Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Eco and Evo > Behavioral Ecology > Flashcards

Behavioral Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

behavioral ecology

A

the study of how organisms respond to particular abiotic and biotic stimuli in their environment

study of behavioral interaction between individuals within populations and communities, usually in an evolutionary context

behavioral ecology in its broadest sense is the study of adaptations, and the selective pressures that yield them, in different ecological environments

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Ernst Mayr

A

described two general categories of questions related to biological causation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

proximate causation (how?)

A

understanding external and internal stimuli

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

ultimate causation (why?)

A

understanding value of behavior for survival/reproduction (fitness)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

fixed action pattern

A

a highly stereotyped behavior patter that occurs in an invariant

e.g. jump-back behavior in kangaroo rats

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

optimal foraging theory

A

concept that animals forage in a way that maximizes the amount of usable energy they take

  • energy of food item
  • foraging time
  • handling
  • risk

fitness ∞ feeding efficiency ∞ benefits/costs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

optimal foraging theory experiment with desert gerbils

A

optimal foraging with predators

trained old to fly over plots
-reduced foraging activity

presence of owls reduced foraging

but, increasing potential reward led to increasing foraging

calculate the actual predation risk (in terms of g of food)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

marginal value theorem

A

optimal foraging model

assumptions:

  • resources in discrete patches separated by areas with no resources
  • travel time
  • diminishing returns with time spent in patch
  • individuals maximize rate of gain (prey items/time)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Anolis carolinensis/Anolis lizards

A

adaptive radiation-400 species

mainland and ectomorphs on Caribbean islands

breeding season in early spring

males
-establish and defend territories, display behaviors

females
-select among potential mates

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Proximate causes (Anolis lizards)

A

increased production of hormones

  • testosterone (males)
  • estradiol (females)

triggered by:

  • photoperiod- changes in day length
  • social stimulation- male displays results in increased estradiol production in females

ultimate causes of Anolis male behaviors: sexual selection

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Signals

A

dewlap extension and head bobbing are signals
-a behavior/characteristic that contains information that has been shaped by natural selection

information can be sex specific

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Anolis signals

A

compress body

head bob/pushups

dewlap extension

chasing

fighting

holding a territory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

sexual selection

A

natural selection on traits that influence the ability to obtain mates or choose good mates

dewlap extensions is for females and same with pushups for most part

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

territory

A

an area that is actively defended and provides exclusive or semi-exclusive use of resource

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

generalizations about escalated contests

A

displays tend to be honest signals of size and strength

displays involve a degree of coordination or even cooperation

often a predictable sequence of stereotypical behaviors of increasing intensity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

honest signals

A

favored by selection on receivers

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

degree of coordination

A

common interest in obtaining information about each other

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

when not to fight

A

when there are axes of asymmetry between rivals

resource holding power

value of resource

ownership

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

resource holding power

when not to fight

A

one rival smaller/weaker

based on size/strength

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

value of resource

when not to fight

A

lower for one rival based on physiology, history, social status

e. g. one has mated with 10 diff female and the other has not mated this year
- the one that has bred has lest incentive to fight and may not want to risk it

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

ownership

when not to fight

A

non-owner less motivated to fight

the owner of the territory has put time and resources into holding the territory and doesn’t want to let that go to waste

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

fights are more likely if…

A

rivals are closely matched

stakes are high for both males
ambiguity about the relative status of rivals

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

migration

A

long-distance movement of a large number of individuals associated with a change of seasons

often coordinated with breeding and/or tracking limited resources

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

animal navigation

A

the ability of animals to accurately find their way to locations without instruments or maps

mechanisms:
piloting, compass orientation, true navigation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

piloting

A

use of familiar landmarks

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

compass orientation

A

movement that is oriented in a specific direction

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

true navigation

A

ability to locate a specific place on Earth’s surface

28
Q

bird navigation

A

birds have well developed navigation

migrating birds can travel hundreds or thousands of miles and return to the same place to breed

homing pecans moved hundreds of miles from their loft can return in a single day

proximate causes: visual landmarks, sun compass, star compass, geomagnetism

29
Q

visual landmarks

A

birds routinely follow highways, railways, and waterways

many species follow coastlines
-results in high concentrations of birds where restricted corridors act as funnels

but birds that are blindfolded are still able to navigate

30
Q

sun compass

A

first experimental studies in 1950s

starlings kept in round pavilions with and without windows

  • during spring migration
  • expected activity tour northwest

individuals must also have circadian clock to use a sun compass

internal clocks can be altered by manipulating light/dark cycles

birds with clocks shifted by 6 hounds shifted their orientation 90 degrees

31
Q

star compass

A

many migrating birds fly at night and use stars to navigate

birds kept in cages in planetarium direct their activity in expected direction
-north in spring, south in fall

will also shift activity as predicted if stars in planetarium are manipulated

birds use more than just the North Star

systemic removal of different stars reveal that birds use multiple constellations
-redundancy useful during overcast nights

32
Q

geomagnetism

A

experiments in 1970s showed that birds use geomagnetic field to navigate on cloudy days
-ring on head

proximate mechanism- leading hypothesis is vision-based system of detection

33
Q

animal communication

A

process in which a signal from one individual modifies the behavior of a recipient individual

signal: info-containing behavior or characteristic

selection for signals with efficient transmission given the environment and physiology of receiver

  • tactile signals for fossorial animals
  • sound signals for aquatic animals
34
Q

signal

A

information-containing behavior or characteristic

35
Q

bee communication

A

Karl von Frisch hypothesized that bees communicate with dances

waggle dance encodes information on the direction and distance of a food source

  • position of sun is also important
  • still works on cloudy days because bees have UV vision
36
Q

