Sex-biased dispersal: a review of the theory
Xiang-Yi Li, Hanna Kokko

TL;DR
This review examines the theoretical understanding of sex-biased dispersal, highlighting discrepancies between empirical observations linked to mating systems and the theoretical models focusing on relatedness and resource competition.
Contribution
It clarifies the gap between empirical patterns and theoretical models of sex-biased dispersal, emphasizing the need to integrate mating system effects into theory.
Findings
Empirical data links sex-biased dispersal to mating systems.
Theoretical models focus on relatedness and resource competition.
The association between polygyny and male-biased dispersal is complex.
Abstract
Dispersal is ubiquitous throughout the tree of life: factors selecting for dispersal include kin competition, inbreeding avoidance and spatiotemporal variation in resources or habitat suitability. These factors differ in whether they promote male and female dispersal equally strongly, and often selection on dispersal of one sex depends on how much the other disperses. For example, for inbreeding avoidance it can be sufficient that one sex disperses away from the natal site. Attempts to understand sex-specific dispersal evolution have created a rich body of theoretical literature, which we review here. We highlight an interesting gap between empirical and theoretical literature. The former associates different patterns of sex-biased dispersal with mating systems, such as female-biased dispersal in monogamous birds and male-biased dispersal in polygynous mammals. The predominant…
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