The problem of measuring trait-preference correlations without disrupting them

Abstract

A key element at the heart of the Fisher-Lande-Kirkpatrick model of the sexual selection process is the genetic correlation between (male) trait and (female) preference. The strength of this association is critical in determining a population’s evolutionary trajectory, which is why estimating its magnitude is so important. In the Lande model, the trait-preference correlation is solely established and maintained by mate choice, and although it is unclear how exclusively mate choice does this in nature, the experimental designs typically employed to measure trait-preference genetic correlations could be systematically weakening estimates by not allowing free mate-choice (similarly with husbandry practices). The precise impact of the problem is unknown, and possibly unknowable, but simple solutions can be applied to ensure the accuracy of trait-preference correlation estimates is maximized.