The dynamics of sex ratio evolution: the nature and role of the male subpopulation equilibrium

TL;DR

This paper investigates the male subpopulation equilibrium (MSE) in sex ratio evolution, revealing its role in multilevel selection, synchronization of genetic and strategic dynamics, and its relation to classical models.

Contribution

It introduces a new model combining strategic and genetic analysis, explaining the MSE phenomenon and its impact on sex ratio regulation and primary sex ratio estimation.

Findings

MSE affects all stages of sex ratio self-regulation

MSE synchronizes levels of selection in the model

Classical fitness measures are biased but compatible with the new approach

Abstract

The classical approaches to the modeling of sex ratio evolution can be divided into two classes. The first class contains the static strategic models related to the Dusing Fisher Shaw Mohler fitness measure, based on the reproductive value of the offspring of the focal female. The second class contains the population genetic models focused on the dynamics of the allele frequencies. The approaches are not fully compatible because the strategic models disregard the role of the male individuals as the passive carriers of the strategy genes. In the previous two papers in this cycle, a new model combining the strategic analysis with more rigorous genetics was presented. The new model shows that sex ratio self-regulation is a multistage complex process which can be regarded as an example of multilevel selection. One of the elements of this process is the dynamic equilibrium between male and female gene carriers associated with convergence of the dynamics to the manifold termed the male subpopulation equilibrium (MSE). This paper attempts to explain this phenomenon and analyze its properties. We show that the MSE phenomenon affects every stage of sex ratio self-regulation (Lemmas 1-4). The MSE plays a crucial role in synchronizing two levels of selection in the double-level selection process. We show that the MSE condition can be generalized as an interesting synergistic property allowing for the estimation of the primary sex ratio of the entire population according to the state of some arbitrarily chosen subpopulation (Lemma 5). We also show that the classical Dusing Fisher Shaw Mohler fitness measure is a biased approximation of the new approach, but that it produces compatible strategic predictions (Lemma 6).