Behavioural ecology

Question 1

What is the difference between the 1930s and 1970s view of behavioural ecology?

Answer 1

1930s - fixed action pattern

1970s - tactical

Question 2

What are derived traits

Answer 2

quantitative traits (controlled by many genes) which are dependent on abiotic and biotic conditions (“plastic”)

Question 3

What is an evolutionary stable strategy?

Answer 3

a strategy adopted by a population to prevent invasion by the spread of rare alternative strategy

Question 4

What are the 2 types of phenotypic trait

Answer 4

ancestral and derived traits

Question 5

What 2 main factors does phenotypic variance depend on?

Answer 5

variance of genotype and variance of environment

Question 6

What does the variance of a genotype depend on

Answer 6

additive variance (Va), dominance variance (Vd) and Epistatic variance (Vi)

Question 7

What does the variance of an environment depend on?

Answer 7

specific environmental variance, general enviroNmental variance, genotype by environment variance

Question 8

Define phenotypic plasticity

Answer 8

The ability of a genotype to produce different phenotypes under different environmental conditions

Question 9

What were Tinbergen’s 4 questions of biology?

Answer 9

Proximate (how?): causation, development Ultimate (why?): evolutionary history, function