Alternative reproductive tactics and status-dependent selection

The status-dependent selection model on alternative reproductive tactics predicts a single switch-point in status: usually all players above some status (e.g., competitive ability) should practice the tactic with the higher average payoff, while those below that point should make the best of a bad job by practicing the alternative, lower payoff tactic. Many empirical studies indeed show a relationship between status and tactic choice, but they do not conform to this single switch-point prediction. I modify the status-dependent selection model by considering status-dependent fitness that is mediated, at least in part, by resource acquisition (e.g., status-based competition for territories or nuptial gifts). With variation in resource quality, predicted tactic-choice distributions change: a high-status male may be territorial on a high-quality territory, a lower status male may practice an alternative tactic, and an even lower status male may be territorial on a low-quality territory. Tactic choice thus alternates as in many empirical studies and can appear to be but is not actually stochastic. As the number of theoretically predicted switch-points increases, however, mixed or mixed-conditional strategies should become more prevalent. While alternative tactics will likely usually differ in mean payoff, viewing alternative reproductive tactics as inherently better or worse (e.g., viewing cuckoldry as worse-the best of a bad job) is misleading if not tempered with awareness that payoff can vary greatly within tactics and overlap between tactics.