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Biology Year 3 > Advanced Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology > Flashcards

Advanced Behavioural and Evolutionary Ecology Flashcards

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1
Q

What is ontogenesis

A

Process of an individual organism growing organically

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2
Q

Why did black headed gulls discard the eggshells of their young from their nests according to Tinbergen’s study?

A
  • Presence of the shell led to higher predation
  • Removal decreased predation through reduced nest visibility
  • Increasing fitness of both parent and offspring
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3
Q

What signifies an adaptive trait?

A

Variant of a trait with the highest fitness.

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4
Q

Are all traits in an organism adaptive?

A

No

  • Some are merely byproducts or exist due to developmental constraints.
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5
Q

Give an example of rapid selection due to environmental change.

A

Peppered Moth

  • Had black and speckled forms
  • Underwent rapid selection for darker forms during the industrial revolution
  • Due to increased ability to camouflage
  • Increased fitness.
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6
Q

How can adaptations be achieved besides natural selection? Give an example

A

Through learning or cultural transmission

  • Like chimps fishing for termites with sticks taught through generations
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7
Q

What is “weak adaptationism”?

A

An adaptation is one of the forces leading to evolution

  • Meaning the adaptation isn’t perfect
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8
Q

What does “strong adaptationism” suggest?

A

That an organism or trait is optimal.

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9
Q

Why do evolutionary biologists emphasize natural selection in generating adaptation to local environments?

A
  • Resident individuals appear locally adapted compared to non-residents (reciprocal transplants).
  • Most phenotypes are close to adaptive peaks.
  • Natural populations have high levels of additive genetic variance in traits, allowing for quick adaptation.
  • Many populations show rapid adaptations.
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9
Q

What does “Response to selection (R)” represent?

A

R is the difference between mean parent and offspring traits.

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9
Q

Why do ecologists emphasize the imperfection of adaptation to local environments?

A
  • Some populations decline despite being locally well adapted.
  • There are contracting ranges for certain species.
  • Instances of local extinctions are observed.
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9
Q

How does the focus of evolutionary biologists differ from that of ecologists when it comes to adaptation?

A

Evolutionary biologists

  • focus on relative fitness, where maladaptation is seen as lower relative fitness.

Ecologists

  • focus on absolute fitness
  • growing population indicates good adaptation
  • declining population indicates maladaptation
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10
Q

What is the difference between selection and phenotypic selection?

A
  • Selection occurs across generations
  • Phenotypic selection occurs within one generation.
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11
Q

How is heritability defined?

A

Proportion of phenotypic differences in a population that can be explained by genetic differences

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12
Q

If all variation is not due to genetics, what is the heritability value?

A

Heritability is 0

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13
Q

What are the three types of selection?

A

Directional selection, stabilizing selection, and diversifying selection.

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14
Q

At what different levels does selection occur?

A

Selection can occur at the gene, individual, group, and species levels.

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15
Q

In the context of selection, what is the difference between a gene and an organism?

A

The gene is the unit, while the organism is the vehicle.
Selection acts on vehicles that are a product of the replicators (genes).

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16
Q

What is group selection?

A

variation in the extinction rate among groups as a function of their genetic composition.

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17
Q

Why does group selection require small group sizes, low migration rates, and relatively fast group extinction to have an effect?

A

Between-individual selection is faster than between-population selection.
Individuals die quicker than groups, meaning selective pressure on the group is much lower than at the organism level.

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18
Q

What is the general consensus about the level at which selection primarily occurs?

A

Individual level

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19
Q

Why is the term ‘survival of the fittest’ not particularly useful?

A
  • fitness is complex and encompasses more than just survival
  • it includes various factors that contribute to an organism’s ability to reproduce and pass on its genes.
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20
Q

What are some of the definitions of fitness?

A
  • Propensity to produce offspring.
  • Rate at which a given allele spreads.
  • Ability to adapt to a range of environments.
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21
Q

How does the working definition of fitness describe it in relation to alleles and traits?

A

Fitness is defined as “a measurable feature of alleles, genotypes, or traits of individuals predictive of their future numerical representation.”
- the fitness of an allele, genotype, or trait determines how common or widespread it will be in future generations.

