Comment: On the consequences of sexual selection for fisheries-induced evolution.

Samuel Cotton,Davnah Urbach

doi:10.1111/j.1752-4571.2008.00041.x

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly recognized that fishing (and other forms of nonrandom harvesting) can have profound evolutionary consequences for life history traits. A recent and welcome publication provided the first description of how sexual selection might influence the outcome of fisheries-induced evolution (FIE). One of the main conclusions was that if sexual selection generates a positive relationship between body size and reproductive success, increased fishing pressure on large individuals causes stronger selection for smaller body size. Here, we re-evaluate the sexual selection interpretation of the relationship between body size and reproductive success, and suggest it may in fact be representative of a more general case of pure natural selection. The consequences of sexual selection on FIE are likely to be complicated and dynamic, and we provide additional perspectives to these new and exciting results. Selection differentials and trait variance are considered, with density-dependent and genetic effects on the strength and the direction of sexual selection given particular attention. We hope that our additional views on the role of sexual selection in FIE will encourage more theoretical and empirical work into this important application of evolutionary biology.

Highlights

It is becoming increasingly recognized that fishing can have profound evolutionary consequences on life history traits (Stokes et al 1993; Law 2000; Conover and Munch 2002)
Evidence has accumulated for a role of sexual selection in the dynamics of populations of a 2008 The Authors Journal compilation a 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 (2008) 645–649 conservation importance (Caro 1998; Legendre et al 1999; Moller and Legendre 2001; Cote 2003; Doherty et al 2003; Kokko and Rankin 2006), highlighting the necessity of integrating mating systems and animal behavior into the treatment of conservation issues (Rowe and Hutchings 2003; Quader 2005; Rowe et al 2007)
Selected characters are a class of traits that display positive relationships with reproductive success, and selection on these traits is often much greater than that on traits, which are under natural selection only (Kingsolver et al 2001)

Summary

Introduction

It is becoming increasingly recognized that fishing (and other forms of nonrandom harvesting) can have profound evolutionary consequences on life history traits (Stokes et al 1993; Law 2000; Conover and Munch 2002). Hutchings and Rowe (2008) compared S’s under the assumption that body size causes greater reproductive success in large individuals, and is under sexual selection, with the null case where body size has no influence on reproductive success.

Results

Conclusion