heterogeneity, in turn, affects individual fitness and can have cross‐generational effects. Patterns of trait covariation, among‐individual differences, and subsequent fitness consequences have long been recognized in reptiles. Here, we provide a test of patterns of among‐individual heterogeneity in behaviour and physiology and subsequent effects on reproduction and offspring fitness in the garter snake Thamnophis elegans. We find that measures of activity levels vary among individuals and are consistent within individuals in reproductive female snakes, indicating stable behavioural phenotypes. Blood hormone and glucose concentrations are not as stable within individuals, indicating that these traits do not describe consistent physiological phenotypes. Nonetheless, the major axes of variation in maternal traits describe behavioural and physiological phenotypes that interact to predict offspring body condition and mass at birth. This differential allocation of energy to offspring, in turn, strongly influences subsequent offspring growth and survival. This pattern suggests the potential for strong selection on phenotypes defined by behaviour–physiology interactions.     

Extra-pair paternity is not repeatable between years in Pied Flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca): a role for social context

Extra-pair paternity (EPP) is the consequence of the interactions between a social pair and extra-pair males during the female's fertile phase in a specific social context and ecological environment. Although EPP occurs in many avian species, there is a lack of understanding of how environmental factors may impact its frequency. Accordingly, the relative importance of individual characteristics on the one hand, and of their immediate social environment on the other, may affect EPP repeatability and thereby the capacity of this trait to respond to selection. If EPP is an individual genetically based trait that may respond to selection, we expect it to be repeatable across breeding seasons. To check this possibility, we analysed the within-individual repeatability in EPP of breeding males and females in two natural populations of Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca in central Spain during three field seasons. We then studied the relationship between EPP and individual male and female traits (only some of which were themselves repeatable), as well as key context variables such as breeding synchrony and population density. Our results showed no repeatability for EPP in either sex. We found a positive association with laying date and stronger associations of EPP with male plumage and morphological traits than with female characteristics. We suggest that the variable social environment is an important modulator of EPP patterns, and that differences between field EPP studies in this respect may explain contradictory results in the same species, even in the same populations in different years.     

THE EVOLUTION OF PHENOTYPIC CORRELATIONS AND “DEVELOPMENTAL MEMORY”

Development introduces structured correlations among traits that may constrain or bias the distribution of phenotypes produced. Moreover, when suitable heritable variation exists, natural selection may alter such constraints and correlations, affecting the phenotypic variation available to subsequent selection. However, exactly how the distribution of phenotypes produced by complex developmental systems can be shaped by past selective environments is poorly understood. Here we investigate the evolution of a network of recurrent nonlinear ontogenetic interactions, such as a gene regulation network, in various selective scenarios. We find that evolved networks of this type can exhibit several phenomena that are familiar in cognitive learning systems. These include formation of a distributed associative memory that can “store” and “recall” multiple phenotypes that have been selected in the past, recreate complete adult phenotypic patterns accurately from partial or corrupted embryonic phenotypes, and “generalize” (by exploiting evolved developmental modules) to produce new combinations of phenotypic features. We show that these surprising behaviors follow from an equivalence between the action of natural selection on phenotypic correlations and associative learning, well‐understood in the context of neural networks. This helps to explain how development facilitates the evolution of high‐fitness phenotypes and how this ability changes over evolutionary time.     

Socially flexible female choice differs among populations of the Pacific field cricket: geographical variation in the interaction coefficient psi (Ψ)

