skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Balancing Act: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Trade-offs in Reproducing Females
Synopsis Trade-offs resulting from the high demand of offspring production are a central focus of many subdisciplines within the field of biology. Yet, despite the historical and current interest on this topic, large gaps in our understanding of whole-organism trade-offs that occur in reproducing individuals remain, particularly as it relates to the nuances associated with female reproduction. This volume of Integrative and Comparative Biology (ICB) contains a series of papers that focus on reviewing trade-offs from the female-centered perspective of biology (i.e., a perspective that places female reproductive biology at the center of the topic being investigated or discussed). These papers represent some of the work showcased during our symposium held at the 2024 meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) in Seattle, Washington. In this roundtable discussion, we use a question-and-answer format to capture the diverse perspectives and voices involved in our symposium. We hope that the dialogue featured in this discussion will be used to motivate researchers interested in understanding trade-offs in reproducing females and provide guidance on future research endeavors.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2223528 2232190 2038528
PAR ID:
10561508
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Oxford University Press
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Integrative And Comparative Biology
Volume:
64
Issue:
6
ISSN:
1540-7063
Format(s):
Medium: X Size: p. 1734-1756
Size(s):
p. 1734-1756
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Integrative and Comparative Biology)
    null (Ed.)
    Synopsis Like many scientific disciplines, the field of reproductive biology is subject to biases in terminology and research foci. For example, females are often described as coy and passive players in reproductive behaviors and are termed “promiscuous” if they engage in extra-pair copulations. Males on the other hand are viewed as actively holding territories and fighting with other males. Males are termed “multiply mating” if they mate with multiple females. Similarly, textbooks often illustrate meiosis as it occurs in males but not females. This edition of Integrative and Comparative Biology (ICB) includes a series of papers that focus on reproduction from the female perspective. These papers represent a subset of the work presented in our symposium and complementary sessions on female reproductive biology. In this round table discussion, we use a question and answer format to leverage the diverse perspectives and voices involved with the symposium in an exploration of theoretical, cultural, pedagogical, and scientific issues related to the study of female biology. We hope this dialog will provide a stepping-stone toward moving reproductive science and teaching to a more inclusive and objective framework. 
    more » « less
  2. ; (, Integrative And Comparative Biology)
    Synopsis Mechanosensory information is a critical component of organismal movement control systems. Understanding the role mechanosensation plays in modulating organismal behavior requires inherently multidisciplinary research programs that reach across biological scales. Recently, there have been rapid advances in discerning how mechanosensory mechanisms are integrated into neural control systems and the impact mechanosensory information has on behavior. Thus, the Symposium “The Role of Mechanosensation in Robust Locomotion” at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology was convened to discuss these recent advances, compare and contrast different systems, share experimental advice, and inspire collaborative approaches to expand and synthesize knowledge. The diverse set of speakers presented on a variety of vertebrate, invertebrate, and robotic systems. Discussion at the symposium resulted in a series of manuscripts presented in this issue that address issues facing the broader field, mechanisms of mechanosensation, organismal function and biomechanics, and sensing in ecological and social contexts. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; (, Integrative And Comparative Biology)
    Synopsis In temperate environments, most species of insects enter an arrested state of development, known as diapause, that enables them to survive the adverse environmental conditions associated with winter. Although diapause is restricted to a single life stage within species of insects, there are examples of insects that overwinter in the egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages. Here we offer a targeted, non-systematic literature review examining how overwintering impacts subsequent reproduction in female insects. Several factors, including the lifestage at which insects overwinter, the type of energy investment strategy females use for breeding, elements of the winter environment, and contributions from male insects can influence trade-offs that female insects face between overwintering survival and post-diapause reproduction. Additionally, climate change and elements of the urban environment, including light pollution and higher temperatures in cities, can exacerbate or ameliorate trade-offs faced by reproducing female insects. Better understanding the trade-offs between overwintering survival and reproduction in insects not only enhances our understanding of the underlying physiological mechanisms and ecological processes governing diapause and reproduction, but also provides opportunities to better manage insect pests and/or support beneficial insects. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Integrative and Comparative Biology)
    Abstract Eukaryotes are the outcome of an ancient symbiosis and as such, eukaryotic cells fundamentally possess two genomes. As a consequence, gene products encoded by both nuclear and mitochondrial genomes must interact in an intimate and precise fashion to enable aerobic respiration in eukaryotes. This genomic architecture of eukaryotes is proposed to necessitate perpetual coevolution between the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes to maintain coadaptation, but the presence of two genomes also creates the opportunity for intracellular conflict. In the collection of papers that constitute this symposium volume, scientists working in diverse organismal systems spanning vast biological scales address emerging topics in integrative, comparative biology in light of mitonuclear interactions. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; (, Integrative and Comparative Biology)
    Synopsis How stable genotypes interact with their environment to generate phenotypic variation that can be acted upon by evolutionary and ecological forces is a central focus of research across many scientific disciplines represented within SICB. The Building Bridges Symposium brought together scientists using a variety of organisms, methods, and levels of biological organization to study the emergent properties of genomes. Workshops associated with the Symposium aimed to identify the leading edges and major barriers to research in this field, and to recommend future directions that might accelerate the pace of progress. The papers included in this Symposium volume draw attention to the strength of using comparative approaches in non-model organisms to study the many aspects of genotype–environment interaction that drive phenotype variation. These contributions and the concluding white paper also illustrate the need for novel conceptual frameworks that can bridge and accommodate data and conclusions from the broad range of study systems employed by comparative and integrative biologists to address genome-to-phenome questions. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email