Intro to behavioural ecology

Question 1

What are the two questions asked in behavioural ecology?

Answer 1

• Proximate questions - How?
• Ultimate questions - Why?
• How and why a behaviour occurs
• Refered to as two different levels of analysis

Question 2

What does a proximate question look at?

Answer 2

• How?
• Causation (mechansim)
• Development (ontogeny)

Question 3

What does ontogeny refer to?

Answer 3

Development

Question 4

What do ultimate questions look at?

Answer 4

• Why?
• Evolution (phylogeny)
• Function (selection)

Question 5

Who came up with the proximate and ultimate theory?

Answer 5

Tinbergen

Question 6

Red squirrel example for asking questions about behaviour.

Proximate / Ultimate

Answer 6

• Red squirrels stash nuts (Causation - mechansim)
• Instinct and learning for hiding the nuts (Development - ontogeny)
• Ancestors may have piled nuts and eat them, developed into stashing (Evolution - Phylogeny)
• Individuals that store nuts are more likely to survive winter and reproduce. the behaviour is then passed onto offspring and selected for (Fucntion - Selection)

Question 7

How Tinbergen tested mechanistic proximate hypothesis

Bee Wolf

Answer 7

• Female bee wolf (wasp)
• Underground nest
• Hunts bees and takes them back to her nest
• How does she find her nest after leaving it?
• Circles nest when leaving - hypothesis: She is mesmerising landmarks?
• Test: Set up nests in a circle of pine cones - moved pinecones once females leaves - she cannot find her nest when she returns showing that she mesmerises landmarks

Question 8

How did Tinbergen test an Ultimate hypothesis?

Egg shell in bird nest

Answer 8

• Egg shell removal by parent birds
• White inside makes them more visible to predators
• Egg shell removal has survival benefits.
• Tinbergen set up experiments with shells and nests - shells at different distances from nest
• Closer to nest = greater chance of nests being predated by crows
• Supports hypothesis

Question 9

4 steps in the scientific method

Answer 9

1. Ask a question about an observed behaviour
2. Establish a hypothesis to potentially explain what has been seen
3. Set up predictions based on the hypothesis
4. Test these predictions by gathering appropriate data (field observations, experiments etc.)

Question 10

What is anting in blue jays and what are the suggested hypothesis?

Answer 10

Blue jays will lay in ants best and spread themselves into the nest, ants will climb over the nest and spray their defensive formic acid over them

Hypothesis 1: Kills parasites in feathers
Hypothesis 2: Makes ants more palatable (less formic acid)

Question 11

Evolutionary history of behavioural traits: Number of origins

Evolution of swarming, eusociality and nectar transfer in bees

Answer 11

Subfamilies of apidae
Apinae
Bombinae
Meliponinae
Euglossine

Apinae, Bombinae, Meliponinae ← all eusocial - care for young cooperatively. Individuals can’t exist on their own

Euglossine - solitary bees

Apinae & Meliponinae ← swarm
Colonies split into two separate colonies

Apinae & Meliponinae ← nectar transfer
Receiver and forager individuals
Example of task partitioning

Phylogenies of the apidae bees are not entirely know yet - find most parsimonious outcome