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22
Q

What challenges arise when determining the timescale for measuring fitness?

A

It’s uncertain whether to look at one generation, two generations, ten generations, etc. Changing environments and the emergence of new traits can alter fitness over time.

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23
Q

Why is it essential to measure multiple proxies across time when assessing fitness?

A

Due to the changing environments and emergence of new traits that might influence fitness. It provides a more comprehensive and accurate representation of an organism’s fitness over time.

24
Q

What is the dilution effect?

A
  • chance of any one individual being preyed upon decreases.
  • Being in a larger group means it’s statistically less likely for a particular individual to be taken
25
Q

What are the benefits of group living in predator defence?

A

Dilution effect
Increased vigilance
Confusion effect
Deterrent - avoid large intimidating groups

26
Q

What is the confusion effect?

A

predators can have difficulty targeting and capturing individual prey in large, moving groups

27
Q

Describe animal personality

A

Refers to consistent individual differences in behavior across various situations or over time.

28
Q

Describe Behavioural Syndrome

A

Suite of correlated behaviors across multiple contexts or situations within a population

  • For example, an individual that’s aggressive in territorial defense might also be more bold in exploration
29
Q

Describe Behavioural Type

A

Similar to animal personality.

  • essentially a descriptor of an individual’s consistent behavior in a specific context.
30
Q

Personality traits are consistent, and plastic traits are responsive the environment. Can personality traits be phenotypically plastic?

A

Yes.

  • Personality traits are consistent individual differences in behavior
  • they can also show phenotypic plasticity,
  • can be modified in response to environmental conditions.
31
Q

Which mechanisms explain the existence of altruism?

A
  • kin selection (shared genes, “green beards”)
  • reciprocity mechanisms.
32
Q

Describe Hamilton’s rule.

A

specifies the conditions under which reproductive altruism evolves

33
Q

How does competition between relatives affect altruism?

A
  • may reduce kin selection for altruism
  • especially in scenarios like competition for breeding positions or limited resources
34
Q

Differentiate between discriminate and indiscriminate altruism.

A
  • Discriminate altruism involves direct actions to close relatives only
  • Indiscriminate altruism is altruistic behaviors that are displayed without preference for specific individuals or based on the relatedness of the recipient (pretty sure there would always be some level of discrimination for ones own offspring or sibling as relatedness is higher but hey ho)
35
Q

Why does indiscriminate altruism occur?

A
  • evolve in groups where the average relatedness between members is higher than that of the overall population
  • making it less necessary or beneficial to discriminate between recipients based on kinship.
36
Q

What is kin-adjusted vigilance?

A
  • animals are more alert and watchful when in the presence of relatives.
  • It is observed in various species such as mammals, birds, fish, and insects.
37
Q

How do Belding’s ground squirrels demonstrate kin-preferential behavior?

A
  • use alarm calls to warn relatives of approaching predators
  • despite drawing attention to themselves
  • benefits relatives
  • increases inclusive fitness
37
Q

What findings were observed in studies of mixed mice litters by Hager and Johnstone (2005)?

A

In mixed mice litters, the own offspring of the mother gained proportionally more weight than the unrelated or alien littermates

  • demonstrating preferential treatment to closer relatives.
38
Q

Why might some animals exhibit non-preferential treatment towards kin?

A
  • cost of developing discrimination mechanisms
  • or such mechanisms are still evolving
39
Q

Describe the environmental cue mechanism of kin selection.

A

individuals recognize kin based signals during a certain period, like nesting

  • might identify relatives using song cues
40
Q

Explain the self-referent matching mechanism of kin selection.

A
  • individuals learn their own phenotype and those of their kin
  • determine the relatedness of unidentified animals based on similarities.
  • Closer kin are expected to have greater matching characteristics
41
Q

What is the ‘Green-beard’ effect?

A

involves individuals directing cooperative behaviors towards others who share a distinctive genetic marker

  • such as a “green beard.” - Since kin share genes, individuals with this marker are likely related.
42
Q

Define mutualism and provide an example.

