Operational sex ratio (OSR)

The operational sex ratio (OSR) is the ratio of males to females ready to mate in a population at a given time. It is an important predictor of mating competition, and sexual selection. I have studied the influence of environmental factors (temperature, food and nest site availability) on OSR, potential reproductive rates and mating competition.

Based on field and lab experiments of the marine fish sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus, I investigated dynamics in animal sex-roles and how variation in sexual selection can be modulated by the environment.

As a post-doc in Leigh W. Simmons’ lab at UWA, I focused on how the OSR interacts with variation in mate quality in affecting mate choice, in two species of Australian bushcrickets, Kawanaphila nartee and Requena verticalis.

I have addressed theoretical issues relating to OSR and mating competition, collaborating with Ingrid Ahnesjö, UU, and Sami Merilaita, UTU, and Leigh W. Simmons, UWA. I have tested some of the assumptions of these theories, on sand gobies together with Andreas Nyman, SU and Ola Svensson, GU, and on bushcrickets together with Leigh W. Simmons.

UWA: The University of Western Australia, Australia; UU: Uppsala University, Sweden; UTU: University of Turku, Finland; GU: University of Gothenburg.