Ch 52 Behavioral Ecology

1. Ch 52 Behavioral Ecology “Oh Behave!!!”

2. Behavior—What an animal does and how it does it. • Proximate causation—Immediate mechanisms underlying an organisms behavioral, physiological, or morphological response. • Ultimate causation—Evolutionary explanation for a behavioral, physiological or morphological response.

3. Figure 51.1 Genetic and environmental components of behavior: a case study

4. Nature vs. Nurture • Both are active in shaping an organisms behavior. Genes and environment influence phenotypes and behavior. • Multiple factors affect behavior. • Innate behavior = developmentally fixed behavior • Developed because behavior maximized fitness to the point where genes for variant behavior were lost.

5. Figure 51.8 Vervet monkeys learn correct use of alarm calls

6. Learning—Modification of specific behavior resulting from specific experiences • Associative learning—The ability to associate one stimulus with a reward or punishment • Classical conditioning—Learning to associate an arbitrary stimulus with a reward or punishment. • Operant conditioning—Trial and error learning Associate behavior with a reward or punishment.

7. Figure 51.11 Operant conditioning

8. Cognitive Mechanisms • Kinesis—Change in activity level • Taxis automatic oriented movement toward or away from a stimulus. • Landmark—Similar to taxis but organism must learn landmark. • Cognitive map—internal representation of special relationships among an organism’s surroundings. (more complex then landmark)

9. Migration—Regular movement over long distances. • Piloting—moving from one landmark to another until destination is reached. • Orientation—animal detects compass directions and travels in a straight line until reaching destination. • Navigation—Animal uses compass directions after determining present location relative to other locations.

10. Figure 51.16 Orientation versus navigation in juvenile and adult starlings