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Interactions between sexual and natural selection on the evolution of a plumage badge

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Abstract

The evolutionary stability of signals varies due to interactions between sexual and natural selection. A tidal-marsh sparrow, Melospiza georgiana nigrescens, possesses darker pigmentation than an inland-marsh sparrow, M. g. georgiana. Studies of feather-degrading bacteria and convergent evolution among salt-marsh vertebrates suggest this dark coloration is due to environmental selection. Sexually dichromatic swamp sparrow crowns, however, may be additionally under sexual selection. We investigated ties between two plumage patches (rusty cap and black forehead) and two behaviors (male-male aggression and parental care) in the coastal and inland subspecies to test the effect of sexual versus natural selection on badge evolution. Across both subspecies the extent of rusty feathers in the cap patch was correlated positively with parental care and negatively with aggression, and the extent of black feathers in the forehead patch was correlated positively with aggression. Males with larger forehead patches produced more offspring along the coast, while males with larger cap patches did so inland. The date of the first nesting attempt for both subspecies correlated with cap patch extent, suggesting a similar role for female choice. Natural selection likely accounts for darker coastal females. Coastal male head color, however, is darker due to increased selection for larger forehead patches via intrasexual competition, yet it remains largely rusty due to female choice for larger cap patches. Increased sexual dichromatism among coastal plain swamp sparrows thus provides a clear example of the interplay between sexual and natural selection in subspecies divergence.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, H. Ternent of Lonaconing, Maryland, USA, the Western Maryland 4-H Education Center, and the Nature Conservancy for access to and use of our study sites. Funding was supplied by grants from the Bailey Fund at Virginia Tech, the Smithsonian Institution’s Abbot Fund, the Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, the Maryland Ornithological Society, the Washington Biologists’ Field Club, the Washington Group of the Explorer’s Club, the Eastern Bird Banding Association, Virginia Tech’s Graduate Research Development Program, and Smithsonian Institution Graduate and Pre-doctoral Fellowships. Many thanks to K. Kalasz, J. Wang, M. Powell, K. Murabito, J. Kolts, K. Callaway, A. Wessel, J. Adamson, B. Augustine, B. Beas, K. Heyden, and A. Roadman for assistance in the field and lab. Thanks to B. Ballentine for providing audio recordings of M. g. georgiana song. This research complied with state and federal law. Bird capture and handling were conducted under scientific collection permits from the states of Delaware and Maryland and federal banding permit number 22665. Impacts on animal welfare were approved by the Conservation and Research Center Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park under proposal #04-10.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, 20008, USA

    Brian J. Olsen & Russell Greenberg

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Brian J. Olsen & Jeffrey R. Walters

  3. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Irene A. Liu

  4. Department of Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    Joshua M. Felch

  5. School of Biology & Ecology, University of Maine, 5751 Murray Hall, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    Brian J. Olsen

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  1. Brian J. Olsen
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Correspondence to Brian J. Olsen.

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Olsen, B.J., Greenberg, R., Liu, I.A. et al. Interactions between sexual and natural selection on the evolution of a plumage badge. Evol Ecol 24, 731–748 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-009-9330-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-009-9330-4

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