Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The discovery that multiple mating by females is common and that males continue to compete after copulation in the form of sperm competition has ushered in a new paradigm in the study of sexual selection. Female multiple mating leads to selection on males to increase their sperm and ejaculate competitiveness to increase their reproductive success and ultimately fitness. Such selection has lead to the widespread evolution of changes in sperm number, morphometry, and/or motility. Although research on sperm competition has proliferated over the past decade, there is much to be learned about the relationship between sperm form and their function as well as the genetic architecture of such traits. This work will use a multidisciplinary approach to provide new insights into these relationships using several mating systems with intense sperm competition. Together with graduate students, undergraduate students and field technicians, we will use the proposed equipment (a computer assisted sperm analysis system) to support collaborative research across 5 laboratories at the University of Windsor.  The equipment's function is to allow for the analysis of sperm motility, number, viability and morphology in temperate/tropical fishes and birds.  The equipment will be used for innovative research in sperm competition theory as it relates to invasive species control, evolutionary genetics, and mating systems evolution.