Research Interests

My research analyzes the behavioral, ecological and evolutionary processes underlying animal social behavior, focussing on lek mating behavior in birds. Leks are clusters of territorial males visited by females for mating and are a focus for debate about the nature of sexual selection due to the extraordinary opportunities they provide for female choice and reproductive competition among males. I and my collaborators have investigated a variety of questions about the role of female behavior in lek systems using both empirical and theoretical approaches. An important component of this work is a long term field study of sage grouse, whose behavior we investigate using a combination of behavioral observation, radio-tracking and genetic analysis. We also pursue questions raised by our field studies experimentally using other animals.

Current projects investigate processes that may maintain lek cohesion in the face of the disruptive effect of mating skew. Ongoing studies of sage grouse includes analyses of (i) mating patterns and the genetic structure of social groups using microsatellite DNA markers and (ii) the influence of predation on male behavior at leks. We are also analyzing the ecological and behavioral mechanisms underlying the unusual phenomenon of mixed species lek formation by prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse.

Recent Publications

• Boyko, A.R., Gibson, R.M. & Lucas, J.R. 2004. How predation risk affects the temporal dynamics of avian leks: sage grouse vs. golden eagles. American Naturalist (in press)
• Aspbury, A.S. and Gibson, R.M. 2004. Long range visibility of sage grouse leks: a GIS-based analysis. Animal Behaviour(in press)
• Gibson, R.M., Aspbury, A.S. and McDaniel. L. 2002. Active formation of mixed-species grouse leks: a role for predation in lek evolution? Proc Roy Soc B. 269: 2503-2508. (Featured in ScienceNOW, Sciencemagazine's online news service 11/1/02.)
• Gibson, R.M. 2002. Leks. In: The Oxford Encyclopedia of Evolution, M. Pagel (ed.), 612-615. Oxford University Press.
• Semple, K.E., Wayne, R.K. and R.M. Gibson. 2001. Microsatellite analysis of female mating behavior in lek-breeding sage grouse. Molecular Ecology 10: 2043-2048.
• Langen, T. A. and R.M. Gibson. 1998. Sampling and information acquisition by western scrub jays, Aphelocoma californica.. Animal Behaviour 55:1245-1254.
• Gibson, R.M. and Langen, T.A. 1996. How do animals choose their mates? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 11: 468-470.
• Gong, A. and Gibson, R.M. 1996. Reversal of a female preference after visual exposure to a predator in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Animal Behaviour 52: 1007-1015.
• Gibson R.M. 1996. Female choice in sage grouse: the roles of attraction and active comparison. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 39: 55-59.
• Gibson, R.M. 1996. A reevaluation of hotspot settlement in lekking sage grouse. Animal Behaviour 52:993-1005.