Indirect genetic effects (IGEs) occur when genes expressed in one individual affect the phenotype of a conspecific. Theoretical models indicate that the evolutionary consequences of IGEs critically depend on the genetic architecture of interacting traits, and on the strength and direction of phenotypic effects arising from social interactions, which can be quantified by the interaction coefficient Ψ. In the context of sexually selected traits, strong positive Ψ tends to exaggerate evolutionary change, whereas negative Ψ impedes sexual trait elaboration. Despite its theoretical importance, whether and how Ψ varies among geographically distinct populations is unknown. Such information is necessary to evaluate the potential for IGEs to contribute to divergence among isolated or semi-isolated populations. Here, we report substantial variation in Ψ for a behavioural trait involved in sexual selection in the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus: female choosiness. Both the strength and direction of Ψ varied among geographically isolated populations. Ψ also changed over time. In a contemporary population of crickets from Kauai, experience of male song increased female choosiness. In contrast, experience of male song decreased choosiness in an ancestral population from the same location. This rapid change corroborates studies examining the evolvability of Ψ and demonstrates how interpopulation variation in the interaction coefficient might influence sexual selection and accelerate divergence of traits influenced by IGEs that contribute to reproductive isolation in nascent species or subspecies.     

REDUCED GENETIC VARIANCE AMONG HIGH FITNESS INDIVIDUALS: INFERRING STABILIZING SELECTION ON MALE SEXUAL DISPLAYS IN DROSOPHILA SERRATA

Directional selection is prevalent in nature, yet phenotypes tend to remain relatively constant, suggesting a limit to trait evolution. However, the genetic basis of this limit is unresolved. Given widespread pleiotropy, opposing selection on a trait may arise from the effects of the underlying alleles on other traits under selection, generating net stabilizing selection on trait genetic variance. These pleiotropic costs of trait exaggeration may arise through any number of other traits, making them hard to detect in phenotypic analyses. Stabilizing selection can be inferred, however, if genetic variance is greater among low‐ compared to high‐fitness individuals. We extend a recently suggested approach to provide a direct test of a difference in genetic variance for a suite of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) in Drosophila serrata. Despite strong directional sexual selection on these traits, genetic variance differed between high‐ and low‐fitness individuals and was greater among the low‐fitness males for seven of eight CHCs, significantly more than expected by chance. Univariate tests of a difference in genetic variance were nonsignificant but likely have low power. Our results suggest that further CHC exaggeration in D. serrata in response to sexual selection is limited by pleiotropic costs mediated through other traits.     

Social competition as a driver of phenotype–environment correlations: implications for ecology and evolution

While it is universally recognised that environmental factors can cause phenotypic trait variation via phenotypic plasticity, the extent to which causal processes operate in the reverse direction has received less consideration. In fact individuals are often active agents in determining the environments, and hence the selective regimes, they experience. There are several important mechanisms by which this can occur, including habitat selection and niche construction, that are expected to result in phenotype–environment correlations (i.e. non-random assortment of phenotypes across heterogeneous environments). Here we highlight an additional mechanism – intraspecific competition for preferred environments – that may be widespread, and has implications for phenotypic evolution that are currently underappreciated. Under this mechanism, variation among individuals in traits determining their competitive ability leads to phenotype–environment correlation; more competitive phenotypes are able to acquire better patches. Based on a concise review of the empirical evidence we argue that competition-induced phenotype–environment correlations are likely to be common in natural populations before highlighting the major implications of this for studies of natural selection and microevolution. We focus particularly on two central issues. First, competition-induced phenotype–environment correlation leads to the expectation that positive feedback loops will amplify phenotypic and fitness variation among competing individuals. As a result of being able to acquire a better environment, winners gain more resources and even better phenotypes – at the expense of losers. The distinction between individual quality and environmental quality that is commonly made by researchers in evolutionary ecology thus becomes untenable. Second, if differences among individuals in competitive ability are underpinned by heritable traits, competition results in both genotype–environment correlations and an expectation of indirect genetic effects (IGEs) on resource-dependent life-history traits. Theory tells us that these IGEs will act as (partial) constraints, reducing the amount of genetic variance available to facilitate evolutionary adaptation. Failure to recognise this will lead to systematic overestimation of the adaptive potential of populations. To understand the importance of these issues for ecological and evolutionary processes in natural populations we therefore need to identify and quantify competition-induced phenotype–environment correlations in our study systems. We conclude that both fundamental and applied research will benefit from an improved understanding of when and how social competition causes non-random distribution of phenotypes, and genotypes, across heterogeneous environments.