Evolutionary demography of structured two-sex populations and sex ratios
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/7460DOI
10.1575/1912/7460Abstract
Males and females may differ in stage-specific survival, maturation, fertility, or mating availability.
These demographic differences, in turn, affect population growth rates, equilibrium structure,
and evolutionary trajectories. Models considering only a single sex cannot capture these effects,
motivating the use of demographic two-sex models for sexually reproducing populations.
I developed a new two-sex modeling framework that incorporates population structure and
multiple life cycle processes through transition rate matrices. These models can be applied to a
variety of life histories to address both ecological and evolutionary questions. Here, I apply the
model to the effects of sex-biased harvest on populations with various mating systems.
Demographic considerations also affect evolutionary projections. I derived matrix calculus
expressions for key evolutionary quantities in my two-sex models, including the invasion fitness,
selection gradient, and second derivatives of growth rates (which have many applications, including
the classification of evolutionary singular strategies). I used these quantities to analyze the
evolution of the primary sex ratio, under various sex- and stage-specific offspring costs and maternal
conditions.
Demographic two-sex models lend insight into complex, and sometimes counterintuitive, results
that are not captured by models lacking population structure. These findings highlight the
importance of demographic structure in ecology and evolution.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 2015
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Suggested Citation
Thesis: Shyu, Esther, "Evolutionary demography of structured two-sex populations and sex ratios", 2015-09, DOI:10.1575/1912/7460, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/7460Related items
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