TESTING HOTSPOT MODELS OF LEK EVOLUTION - DATA FROM 3 SPECIES OF UNGULATES

Hotspot models propose that leks have evolved because certain sites ar e associated with extremely high female encounter rates. In this paper we test five predictions of hotspot models, using data from studies o f three species of lekking ungulates. As predicted, we found that lekk ing species generally had large female home ranges. However, in contra st to other predictions of hotspot models, ungulate leks did not occur at sites of maximum adult female density, lekking was not associated with low overall female density, and the adult sex ratio and the propo rtion of females that were in oestrus both differed substantially betw een leks and off-lek areas. Our empirical results therefore confirm re cent theoretical assessments of the hotspot process, suggesting that w hile hotspots may help explain broad patterns of male dispersion, furt her mechanisms are needed to generate the extent of territory clusteri ng seen at leks.