Population recovery following environmental stress is known to depend on demographic structure, life‐history and evolutionary dynamics. However, it is unclear how traits shaped by sexual selection affect population dynamics and recovery. We examined this by manipulating presence/absence of males expressing either a non‐aggressive ‘scrambler’ phenotype or an aggressive and lethally armed ‘fighter’ phenotype in soil mite populat...

The effect of sexual selection on species persistence remains unclear. The cost of bearing ornaments or armaments might increase extinction risk, but sexual selection can also enhance the spread of beneficial alleles and increase the removal of deleterious alleles, potentially reducing extinction risk. Here we investigate the effect of sexual selection on species persistence in a community of 34 species of dung beetles across...