Alternative Reproductive Tactics in Animal Systems

Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) encompass the suite of discrete morphological, behavioural and physiological strategies that individuals within the same sex adopt to maximise reproductive success. These tactics frequently arise as condition-dependent phenotypes or genetically based morphs, and they occur across a wide range of taxa, from fishes that deploy “courter” and “sneaker” males to mites that express armed fighters or benign scramblers. The coexistence and prevalence of ARTs are maintained through a balance of ecological and evolutionary processes, including frequency- and density-dependent selection, phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental cues and underlying genetic thresholds for morph determination. Eco-evolutionary feedback loops further modulate tactic frequencies by linking individual reproductive behaviour to population dynamics, while developmental pathways often carry epistatic interactions and hormonal controls. ARTs have profound implications for genetic diversity, population resilience and the evolution of complex traits, as fluctuating environments and social contexts can shift the fitness pay-offs of each tactic. These systems offer empirical windows into sexual selection, life-history trade-offs and the maintenance of polymorphisms, with broader relevance to conservation management, pest control strategies and the understanding of adaptive responses under environmental change.

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Alternative Reproductive Tactics in Animal Systems publication trend

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Technical terms

Alternative reproductive tactic: A discrete phenotype or behavioural strategy adopted by individuals of the same sex to achieve mating success under different conditions.

Frequency-dependent selection: A process whereby the fitness of a tactic changes according to its prevalence in the population, often favouring rare morphs.

Phenotypic plasticity: The capacity of a genotype to produce different phenotypes in response to environmental variation.

Polymorphism: The coexistence of two or more distinct phenotypes within a population arising from genetic or developmental variation.

Eco-evolutionary feedback: Reciprocal interactions between ecological dynamics (e.g. population density) and evolutionary processes (e.g. tactic frequencies).

References

1. Stressful environments favor deceptive alternative mating tactics to become dominant. BMC Biology (2023).
2. Nutrient‐dependent allometric plasticity in a male‐diphenic mite. Ecology and Evolution (2022).
3. Spatial structure could explain the maintenance of alternative reproductive tactics in tree cricket males. Biology Open (2024).
4. An eco‐evolutionary feedback loop between population dynamics and fighter expression affects the evolution of alternative reproductive tactics. Journal of Animal Ecology (2018).