Chapter 50: Behavioral Ecology

Behavior

Action; a response to a stimulus.

Organismal Ecology

The study of how organisms interact with their physical and biological environments.

Behavioral Ecology

Study of the behavioral adaptations that evolved in response to ecological selection pressures; a subset of organismal ecology.

Proximate Causation

Explains HOW actions occur

-In terms of genetics, neurological, hormonal, and skeletal-muscular mechanisms involved.

Ultimate Causation

(also known as EVOLUTIONARY CAUSATION) Explains WHY actions occur

• based on evolutionary consequences and history; behavior is like any other phenotype that can evolve by natural selection.

Innate Behavior

Genetically inherited behavior that tends to be inflexible to environmental changes.

• doesnt require learning

Fixed-Action Patterns (FAPs)

Highly inflexible, stereotypical, innate behavior patterns (e.g., sneezing, yawning in humans, jump-back behavior in kangaroo rats).

Learning

An adaptive behavioral strategy in changing enviroments; an enduring change in behavior that results from a specific experience.

Foraging

Food-seeking behavior.

Optimal Foraging

Hypothesis that animals MAXIMIZE their feeding efficiency which INCREASES reproduction and higher fitness.

• If animals maximize benefits and minimize costs, they
  will have more time and energy for reproduction and
  higher fitness

Monogamy

One female mates with one male, forming a pair bond.

(ex. bald eagles, swans, humans, sandhill cranes, osprey)

Polygamy

One individual of one sex mates with two or more individuals of the opposite sex.

(ex. MALE with multiple FEMALES: red deer, elephant seals, horses, gorillas, humans

FEMALE with multiple MALES: honeybees, sandpipers, crickets, humans)

Promiscuity

Males and females each have two or more sexual partners.

(ex.cuttlefish, ladybugs, snowshoe hares, humans, bonobos )

Sexual Selection

Favors individuals possessing traits that INCREASE ability to obtain mates.

Intersexual Selection

When an individual of one sex CHOOSES an individual of another sex as a mate.

Intrasexual Selection

Two individuals of the same sex COMPETE with one another for mates.

Piloting

Movement using visual cues and familiar landmarks.

• useful along short distances

• Some species of migratory birds and mammals: offspring seem to memorize the route by following their parents south in the fall and north in the spring

Compass Orientation

Movement oriented in a specific direction.

• using Earth’s magnetic field, chemical cues, or sounds

• using Sun or stars

True Navigation

Movement based on the ability to locate a specific place on Earth’s surface.

Communication

Any process in which a SIGNAL from one individual modifies the behavior of another individual.

Altruism

Concern for the well-being of others; Decreases an individual’s ability to produce offspring but helps others produce more offspring

• PARADOXICAL

Kin Selection

Natural selection of a behavior that may decrease the chance of survival for an individual but increases that of their kin (who share a proportion of their genes).

ex) black-tailed prairie dogs perform a risky behavior called alarm calling

Hamilton's Rule and 3 Conditions

Br > C; alleles associated with altruistic behavior will be favored by natural selection

1. fitness benefits of altruistic behavior are high for the recipient (B is high)

2. Altruist and recipient are close relatives (r is high

3. Fitness costs to the altruist are low (C is low).

Direct Fitness

Fitness derived from an individual’s own offspring.

Indirect Fitness

Fitness derived from helping relatives produce more offspring than they could produce on their own.

Inclusive Fitness

Combination of direct and indirect fitness components.

Reciprocal Altruism

Exchange of fitness benefits separated in time.

Cooperation

When cooperation occurs among individuals of the SAME species

Mutualism

When cooperation occurs among individuals of DIFFERENT species.

self-sacrificing alleles

individuals die and do NOT reproduce

• cannot evolve by natural selection

biology of consolation behavior

Neurons in your brain process sensory information and cause changes:
▪ Brain signals adrenal glands to produce cortisol
▪ Neural signals in pituitary signal hormone oxytocin

type of consolation behavior

speaking softly, physical caresses

consolation behavior in prairie voles

voles lick/groom group members after stressful event - but not strangers

what stronger social bonds lead to

Higher evolutionary fitness

• increased health

• increased access to resources

• decreased vulnerability to threats

density of rover allele

HIGH population density

• They are more likely to find unused food patches

Density of sitter allele

LOW population density

• They do NOT waste energy searching for food

arctic fur seals and optimal foraging

optimize foraging by adjusting the duration and location of each dive dependent upon prey density

bumblebees and optimal foraging

optimize their flight paths among flowers to minimize the overall distance traveled while foraging

2 types of sexual selection

intersexual selection and intrasexual selection

Direct benefits

Protection and food

Indirect benefits

“good alleles” given to offspring

Hypotheses of Compass Orientation

1. Animals’ visual systems: chemical reaction that
   involves electron transfer among molecules

2. Small particles of magnetic iron - the mineral called magnetite

Why animals migrate

Increasing reproductive success and increasing access to food

How honeybees communicate

Do a waggle dance that contains info about food location

• Length of the waggle run
  proportional to the food
  distance

• Direction of waggle run
  correlated with direction of
  food source from the hive

• Direction of food source
  communicated relative to the
  current position of the Sun

Deceitful communication (lying)

Individuals sometimes increase their fitness by providing inaccurate or
misleading information

• SAME or DIFFERENT species

examples of deceitful communication

• Male cuttlefish flash courtship displays on side facing female, but
  then mimics a female on the other side facing rival male

• Hognose snakes play dead when perturbed by a predator

selfish alleles

individuals survive and reproduce