A

refers to interactions where individuals gain immediate fitness benefits from cooperating

  • lionesses hunting in groups
  • they work together to catch prey and then share the food
  • leading to increased hunting success.
  • This cooperative behavior could be influenced by kin selection if the lionesses are related.
43
Q

What is direct reciprocity?

A

refers to altruism or cooperation among unrelated individuals.

44
Q

What is the problem with the evolution direct reciprocity?

A

existence of ‘cheaters’ who exploit the cooperative system without reciprocating poses a challenge to the evolution of direct reciprocity.

45
Q

What conditions are essential for direct reciprocity to work?

A
  • Donors must recognize and refuse cheaters
  • sufficient pairwise interactions (repeated interactions between pairs of individuals)
  • High probability exists for individuals to be both donors and recipients
  • cost of donating is less than the benefit to the recipient.
46
Q

In the Prisoner’s Dilemma game, if a participant knows it’s their last meeting, what is their best course of action to maximize their own payoff? Why is this important to the evolution of reciprocity?

A

Defect.
- reciprocity only evolves in systems where repeated interactions between individuals occur

47
Q

Give an example of reciprocity in nature

A
  • Vampire bats demonstrate direct reciprocity by sharing blood meals.
  • Only hungry bats are fed, and regurgitation usually occurs between close relatives or frequent roost mates.
  • the cost of the act to the donor is outweighed by the benefit to the recipient
  • the increase in survival rate of the recipient bat is higher than the loss
48
Q

What is indirect reciprocity?

A

involves interactions between individuals who might not meet again.
An individual helps someone, thereby enhancing their reputation, which means others are more likely to assist them in return.
- donations to charity in humans

49
Q

How do cleaner fish showcase indirect reciprocity?

A
  • change their behavior when being observed to increase their chances of indirect reciprocity.
  • when not observed by potential customers they often take bites out of the fish (as it is more nutritious)
  • observers will avoid cleaner fish that are seen doing this
  • cleaner fish feed more cooperatively when being watched, hoping to receive more food later.
50
Q

What are spite behaviors in evolutionary biology?

A

Actions that lower the fitness of both the actor and the recipient.

  • Spite requires negative relatedness
  • Favored when directed at individuals that adversely affect one’s relatives.
51
Q

What challenges did the evolution of eusociality present regarding natural selection?

A

Worker sterility

  • Sterility cannot be inherited genetically
  • No offspring produced
52
Q

Which groups of animals display eusociality?

A

Hymenoptera

As well as

  • crustaceans
  • hemiptera
  • and others
53
Q

Describe the main characteristics of eusocial populations.

A
  • cooperative care of the young
  • sterile castes
  • possess overlapping generations
54
Q

Is sterility absolute in eusocial populations?

A

No.

  • many workers in diploid eusocial populations can be reproductive
55
Q

Give an example of a diploid eusocial population

A

Naked mole rat

56
Q

Explain the haplodiploidy hypothesis.

A
  • females arise from fertilized (diploid) eggs
  • males from unfertilized (haploid) eggs
  • Sisters share all paternal genes and are on average 0.75 related to each other
  • more than the 0.5 relatedness they’d have to their own offspring.
  • ‘can be’ more advantageous for females to help raise sisters than to reproduce on their own
  • ACTUALLY INCORRECT
57
Q

In what eusocial groups is obligate sterility found?

A
  • only Hymenoptera and termites show obligate eusociality
  • castes are irreversible and reproduction is not possible
58
Q

What is the significance of the relative value of helping siblings versus producing one’s own offspring (haplodiploidy)?

A
  • haplodiploidy
  • while sisters are more related to each other than to their own offspring
  • females are only 0.25 related to their brothers
  • When considering the average relatedness to both brothers and sisters
  • it becomes 0.5
    which is the same as the relatedness to their own offspring
  • Haplodiploidy doesn’t provide a clear advantage
59
Q

How does the female:male ratio influence the evolutionary advantage of haplodiploidy?

A

With a female-biased sex ratio

  • value of males becomes three times that of females
  • When considering this ratio -> haplodiploidy offers no clear evolutionary advantage over diploidy in the evolution of cooperation

Biology Year 3 (1 decks)

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