Spatial environmental complexity mediates sexual conflict and sexual selection in Drosophila melanogaster

Sexual selection is an important agent of evolutionary change, but the strength and direction of selection often vary over space and time. One potential source of heterogeneity may lie in the opportunity for male–male and/or male–female interactions imposed by the spatial environment. It has been suggested that increased spatial complexity permits sexual selection to act in a complementary fashion with natural selection (hastening the loss of deleterious alleles and/or promoting the spread of beneficial alleles) via two (not mutually exclusive) pathways. In the first scenario, sexual selection potentially acts more strongly on males in complex environments, allowing males of greater genetic “quality” a greater chance of outcompeting rivals, with benefits manifested indirectly in offspring. In the second scenario, increased spatial complexity reduces opportunities for males to antagonistically harm females, allowing females (especially those of greater potential fecundities) to achieve g...性选择是进化改变的关键驱动力，但其作用强度与方向常随空间与时间发生变化。其中一个潜在的异质性来源，或许源于空间环境所施加的雄-雄乃至雄-雌互动机会。已有研究提出，空间复杂度提升可使性选择与自然选择以互补方式发挥作用——通过两种非互斥的途径，分别加速有害等位基因的清除、并/或促进有益等位基因的扩散。第一种情形中，复杂环境下性选择对雄性的选择作用更强，使遗传“质量”更优的雄性拥有更高的竞争胜出概率，其益处可间接体现在后代身上。第二种情形中，空间复杂度提升会减少雄性对雌性产生拮抗伤害的机会，使雌性（尤其是繁殖潜力更高的个体）得以实现g...