The sex chromosome system can influence the evolution of sex-biased dispersal

Abstract

Sex-biased dispersal is a much-discussed feature in literature on dispersal. Diverse hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of sex-biased dispersal, a difference in dispersal rate or dispersal distance between males and females. An early hypothesis has indicated that it may rely on the difference in sex chromosomes between males and females. However, this proposal was quickly rejected without a real assessment. We propose a new perspective on this hypothesis by investigating the evolution of sex-biased dispersal when dispersal genes are sex-linked, that is when they are located on the sex chromosomes. We show that individuals of the heterogametic sex disperse relatively more than do individuals of the homogametic sex when dispersal genes are sex-linked rather than autosomal. Although such a sex-biased dispersal towards the heterogametic sex is always observed in monogamous species, the mating system and the location of dispersal genes interact to modulate sex-biased dispersal in monandry and polyandry. In the context of the multicausality of dispersal, we suggest that sex-linked dispersal genes can influence the evolution of sex-biased dispersal.