A. Marks et al., STOCHASTIC INFLUENCES, FEMALE COPYING AND THE INTENSITY OF SEXUAL SELECTION ON LEKS, Journal of theoretical biology, 170(2), 1994, pp. 159-162
It is widely agreed that female copying of each others' movements or m
ate choices on leks (clusters of male mating territories) may increase
the intensity of sexual selection. We present computer simulations of
female choice on ungulate leks which explore how female copying and s
tochastic influences on female movement may interact to influence the
intensity of sexual selection on males. Where stochastic influences we
re weak or absent, copying was found to increase selection pressures,
but where stochastic events sporadically redistributed females, copyin
g could decrease the intensity of selection. These results suggest tha
t non-independent female movements on leks may not always increase the
intensity of selection and that caution should be exercised before as
suming that such non-independent movements are adaptive mechanisms of
female mate choice.