Males and females contribute differently to the evolution of habitat segregation driven by hybridization

Costly heterospecific mating interactions, such as hybridization, select for prezygotic reproductive isolation. One of the potential traits responding to the selection arising from maladaptive hybridization is habitat preference, whose divergence results in interspecific habitat segregation. Theoretical studies have so far assumed that habitat preference is a sexually shared trait. However, male and female habitat preferences can experience different selection pressures. Here, by combining analytical and simulation approaches, we theoretically examine the evolution of sex-specific habitat preferences. Habitat segregation can have demographic consequences, potentially generating eco-evolutionary dynamics. We thus explicitly consider demography in the simulation model. We also vary the degrees of species discrimination to examine how mate choice influences the evolution of habitat preferences. Results show that both sexes can reduce hybridisation risk by settling in the habitats where abundant conspecific mates reside. However, when females can discriminate species, excess conspecific male aggregation intensifies male-male competition for mating opportunities, posing an obstacle to conspecific aggregation. Meanwhile, conspecific female aggregation attracts conspecific males, by offering the mating opportunity. Therefore, under effective species discrimination, females play a leading role in initiating habitat use divergence. Simulations typically result in either the coexistence with established habitat segregation or the extinction of one of the species. The former result is especially likely when the species differ to some extent in habitat preferences upon secondary contact. Our results disentangle the selection pressures acting on male and female habitat preferences, deepening our understanding of the evolutionary process of habitat segregation due to hybridization.