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Behavioral Ecology

Behavioral Ecology. Behavior. Ethology- study of animal behavior Causation: Proximate- physiological & genetic mechanisms of behavior “how” Ultimate- evolutionary significance of behavior “why” Sign stimulus- external sensory stimulus

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Behavioral Ecology

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  1. Behavioral Ecology

  2. Behavior • Ethology- study of animal behavior • Causation: • Proximate- physiological & genetic mechanisms of behavior “how” • Ultimate- evolutionary significance of behavior “why” • Sign stimulus- external sensory stimulus • Fixed action pattern (FAP)- sequence of acts; unchangeable; carried to completion • Ex: 3-spined stickleback • Aggressive behavior triggered by red underside No response response

  3. Imprinting • Both learning and innate components • Must be acquired during a certain limited phase of an organism’s development • Geese imprint and follow “mother” • Must occur within 1-2 days

  4. Innate Behavior • Strong genetic influence • Kinesis • Change in activity in response to stimulus • Taxis • Automatic oriented movement toward or away from a stimulus • Migration

  5. Animal Communication • Signal • Behavior that causes a change in another animal’s behavior • Communication • Chemical (pheromones) • Auditory (songs, calls)

  6. Learning • Maturation- behavior due to developing physiological changes • Habituation- loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey no information; simple learning • Spatial learning- use “landmarks” as location indicators • Cognitive mapping- internal representation of spatial relationships/locations • Associative learning: • Classical conditioning- Pavlov’s dogs • Operant conditioning (trial and error)- “Skinner’s box”

  7. Behavioral Evolution • Behaviors are genetically based, so they can undergo natural selection • Organisms from different populations exhibit different behaviors • Prey selection • Aggression • Foraging • Migration

  8. Foraging Behavior • Optimal Foraging Theory • Compromise between benefits and cost of obtaining food • Energy cost • Risk of predation

  9. Social Behavior • Sociobiology • evolutionary theory applied to social behavior • Agonistic behavior • contest behavior determining access to resources • Dominance hierarchy • linear “pecking order” • Territoriality • an area an individual defends excluding others

  10. Mating Systems • Promiscuous • no strong pair bonds • Monogamous • one male/one female • Polygamous • one with many • Polygyny • one male/many females • Polyandry • one female/many males

  11. Sexual Selection • Mate choice • Female mate selection • Influenced by imprinting (traits seen in parents) • Competition between males • Aggression/ antagonistic behavior • Game theory- individuals use different strategies to obtain success

  12. Altruistic behavior • Inclusive fitness • total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by its own offspring and aid to close relatives • Coefficient of relatedness • proportion of genes that are identical because of common ancestors • Kin selection • aiding related individuals altruistically (selflessly) • Reciprocal altruism • exchange of aid

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