Behavioral Ecology

Behavior

change in activity of an organism in response to a stimulus

Behavioral biology

the study of the biological and evolutionary bases for changes in behavior

ethology

biological study of animal behavior

innate behavior

instinctual behavior that is not altered by changes in the environment

ex) a bird’s song

learned behaviors

behavior that responds to changes in environment

ex) when a bird sings

reflex action

action in response to direct physical stimulation of a nerve

ex) knee-jerk of taps on patella tendon

kinesis

undirected movement of an organism in response to a stimulus

ex) insect moves more rapidly when temperature is high

taxis

directed movement in response to a stimulus

ex) moth being attracted to light at night

fixed action pattern

series of instinctual behaviors that, once initiated, always goes to completion regardless of changes in the environment

ex) stickle-back fish attacking color red

ex) goose egg rolling

migration

long-range seasonal movement of animal species

signals

method of communication between animals including those obtained by the senses of smell, hearing, sight, or touch

courtship displays

visual display used to attract a mate

aggressive display

visual display by a species member to discourage other members of the same species or different species

distraction displays

visual display used to distract predators away from a nesting site

kin selection

sacrificing one's own fitness so that one's genes will be passed on to future generations by relatives

intersexual selection

selection of a desirable mate of the opposite sex

intrasexual selection

competition between members of the same sex for a mate

monogamy

mating system whereby one male and one female remain coupled for at least one mating season

polygyny

mating system where one male mates with many females

polyandry

mating system where one female mates with many males

habituation

ability of a species to ignore repeated stimuli that have no consequence

imprinting

identification of parents by newborns as the first organism they see after birth

conditioned behavior

behavior that becomes associated with a specific stimulus through conditioning

classical conditioning

association of a specific stimulus and response through conditioning

ex) Pavlov dog experiment

operant conditioning

learned behaviors in response to positive and/or negative reinforcement

ex) dog training

cognitive learning

knowledge and skills acquired by the manipulation of information in the mind

ex) rats solving mazes, crows solving multi-step puzzles for food

Ernst Mayr

described two general categories of questions related to biological causation of behaviors

proximate causation

understanding external and internal stimuli causing a behavior

ultimate causation

understanding value of behavior for survival/reproduction (fitness)

animal communication

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

deceitful communication

signaler is attempting to exploit the receiver; success is negative frequency-dependent

ex) hognose snake playind dead to avoid being eaten

animal navigation

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

piloting

use of familiar landmarks

compass orientation

movement that is oriented in a specific direction

true navigation

ability to locate a specific place on Earth’s specific

circadian clock

an internal mechanism that maintains a 24-hour activity rhythm or cycle

territory

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

altruism

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

Br > C

Model for spread of altruistic allele (Hamilton's Rule) \n B= benefit to recipient \n r= coefficient of relatedness \n C= cost of altruism

direct fitness

derived from generating offspring

indirect fitness

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

inclusive fitness

direct + indirect fitness

delayed direct benefits

the production of offspring in the future; possible explanation for acting altruistically toward non-relatives

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reciprocal altruism

when individuals reciprocate altruistic behaviors toward each other; possible explanation for sacrificing fitness to help another individual