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ECO3A: Individs, Popns, Commun > Individuals/Behavioural Ecology > Flashcards

Individuals/Behavioural Ecology Flashcards

1
Q

List the scales of ecological research?/scales of ecology (6)

A

• Behavioural ecology.
• Population ecology.
• Community ecology.
• Ecosystem ecology.
• Landscape ecology.
• Global ecology.

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2
Q

3 main components of the biodiversity framework?

A

• Functional.
• Structural.
• Compositional.

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3
Q

From where did behavioural Ecology arise/emerge/originate?

A

Ethology (traditional animal behaviour).

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4
Q

Niko Tinbergen?

A

= important behavioural ecologist who proposed that there are 4 different ways of answering “why” questions about behaviour.

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5
Q

4 points of view that encompass behavioural studies?

A

• Development.
• Mechanism.
• Evolutionary history.
• Function.

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6
Q

AKA of each of the 4 points of view of behavioural studies?

A

• Ontogeny.
• Causation.
• Evolution.
• Survival value/Behaviour.

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7
Q

Development question?

A

How does the trait emerge across the lifespan?

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8
Q

Mechanism questions? (2)

A

• How does the trait work?
• How is the trait produced?

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9
Q

Evolutionary history questions? (2)

A

• How did the trait evolve?
• Why did the trait evolve?

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10
Q

Function questions? (2)

A

• Why is the trait adaptive?
• Why does the trait persist?

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11
Q

Proximate explanations?

A

= explain how an individual behaves in a particular way during its lifetime.

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12
Q

Ultimate explanations?

A

= explain why & how the individual has evolved the behaviour.

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13
Q

Points of view of behavioural studies that behavioural ecologists focus on? (2)

A

• Evolutionary history.
• Function.

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14
Q

Egs of questions that behavioural ecologists answer? (3)

A

• How does the behaviour increase an individual’s reproductive success?

• Does the behaviour increase an individual’s chances of survival?

• How has evolution shaped the behaviour?

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15
Q

Behavioural ecology attributes? (2)

A

• Emphasizes evolutionary explanations.
• Looks at the costs & benefits, and the trade-offs between them.

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16
Q

What do you mean when you say that behavioural Ecology emphasizes evolutionary explanations?

A

We mean that an animal showing optimal behaviour will maximize its fitness.

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17
Q

What do you mean when you say that behavioural ecology looks at the costs & benefits?

A

We look at which strategy maximized the benefits over the costs.

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18
Q

What does behavioural ecology focus on? (3)

A

• Ecology.
• Behaviour.
• Evolution.

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19
Q

Ecology?

A

= the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment.

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20
Q

Behaviour?

A

= the change in activity of an organism in response to a stimulus.

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21
Q

Evolution?

A

= change in the allele frequencies/genetic composition of a population over successive generations.

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22
Q

Behavioural ecology?

A

= study of the ecological & evolutionary basis for animal behaviour.

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23
Q

Underlying concepts of behavioural ecology? (3)

A

• NS.
• Strategies, costs & benefits.
• Phenotypic plasticity.

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24
Q

Conditions for NS to occur? (3)

A

• Variation in traits.
• Some of the variation must be heritable.
• Differential reproduction/survival (i.e., one trait must be more favourable than others).

