DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9w0vt4bh6
title: Experimental evolution reveals differential evolutionary trajectories in male and female activity levels in response to sexual selection and metapopulation structure

description: Behavior is central to interactions with the environment and thus has
 significant consequences for individual fitness. Sexual selection and
 demographic processes have been shown to independently shape behavioral
 evolution. However, while some studies have tested the simultaneous
 effects of these forces, no studies have investigated their interplay in
 behavioral evolution. We applied experimental evolution in the seed beetle
 Callosobruchus maculatus to investigate, for the first time, the
 interactive effects of sexual selection intensity (high (polygamy) vs.
 minimal (enforced monogamy)) and metapopulation structure (yes/no) on the
 evolution of movement activity, a crucial behavior involved in multiples
 functions (e.g., dispersal, predator avoidance or resource acquisition)
 and thus, closely related to fitness. We found that the interactive
 effects of the selection regimes did not affect individual activity, which
 was assayed under two different environments (absence vs. presence of
 conspecific cues from both sexes). However, contrasting selection regimes
 led to sex- and context-dependent divergence in activity. The relaxation
 of sexual selection favored an increase in female, but not male, movement
 activity that was consistent between environmental contexts. In contrast,
 selection associated with the presence/absence of metapopulation structure
 led to context-dependent responses only in male activity. In environments
 containing cues from conspecifics, males from selection lines under
 population subdivision showed increased levels of activity compared to
 those assayed in an environment devoid of conspecifics cues, while the
 opposite was true for males from panmictic lines. These results underscore
 that both the effects of sexual selection and population spatial structure
 may be crucial in shaping sex-specific behavioral evolution.
description: By adopting a powerful approach to studying adaptation
 -experimental evolution- we investigate, for the first time, the
 independent and interactive effects of sexual selection and selection
 associated with metapopulation structure on the evolution of movement
 activity. As a model system, we used the seed beetle
 <em>Callosobruchus maculatus, </em>a polygamous species
 characterized by intense sexual selection and sexual conflict. Beetles
 from a same original population were cultured in a 2x2 cross-classified
 selection experiment, whereby binary selection treatments associated with
 the intensity of sexual selection (high, under a polygamous mating system,
 or minimal, under an enforced monogamous mating system), and associated
 with metapopulation structure (yes/no), were crossed. Each of the
 resulting four combinations of selection treatments was replicated across
 four populations (Rodriguez-Exposito et al. 2021 for further details),
 over 79 generations. Subsequently, after a generation of common garden
 breeding, we measured the movement activity of individuals subjected to
 the four selection regimes (each combination of selection treatments)
 under two different environmental contexts (with and without cues from
 conspecifics; henceforth competitive and non-competitive environment,
 respectively). See methods section of the associated
 paper for details on the experimental protocol and data processing for
 analysis.
description: The data are supplied by the authors with the request that future
 users of the data are aware that the experimental evolution study
 represents an ongoing research program.
 ############ During the analyses data were
 organized in two datasets: dataCOLUMNS and dataROWS
 Name of the variables in "DataCOLUMNS" are:<br>ID
 = Individual ID<br>dathatch = Hatching date<br>sex =
 Sex<br>treat_line = Treatment + line identifier (unique
 code)<br>Msystem = Monogamy/Polygamy<br>structure =
 Yes/NO<br>treatment = Treatment (4 levels): NSPoly lines (polygamy
 without population structure); NSMono lines (MONOgamy without population
 structure);  SPoly lines (polygamy + population structure);SMono lines
 (MONOgamy + population structure)<br>Line = Number of selection line
 within each treatment (note: no unique number).  Each treatment was
 replicated four times.<br>size = Body size<br>date.trials =
 Raw date of the trial<br>dat.trials = Coded date of the
 trial<br>agetrials = Age of the individual at the date of the
 trial<br>order = Order of the recording: CU (Clean -&gt;Used) or
 UC (Used_&gt;clean)<br>Batch = Indicates  whether the recording
 was made during the 1st or 2nd group of recordings of each
 day<br>XtimeORDER = Mean hour at which the recording of the given
 order was made      <br>trtm_trial = Non-competitive
 ("clean") and competitive ("used" previously by other
 beetles)    <br>Numtrial = ID of the recording  
  <br>arena.trial = Position (1-12) of the individual withing the
 recording setting    <br>Hor.trial = Raw time of the recording      
  <br>timetrial = Time of the recording converter to decimals e.g.
 10.55h= 10.91    <br>distance = Movement distance during the trial  
          <br>Problemtrials = No or Yes (in case of any incidence)  
   ############ The variables in the
 "DataROWS" are essentially the same but, as the information of a
 given individual (including that related to the behavioural assays)
 appears in the same row, the name of the variables makes reference to the
 type of the recording environment<br>e.g., dist.USED = distance in
 the competitive environment ("used" previously by
 others)<br>        dist.CL   = distance in the Non-competitive
 (non-used previously: "clean"= CL) environment
 ############ Further explanations on the
 variables and the analyses are given in the R script.