Department of Biological Sciences, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, 80210.
Current Address: College of Natural Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48823.
Evolution. 2020 Feb;74(2):404-418. doi: 10.1111/evo.13906. Epub 2020 Jan 11.
Parental experience alters survival-related phenotypes of offspring in both adaptive and nonadaptive ways, yielding rapid inter- and transgenerational fitness effects. Yet, fitness comprises survival and reproduction, and parental effects on mating decisions could alter the strength and direction of sexual selection, affecting long-term evolutionary trajectories. We used a full factorial design in which threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) mothers, fathers, both, or neither were exposed to a model predator at developmentally appropriate times to test for predator-induced maternal, paternal, and joint parental effects on daughters' mating behavior. We tested the responsiveness, preferences, and mate choices of adult daughters in no-choice trials with wild-caught males who had varied sexual signals. Maternal and paternal predator exposure independently yielded daughters who preferred males who were intermediate in conspicuousness (with duller nuptial coloration and who courted less vigorously), relaxing the typical preference for the most conspicuous males. The combined effects of maternal and paternal predator exposure were not cumulative; when both parents were predator exposed, single-parent effects on mate preferences were reversed. Thus, we cannot assume that maternal and paternal effects additively combine to produce "parental" effects. Further, joint parental predator exposure yielded daughters who were three times less likely to mate at all. Stress-induced intergenerational parental effects on reproductive decisions such as those observed here may potentiate rapid transgenerational responses to novel and changing mating environments.
父母的经验以适应和非适应的方式改变后代与生存相关的表型，产生快速的代际和跨代适应度效应。然而，适应度包括生存和繁殖，父母对交配决策的影响可能会改变性选择的强度和方向，从而影响长期的进化轨迹。我们使用完全因子设计，在该设计中，当发展到适当的时间时，我们用模型捕食者暴露于三种棘鱼（Gasterosteus aculeatus）的母亲、父亲、双方或都不暴露于模型捕食者，以测试捕食者对女儿交配行为的诱导母性、父性和联合父母效应。我们在无选择试验中测试了成年女儿的反应性、偏好和配偶选择，这些试验使用了具有不同性信号的野生捕获雄性。单独的母性和父性捕食者暴露都会使女儿偏爱那些显眼度中等的雄性（具有暗淡的婚色，求偶不那么活跃），从而放宽了对最显眼雄性的典型偏好。母性和父性捕食者暴露的联合效应并非累积性的；当父母双方都受到捕食者的暴露时，对配偶偏好的单亲效应就会反转。因此，我们不能假设母性和父性效应会累加产生“父母”效应。此外，联合父母捕食者暴露使女儿交配的可能性降低了三倍。像这里观察到的那样，压力诱导的代际父母对生殖决策的影响可能会增强对新的和不断变化的交配环境的快速跨代反应。