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25
Proofs of link between genes & behaviour? (2)
• Genetic mutants of Drosophila. • Artificial selection in male crickets.
26
Cost (C)?
= any factor that reduces reproductive success.
27
Benefit (B)?
= any factor that increases reproductive success.
28
How do you observe/know that a strategy is successful in terms of costs & benefits?
Benefits > Costs (B>C).
29
Phenotypic plasticity?
= the ability of an organism to express different phenotypes depending on the environment.
30
Trait that is constant regardless of environmental changes indicates what?
No phenotypic plasticity.
31
Trait that decreases during environmental changes indicates what?
Phenotypic plasticity.
32
Trait that is variable (increases, decreases) with environmental changes indicates what?
Highly variable phenotypic plasticity (very adaptable trait).
33
Ways to test hypotheses in behavioural ecology? (5)
• Observe. • Formulate hypothesis. • Design methods to test them. • Look at results. • Confirm or reject hypothesis.
34
Eg of ways to test hypotheses in behavioural ecology?
Tinbergen's observation with a Bee wolf.
35
Aim of behavioural ecology?
To try and understand how an animal's behaviour is adapted to the environment in which it lives.
36
Adaptation?
= change brought about during evolution by the process of NS.
37
Function is AKA? (3)
• Survival value. • Adaptive advantage. • Behaviour.
38
Proximate explanations keyword?
HOW?
39
Ultimate explanations keyword?
WHY?
40
Types of proximate explanations? (2)
• Causation/Mechanism. • Development/Ontogeny.
41
Types of ultimate explanations? (2)
•Evolutionary history/Phylogeny. • Function.
42
Eg of proximate vs ultimate explanations?
Reproductive behaviour in lions (Panthera leo).
43
Observations of eg of proximate vs ultimate explanations? (2)
• Females are synchronous in oestrus. • Young die when new males take over pride.
44
Oestrus?
= a period of sexual receptivity in most female mammals, except humans, when ovulation & copulation take place.
45
Conditions for behaviour to evolve? (3)
• There must be behavioural differences in population. • The differences must be heritable. • Some behavioural differences must have greater reproductive success than others.
46
Summary of Darwin's theory of NS?
Heritable variation with competition for survival & reproduction.
47
What is the place of behavioural ecology in the wider field of ecology?
48
Consider the following scenario & explain in terms of Tinbergen's 4 questions (Causation): Within a pride of lions, females tend to come into oestrus about the same time.
• Chemical cues.
49
Consider the following scenario & explain in terms of Tinbergen's 4 questions (Development): Within a pride of lions, females tend to come into oestrus about the same time.
50
Consider the following scenario & explain in terms of Tinbergen's 4 questions (Evolutionary history): Within a pride of lions, females tend to come into oestrus about the same time.
51
Consider the following scenario & explain in terms of Tinbergen's 4 questions (Function): Within a pride of lions, females tend to come into oestrus about the same time.
52
What is the one difference between behavioural ecology & animal behaviour?
53
Causal explanations of females being synchronous in oestrus? (2)
• Chemical cues. • Take-over by males.
54
Causal explanations of young dying when new males take over pride? (2)
• Abortion. • Take-over males kill or evict young.
55
Functional explanations of females being synchronous in oestrus? (2)
• Better cub survival. • Young males survive better & have increased reproductive success when they leave the pride if in a group.
56
Functional explanations of young dying when new males take over pride? (2)
• Females come into oestrus more quickly. • Male removes older cubs which would compete with his young.
57
Causal explanations vs Functional explanations?
Causal explanations deal with mechanisms, while functional explanations deal with why these particular mechanisms (and not others) have been favoured by NS.
58
Summary of Darwin's theory of NS in modern genetic terms?
Selection causes changes in gene frequency (favourable changes result in increased gene frequency of favourable gene/allele, meaning increased survivability).
59
"Genes for" certain traits?
= gene differences bringing about differences in behaviour.
60
Points to consider regarding egs that show how genetic differences between individuals can lead to differences in behaviour? (3)
• Molecular path linking genes to behaviour is complicated (transcription, neural activity, etc). • Genes & behaviour influence each other (i.e., genes influence behaviour & behaviour influences gene expression). • Genes alone don't produce the behaviour.
61
Why don't genes alone produce the behaviour?
It's because behavioural development is an outcome of a complex interaction between genes & the environment.
62
Egs that show how genetic differences between individuals can lead to differences in behaviour? (3)
• Drosophila & honeybees (foraging, learning & singing). • MC1R (mate choice & camouflage). • Blackcaps (migratory behaviour).
63
Explain Drosophila & honeybees (foraging, learning & singing)? (2)
● DIFFERENCES in alleles of the "for" gene caused different individual foraging behaviours (rovers & sitters) in Drosophila, whereas in Honeybees CHANGES in "for" gene expression caused the changes in behaviour within individuals. ● Regarding courtship song in male Drosophila, differences in the period gene cause differences in song structure (courtship song) between species.
64
Explain MC1R (mate choice & camouflage)? (2)
● MC1R in Snow geese = mate choice. Snow geese have two morphs, white (homozygous for one variant allele) & blue (heterozygous or homozygous for the other allele). Although having either colour doesn't give one a selective advantage, colour influences mate choice as white snow geese pair with other white snow geese & blue snow geese mate with other blue snow geese (assortative mating). ● MC1R in Rocket pocket mice = camouflage. Rock pocket mice have two morphs, dark mice (live on black lava flows) & sandy-coloured mice (live on sandy, desert habitats). Both undergo selective predation by owls when they contrast their background.
65
Explain Blackcaps (migratory behaviour)? (4)
● Demonstrates how phenotype differences are a result of multiple genes (not one) acting in concert. ● Primarily, gene differences among Blackcaps caused different migration behaviours with one group being highly migratory (found in Germany) and the other group being sedentary (found in Canary Islands). ● Furthermore, among the migratory Blackcaps differences in migration behaviour are caused, not by genes but, by the wintering area that is migrated to. Before, all migratory Blackcaps travelled to the south-west of western Mediterranean but, due to the wintering areas in Britain & Ireland having milder winters and more food, some travelled in a more westerly direction, and started mating assortatively. This resulted in the rapid evolution of migration behaviour. ● Differences in migration behaviours are caused by gene differences & wintering areas (environment).
66
Aim of behavioural ecology?
To understand how behaviour evolves in relation to ecological conditions, including both the physical environment & the social environment (competitors, predators, etc).
67
What does Mechanism focus on? (2)
• Morphological or physiological feature that allows for the behaviour to occur in the individuals of a same species. • Trigger for the behaviour (i.e., spotting a predator).
68
What does Ontogeny focus on?
How an individual exhibiting a particular behaviour has developed the understanding of when the behaviour is applicable within its own lifetime.
69
What does Evolutionary history focus on?
How a beneficial behaviour (promoting survival and/or reproduction) initially occurs within an individual but, over time, is a common trait within a particular population or species.
70
What does Adaptation focus on?
The benefits an individual may gain by exhibiting beneficial behaviours within its own lifetime.
71
Question to ask yourself regarding Mechanism?
What drives an individual to exhibit such a behaviour?
72
Question to ask yourself regarding Ontogeny?
How does an individual come to exhibit the behaviour within its own lifetime?
73
Question to ask yourself regarding Evolutionary history?
Why are most individuals within the same species (or population) capable of exhibiting a particular behaviour?
74
Question to ask yourself regarding Adaptation?
Why is this behaviour so beneficial to an individual, within its own lifetime, that we commonly observe the trait throughout the population?

ECO3A: Individs, Popns, Commun (11 decks)

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