Karl von Fisch

A

hypothesized that bees communicate with dances

37
Q

deceitful communication

A

signaler is attempting to exploit the receiver

e.g. hognose snake playing dead; fireflies flash the courtship signal of another species and then eat males that respond

success of deceitful signals is often frequency dependent

when honest signalers are most common
-natural selection favors individuals that are rewarded by behaving with normal response

when deceitful signalers are most common
-natural selection favors individuals that are able to detect and avoid/punish cheaters

38
Q

altruism

A

behaviors that have a fitness cost to the individuals exhibiting the behavior and a fitness benefit to the receiver

includes:
cooperative breeding, food sharing, grooming, protection

39
Q

evolution of as a paradox

A

3 ingredients of natural selection: variation, heritability, more offspring produced than can survive

outcome: traits of individuals with higher relative fitness increase in frequency over generations

thus, decrease of altruism alleles

40
Q

3 ingredients of natural selection

A

variation

heritability

more offspring produced than can survive

41
Q

variation

A

some individuals in population behave altruistically, other don’t

42
Q

heritability

A

altruism behavior has genetic component; is heritable

43
Q

more offspring produced than can survive

A

struggle for existence

44
Q

kin selection

A

selection that acts through benefits to relatives at the expense of the individual

Hamilton’s rules (1964- William Hamilton)

model for the spread of altruistic allele

Br > C
B = benefit to recipient
r = coefficient of relatedness
C = cost of altruism

direct fitness: derived from generation offspring

since kin share alleles, the altruistic individual is
receiving a benefit through indirect fitness:
-derived from helping relatives produce more offspring than they would on their own

inclusive fitness = direct + indirect fitness

45
Q

coefficient of relatedness

A

measure of genetic relatedness of two individuals

what proportion of genes are inherited from a common ancestor (0-1.0)

Probability of inheriting same paternal allele: ½ * ½ = ¼
Probability of inheriting same maternal allele: ½ * ½ = ¼
Total probability of inheriting
same allele: ¼ + ¼ = ½

Parent-offspring: 0.5
Identical twins: 1.0
Fraternal twins: 0.5
Siblings: 0.5
Half-siblings: 0.25
Grandparent-grandchild: 0.25
Cousins: 0.125
46
Q

J.B.S Haldane

A

“Would I lay down my life to save my brother?

No, but I would to save two brothers or eight cousins.”

47
Q

direct fitness

A

derived from generating offspring

48
Q

indirect fitness

A

derived from helping relatives produce more offspring
than they would on their own

since kin share alleles, the altruistic individual is
receiving a benefit through indirect fitness

49
Q

inclusive fitness

A

= direct + indirect fitness

50
Q

helping non-kin

A

delayed direct benefits

reciprocal altruism

e.g. long-tailed manakins

51
Q

helping non-kin example: long-tailed manakins males

A

long-tailed makings males cooperate elaborate courtship behaviors
-males are not closely related

alpha male gets about 99% of matings

why do beta males help?

solitary males do not attract females
-0 fitness

when alpha male disappears, a beta male inherits the display court

delayed direct benefit

52
Q

reciprocal altruism

A

individuals act altruistically towards those that have helped them in the past or are likely to do so in the future

requirements:

  • recognize each other
  • repeated interactions
  • memory of past interactions

e. g. vampire bats
- experiments show that food received (by donor in past) was best predictor of food donated
- more than relatedness

53
Q

evolutionary game theory

A

game theory: study of mathematical models of cooperation and conflict

  • developed in early to mid 1900s by economists
  • many advancements by John Nash (Beautiful Mind)

applied to evolutionary biology in 1970s and later

54
Q

John Nash (Beautiful Mind)

A

made many advancements to game theory

55
Q

Prisoner’s dilemma

A

two members of a gang are imprisoned, kept apart

prosecutors lack evidence to convict a pair on principle charge

criminals given a choice:

  • stay quiet (cooperate with accomplice)
  • rat (defect)
if both cooperate: each serve 1 year
if both defect: each serves 2 years
if one cooperates and the other defects:
defector set free
cooperator serves 3 years (sucker’s payout)

golden balls game show

56
Q

iterated prisoner’s dilemma

A

some players play multiple times

formally developed in 1980s

competition to develop computer model for best strategy

tit-for-tat model won (only 4 lines of code)

  • cooperate on first interaction, then match opponents previous move
  • allows for forgiveness and retaliation
  • type of reciprocal altruism
57
Q

behavior

A

action in response to a stimulus

58
Q

learning

A

an enduring changing behavior that results from a specific experience in an individual’s life

59
Q

innate behavior

A

is inherited–meaning that is is passed genetically from parents to offspring

60
Q

fitness trade-offs

A

inescapable compromises between two traits that cannot be optimized simultaneously

61
Q

cost-benefit analysis

A

a framework from economics borrowed by behavioral ecologists to understand and quantity the behavioral choices that animals make

62
Q

foraging

A

when animals seek food

63
Q

intersexual selection

A

sexual selection when female choose males

64
Q

intrasexual selection

A

sexual selection when males compete with one another for mates

65
Q

circadian clock

A

an internal clock that maintains a 24-hour rhythm of chemical activity

66
Q

communication

A

any process in which a signal from one individual modifies the behavior of a recipient individual

a crucial component of animal behavior

67
Q

eusociality

A

workers sacrifice most or all of their direct reproduction to help rear the queen’s offspring

as in bees

Eco and Evo (15 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions