NSF Award
2414578
Animal behavior may impact ecology in ways that have lasting effects on biological diversity. In sailfin molly fish, males either court females and allow them to choose whether to mate, or harass females by making sneak mating attempts. This study will address how this common behavioral feature of populations, the maintenance of alternative mating strategies, affects the communities with which they interact. This work addresses whether the frequency of each male type impacts females’ ability to feed on zooplankton. If sneakers are common, females may forage less because of harassment, which may increase zooplankton abundance and decrease the phytoplankton that zooplankton eat. In this case, courters may succeed in clear water because their displays are visible, whereas sneakers may have an advantage in turbid water because females cannot see them as easily. Thus, the hypothesized trophic cascade is predicted to make the water clearer, which may, in turn, favoring courting males. If the frequency of courters increases, females may forage more, reducing zooplankton, increasing phytoplankton, and increasing turbidity, and favoring sneaking males. This behavior-ecology feedback cycle may thereby preserve both male types while driving variation at the community level. The proposed work will foster student engagement by building inclusivity-focused collaboration involving multiple institutions and allowing for opportunities to gain meaningful skills in studying behavioral and community ecology. The impacts and outreach include quantifying the effects of hands-on research on student success and sense of belonging and disseminating information about the importance of “eco-evolutionary dynamics”, a process key to the maintenance of biological variation in natural populations, using work on a charismatic and familiar species. Participants will gain direct research and mentorship skills while interacting with peers and mentors from three institutions. The team will publish and present findings and engage in outreach and activities with local organizations committed to enhancing science literacy among the public.<br/><br/>The primary goal of this study is to use an eco-evolutionary framework to investigate the effects of variation in mating on top-down ecological control. The study will use the sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna), a poeciliid fish which exhibits size-dependent behavioral polymorphism: small males sneak copulations whereas large males court females. Females are the primary foragers in this system. The work specifically addresses whether mating harassment can perturb top-down ecological control by reducing female foraging rates. The experimental design employs mesocosms with differing morph frequencies to generate different levels of mating harassment. A higher frequency of sneakers is predicted to reduce top-down control, whereas a higher frequency of courters is predicted to increase top-down control. The subsequent effects on the trophic cascade may result in turbidity changes that generate fluctuating selection pressures alternately favoring courting and sneaking morphs, thereby maintaining the polymorphism. The proposed research will provide novel insights into how mating conflict shapes aquatic communities.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
