Ecology Unit 3

Beetle Larvae Growth

Understanding why beetle larvae grow big even before becoming beetles.

Costs of Transitioning

Examining the costs of transitioning now versus later in life.

Reproduction Timing

Exploring why some organisms delay reproduction until later stages.

Trade-off in Reproduction

Analyzing the trade-off between reproduction time and producing larger offspring.

Female Fruit Flies Lifespan

Explaining the shorter lifespan of female fruit flies compared to virgin females.

Reproduction Cost

Recognizing that reproduction comes with significant costs.

Optimal Breeding Size

Selecting for larger size if breeding in a small size is more costly.

Natural Selection Misconception

Clarifying that natural selection favors survival of individuals, not the species.

Foraging Theory Layers

Understanding the multi-layer application of foraging theory.

Seed Hiding Strategy

Investigating how marsh tits strategically hide seeds to prevent theft.

Optimal Seed Spacing

Hypothesizing and predicting the optimal distance for seed spacing to prevent theft.

Constraints on Foraging

Exploring extrinsic and intrinsic constraints on optimal foraging behavior.

Rescorla Wagner Model

Predicting the strength of association based on stimulus changes, not stimulus value.

Delayed Food Rewards

Understanding how delay duration and color association affect food rewards in pigeons.

Discounting Functions

Comparing spatial and temporal discounting functions in tamarins and marmosets.

Life History Allocation

Allocating resources to maximize fitness based on life history theory assumptions.

Reproductive Value

Calculating reproductive value as current output plus future output.

Life History Traits

Examining age or stage-specific traits in an organism's life history.

Optimal Reproduction Timing

Deciding when to reproduce based on current circumstances and trade-offs.

Plasticity in Traits

Understanding how organisms express different traits in response to environmental variation.

Altruistic Behavior

Behavior that reduces an individual's fitness while increasing the fitness of another individual or individuals.

Group Selection

The concept that populations with high levels of altruism will outcompete selfish populations due to less conflict.

Kin Selection

The theory that genes promoting altruistic behaviors towards relatives will increase in frequency.

Population Ecology

The study of characteristics, growth, and dynamics of populations beyond individual organisms.

Survivorship Curves

Graphs that track mortality rates in populations, categorized into Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 curves.

Age Structure

The graphical representation of the distribution of individuals in different age classes within a population.

Feeding Constraint Hypothesis

The explanation that young nestlings in an asynchronous brood starve because parents bring back food that is too large for them to consume efficiently.