Modeling the role of competition and cooperation in the evolution of katydid acoustic synchrony

Nityananda, Vivek and Balakrishnan, Rohini (2009) Modeling the role of competition and cooperation in the evolution of katydid acoustic synchrony. In: Behavioral Ecology, 20 (3). pp. 484-489.

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Abstract

The precise timing of individual signals in response to those of signaling neighbors is seen in many animal species. Synchrony is the most striking of the resultant timing patterns. One of the best examples of acoustic synchrony is in katydid choruses where males produce chirps with a high degree of temporal overlap. Cooperative hypotheses that speculate on the evolutionary origins of acousti synchrony include the preservation of the species-specific call pattern, reduced predation risks, and increased call intensity. An alternative suggestion is that synchrony evolved as an epiphenomenon of competition between males in response to a female preference for chirps that lead other chirps. Previous models investigating the evolutionary origins of synchrony focused only on intrasexual competitive interactions. We investigated both competitive and cooperative hypotheses for the evolution of synchrony in the katydid Mecopoda ``Chirper'' using physiologically and ecologically realistic simulation models incorporating the natural variation in call features, ecology, female preferences, and spacing patterns, specifically aggregation. We found that although a female preference for leading chirps enables synchronous males to have some selective advantage, it is the female preference for the increased intensity of aggregations of synchronous males that enables synchrony to evolve as an evolutionarily stable strategy.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Behavioral Ecology
Publisher:	Oxford University Press Inc
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Oxford University Press Inc.
Keywords:	acoustic synchrony;competition;cooperation; katydid; Mecopoda;simulation
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited:	11 Dec 2009 08:52
Last Modified:	24 Mar 2011 10:33
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/20571

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