Behavioral Isolation due to Cascade Reinforcement in Lucania XXXX .

@entity22159 @entity46141
UNASSIGNED: Reinforcement occurs when behavioral isolation is strengthened between species due to selection against hybridization in sympatry. Mate preferences and their target traits may change in sympatry as a consequence of reinforcement. This can potentially generate further behavioral isolation within species if sympatric populations evolve extreme preferences or traits that cause them to reject individuals from foreign populations as mates or be rejected as mates. This process is known as cascade reinforcement. We measured behavioral isolation between sympatric and allopatric populations of Lucania @entity22159 to determine whether isolation evolves due to reinforcement between species and whether reinforcement affects preferences within species, consistent with the cascade reinforcement hypothesis. We measured mate preferences in both sexes between species (Lucania parva vs. Lucania goodei) and within species (among populations of @entity46141 ). Between species, both male and female preferences for conspecifics were highest in sympatric populations. Within species, @entity46141 females from sympatric populations preferred their own native males over foreign males. Allopatric @entity46141 females and all @entity46141 males showed no preferences within species. Within species, behavioral isolation showed no association with ecological variables, such as salinity. Thus, reinforcement is a primary factor generating behavioral isolation in Lucania @entity22159 , creating strong preferences in both sexes among species and leading to cascade reinforcement of female mate preference within species.
