Synonyms
Definition
Mating strategy equilibria refers to alternative mating phenotypes being maintained in a population in an evolutionarily stable equilibrium.
Introduction
In terms of evolutionary game theory, a “strategy” is a genetically determined decision rule that regulates how different behavioral phenotypes (tactics) are manifested (Gross 1996).
Evolutionary strategies are stable; if after reaching a critical proportion within a population, no other alternate strategy can do better (Maynard-Smith 1982). Behavioral strategies can include multiple distinct phenotypes (tactics) that are maintained at an evolutionary stable equilibrium. This is often seen with “alternative mating tactics” in which individuals adopt different behavioral phenotypes to access mates. This section will discuss how alternative mating tactics can evolve and be maintained within populations in a stable equilibrium.
Alternative Strategies
An alternative mating strategy is a...
References
Dawkins, R. (1980). Good strategy or evolutionarily stable strategy. In: G.W. Barlow and J. Siverberg (Eds.), Sociobiology: beyond nature/nurture?, (pp. 331–367). Bolder, CO: Westview Press.
Gross, M. R. (1996). Alternative reproductive strategies and tactics: Diversity within sexes. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 11, 92–98.
Emlen, D. J. (1994). Environmental control of horn length dimorphism in the beetle Onthophagus acuminatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 256(1346), 131–136.
Hazel, W. N., Smock, R., & Johnson, M. D. (1990). A polygenic model for the evolution and maintenance of conditional strategies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 242, 181–187.
Hazel, W. N., Smock, R., & Lively, C. M. (2004). The ecological genetics of conditional strategies. American Naturalist, 163, 888–900.
Lamichhaney, S., Fan, G., Widemo, F., Gunnarsson, U., Schwochow Thalmann, D., Hoeppner, M. P., Kerje, S., Gustafson, U., Shi, C., Zhang, H., Chen, W., Liang, X., Huang, L., Wang, J., Liang, E., Wu, Q., Lee, S. M.-Y., Xu, X., Höglund, J., Liu, X., & Andersson, L. (2016). Structural genomic changes underlie alternative reproductive strategies in the ruff (Philomachus pugnax). Nature Genetics, 48, 84–88.
Lank, D. B., Smith, C. M., Hanotte, O., Burke, T., & Cooke, F. (1995). Genetic polymorphism for alternative mating behaviour in lekking male ruff Philomachus pugnax. Nature, 378, 59–62.
Maynard-Smith, J. (1982). Evolution and the theory of games. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Neff, B. D., & Svensson, E. I. (2013). Polyandry and alternative mating strategies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 368, 20120045.
Tomkins, J. L., & Hazel, W. (2007). The status of the conditional evolutionarily stable strategy. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 22(10), 522–528.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Partridge, C. (2017). Mating Strategy Equilibria. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2697-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2697-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences