Exam #2 Flashcards
Herbivores
Eat plants
Carnivores
Eat other animals
Omnivores
Eat both plants and animals
Detritivores
Scavengers that eat dead organic material
Morphology, physiology, and behavior are all…
Linked together with a feeding mode
The Optimal Foraging Theory…
is a null model to test against
What should be the aim of Evolution?
Maximizing the energy gained per unit of effort expended
Question #1 about cost vs benefit
How abundant are food items?
Question #2 about cost vs benefit
How abundant are better food items?
Question #3 about cost vs benefit
Is there risk of predation?
Question #4 about cost vs benefit
Is there risk of injury from prey item?
Question #5 about cost vs benefit
Is there risk of loss of food item to other predators?
Question #6 about cost vs benefit
How much energy is spent in finding/handling the food item?
Question #7 about cost vs benefit
How much time is spent finding/handling the food item?
Step 1 in the foraging outline
Search time - finding the food in the environment
Step 2 in the foraging outline
Handling time - Selection and capture of prey
Step 3 in the foraging outline
Consumption time - how long it takes to eat the food item
Step 4 in the foraging outline
Digestive time - How long it takes to process the food item internally
1 in recording in a field notebook
Date - day, month, year
2 in recording in a field notebook
Time - start to finish
3 in recording in a field notebook
Location - at the start/finish, distance traveled, path taken
5 in recording in a field notebook
Habitat characteristics - vegetation, soil, bottom type (in aquatic environments)
6 in recording in a field notebook
Weather
7 in recording in a field notebook
Physical/Chemical factors - salinity, turbidity, pressure, oxygen content, current, pH
8 in recording in a field notebook
Descriptions of behavior - empirical data vs functional data, spatial orientation, temporal orientation
9 in recording in a field notebook
Any changes in methods
10 in recording in a field notebook
Additional notes
A catalog is…
A list of behaviors with descriptions
An ethogram is…
A catalog that is close to a complete list of all behaviors
Search time is affected by…
Abundance of food items, predictability of food patches
Searches for food are usually directed by…
Cues
Search cues include…
Sight, smell, electrical signals, and sounds
Factors that influence handling time are…
Quality of the food item, quantity of the food item, and the risk associated with obtaining the food item.
The selection process for detritivores includes…
Particle size, organic content, when to feed, and how long to feed.
The selection process for predators includes…
scavenging opportunities, food item theft, actually catching the prey
The selection process for herbivores includes…
Desired plant species, the desired parts of plants, chemical defenses of the plant, plant specialists.
The capture process of detritivores includes…
Appendages, the spin structure, if they have the ability to move the environment (pumping water), and their position in the environment
The capture process of predators includes…
The predation method (stalking, ambush, lure), position of prey and predator, and the killing strategy
Predator hunting weapons include…
Claws, teeth, spurs, venom, structures, and tools.
The capture process of herbivores includes…
Removal of fruit and seeds, removal of leaves and bark, clearing any cover on the plants (snow)
Consumption time in detritivores is related to…
When particles are moved into the mouth
Consumption time in predators is related to…
The timing of consumption, the location of the food item, and ingestion of the food item
Consumption time in herbivores is related to…
When the food item is consumed, where the food item is consumed, and the ingestion of the food item
Digestive time is…
The retention time of the food item, the manipulation of the food item, the location of the food item, and the activity level of the animal.
Polyphenism
Multiple distinct outcomes in phenotype relative to an environment
Possible reasons for switching behaviors include…
Predation, competition, and climate change
Things to bring on an observation #1
Notebook - recording some kind of data
Things to bring on an observation #2
Timing device - watch or a timer
Things to bring on an observation #3
Audio recorder - record notes, record animal noises while the observation is underway, playback sounds for animals
Things to bring on an observation #4
Photography - film, digital camera, video recorder
Things to bring on an observation #5
Video - digital recordings
Things to bring on an observation #6
Photo/Video - control of footage
Things to bring on an observation #7
Computer - some way to enter/store data and model simulations
Things to bring on an observation #8
GPS
Things to bring on an observation #9
Tags
Types of tags
Internal, external, or training
