Skip Navigation


Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on March 31, 2006
Behavioral Ecology 2006 17(4):581-585; doi:10.1093/beheco/ark001
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
17/4/581    most recent
ark001v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (23)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by delBarco-Trillo, J.
Right arrow Articles by Ferkin, M. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by delBarco-Trillo, J.
Right arrow Articles by Ferkin, M. H.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Male meadow voles respond differently to risk and intensity of sperm competition

Javier delBarco-Trillo and Michael H. Ferkin

Department of Biology, Ellington Hall, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA

Address correspondence to J. delBarco-Trillo. E-mail: jtrillo{at}memphis.edu.

There are 2 models of male adjustment of sperm investment in the ejaculate in relation to sperm competition. The "risk model" predicts that as "risk" of sperm competition increases, sperm investment also increases. This prediction has been supported in many species, including mammals. The "intensity model" involves the number of competing males copulating with the same female and predicts that males will allocate the highest sperm investment at low sperm competition intensity (SCI) and then decreasing sperm investments as SCI increases. Two alternative outcomes are that sperm investment is unaffected by SCI and that sperm investment increases as SCI increases. There are studies supporting all 3 possible outcomes in relation to SCI but no data on mammals. The present paper presents the first study of SCI in a mammal species, the meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus. We used odors of conspecific males to simulate low and high intensities of sperm competition. We found that males allocate the highest sperm investment at low SCI and decrease significantly their sperm investment at high SCI. We also found that males allocate the lowest sperm investment at low sperm competition risk (SCR) and the highest sperm investment at high SCR. All these results agree with current theoretical models of sperm competition.

Key words: ejaculation number, microtines, rodents, sperm counts, sperm investment.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc R Soc BHome page
S. A Ramm and P. Stockley
Adaptive plasticity of mammalian sperm production in response to social experience
Proc R Soc B, February 22, 2009; 276(1657): 745 - 751.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc R Soc BHome page
M. L Thomas and L. W Simmons
Male-derived cuticular hydrocarbons signal sperm competition intensity and affect ejaculate expenditure in crickets
Proc R Soc B, January 22, 2009; 276(1655): 383 - 388.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
A. A. Vaughn, J. delBarco-Trillo, and M. H. Ferkin
Sperm investment in male meadow voles is affected by the condition of the nearby male conspecifics
Behav. Ecol., November 1, 2008; 19(6): 1159 - 1164.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
A. S. Aspbury
Sperm competition effects on sperm production and expenditure in sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna
Behav. Ecol., July 1, 2007; 18(4): 776 - 780.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
S. A. Ramm and P. Stockley
Ejaculate allocation under varying sperm competition risk in the house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus
Behav. Ecol., March 1, 2007; 18(2): 491 - 495.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc R Soc BHome page
L. Engqvist and K. Reinhold
Sperm competition games: optimal sperm allocation in response to the size of competing ejaculates
Proc R Soc B, January 22, 2007; 274(1607): 209 - 217.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.