Extended Molecular Genetic Analysis of a Lek Mating System

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

This project will investigate the relationship between social behavior and genetic relatedness in the Sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). This species serves as a model system for the analysis of mate choice in animals because breeding takes place at easily observed "leks", arenas of males visited by females for mating. The project has the following specific objectives: (i) determining relationships between male breeding behavior and reproductive success, (ii) identifying factors affecting mating patterns of females, and (iii) surveying patterns of genetic relatedness within and across social groups. This research combines field studies of the behavior of marked individual birds with measurement of paternity of offspring and relatedness among adults by genetic analysis of blood samples in the laboratory. Past studies of the sage grouse lek system have been influential in shaping current understanding of mate choice in animals, a topic of central importance in evolutionary biology. However, earlier studies were based entirely on observable mating behavior, which may represent as little as half of all breeding activity in this species. The proposed genetic analyses should reveal mating patterns regardless of their observability and therefore have the potential to substantially revise our understanding of mate choice in this model system.