Fishing Can Disrupt Mating Systems
martyb writes:
Fishing can disrupt mating systems:
Sexual selection depends on the advantage certain individuals have over other conspecifics. It creates important filters for reproductive success and can consequently increase fitness and population viability. A large male can provide more intensive care for the developing offspring than small male and is therefore preferred by a female. A large female salmon, on the other hand, is more fecund than a small one and attracts multiple males.
[...] Zebrafish female prefers a large male as a mating partner and releases more eggs for him compared to a small male. In some species females also produce higher quality eggs towards large males, says Academy Research Fellow Silva Uusi-Heikkila from the University of Jyvaskyla.
Fisheries often remove the largest individuals from the population, [and] thus operates in the opposite direction than sexual selection. The effects of fisheries selection on sexual selection has received relatively little attention.
Silva Uusi-Heikkila. "Implications of size-selective fisheries on sexual selection" Evolutionary Applications https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12988
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