Peter D Dijkstra
Contact details:
Room 511, Graham Kerr Building
Division of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Faculty of Biomedical & Life Sciences
University of Glasgow
Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Tel.: 0141 330 1685
Fax: 0141 330 5971
E-mail: p.dijkstra at bio.gla.ac.uk
Research Interests
My research interests are:
- Male-male competition as a source of frequency-dependent selection
- Good genes sexual selection: colour, androgens and immunocompetence
- Colour polymorphism maintenance and physiological costs of aggression in haplochromine cichlid fish
Haplochromine cichlid fish are the most rapidly speciating vertebrates on earth, and are a classic model to study the evolution of phenotypic variation and speciation. Their promiscuous mating system, with highly territorial males and mouth brooding females is conducive to strong sexual selection by mate choice. Another important component of sexual selection is male contest competition over territories sites. Questions are: can male-male competition exert frequency-dependent selection on male colour? How does male-male competition affect mate choice? What are the physiological costs of aggression; do they differ between colour morphs and how does this affect coexistence?
My collaborators are Prof. Neil Metcalfe, Ton Groothuis, Ole Seehausen, Machteld Verzijden, Inke van der Sluijs, Rüdiger Schulz and Geert Wiegertjes.
Male-male competition as a source of frequency-dependent selection
During my PhD work in Groningen, The Netherlands (December 2006), I studied the potential of male-male competition in generating negative frequency-dependent selection, promoting the evolution of phenotypic diversity. Research on speciation by sexual selection has traditionally concentrated on female mate choice (intersexual selection), while the pivotal role of competition between members of the same sex (intrasexual selection) received far less attention.
I describe a series of experimental studies, both in the laboratory and the field, investigating the role of intrasexual selection in sympatric divergence, using Lake Victoria haplochromine cichlid fish as a model system. Species from two genera are used: Pundamilia, containing blue and red colour morphs or sibling species; Neochromis,containing brightly coloured female colour morphs, enabling us to study female aggression too.
Good genes sexual selection: colour, androgens and immunocompetence
Why are males brightly coloured? Does the intensity of sexual signaling provides information about the genetic quality of the bearer? Haplochromines, in particular red-coloured P. nyererei, are ideal candidates to tackle this question, because males vary a lot in the intensity of their nuptial dress and only provide genetic material to females.
(Photo copyright of Kees Hofker)
Colour polymorphism maintenance and physiological costs of aggression in haplochromine cichlid fish
My post-doc work (University of Glasgow, starting date August 2007) extends the topic of my PhD to the physiological level. In many species, colour morphs that differ in aggression level (or competitive ability) co-occur in the same population. Territorial aggression between males to gain access to females has recently been considered as an important mechanism driving speciation. The question is: how can variation in competitive ability contribute to stable co-existence of several morphs for long enough to allow speciation? This requires an analysis of costs and benefits for fitness to each morph. A clear benefit of higher aggression levels is a greater social dominance. However, aggression also carries physiological costs concerning health maintenance.List of publications
Dijkstra, P.D., van Dijk, S., Groothuis, T.G.G, Pierotti, M.E.R., Seehausen, O. Behavioural dominance between female colour morphs of a Lake Victoria cichlid fish. In Press, Behavioural Ecology
Dijkstra, P.D., Hemelrijk, C.K, Seehausen, O. & Groothuis, T.G.G. Colour polymorphism reduces intrasexual selection in assemblages of cichlid fish. Behavioral Ecology 20: 138-144
Dijkstra, P.D., Seehausen, O., Fraterman, R. E., & Groothuis, T.G.G. 2008 Learned aggression biases in Lake Victoria cichlids. Animal Behaviour 76: 649-655
Dijkstra, P. D. & Preenen, P.T.Y. 2008 No effect of blue on winning contests in Judo. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Biological Sciences 275: 1157-1162
Dijkstra, P.D., van der Zee, E.M. & Groothuis, T.G.G. 2008 Territory quality affects female mate preference in a Lake Victoria cichlid fish. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 62: 747-755
Dijkstra, P.D., Seehausen, O. & Groothuis, T.G.G. 2008 Intrasexual competition among females and the stabilization of a conspicuous colour polymorphism in a Lake Victoria cichlid. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Biological Sciences, 275: 519-526
Dijkstra, P.D., Hekman, R. Schulz, R. W. & Groothuis, T.G.G. 2007 Social stimulation, nuptial coloration, androgens, and immunocompetence in a sexual dimorphic cichlid fish. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, 61: 599-609
Dijkstra, P.D. Seehausen, O. Pierotti, M. & Groothuis, T.G.G. 2007 Male-male competition and speciation: aggression bias towards differently coloured rivals varies between stages of speciation in a Lake Victoria cichlid species complex. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 20: 496-502.
Dijkstra, P.D., Seehausen, O., Gricar, B.L.A., Maan, M.E. & Groothuis, T.G.G. 2006. Can male-male competition stabilize speciation? A test in Lake Victoria cichlids. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 59: 704-713
Dijkstra, P.D., Seehausen, O. & Groothuis, T.G.G. 2005. Direct male-male competition can facilitate invasion of new colour types in Lake Victoria cichlids. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 58: 136-143