Behavioral Ecology

behavior

what an animal does and how it does it

ethology

the study of animal behavior

behavioral ecology

study of adaptive significance of behavior

proximate cause

immediate cause of the response

ultimate cause

the reason the behavior exists/its adaptive value

Innate (Instinct) behaviors; example

developmentally fixed , not modified by environment. Exist when there are few opportunities to learn; Cliff edge avoidance in kittiwakes, nestling gaping behavior, sea turtle hatching orientation, hunting behavior in cats.

fixed action pattern(FAP)

A sequence of innate behaviors that cannot be stopped once started.

Sign stimulus

The stimulus that starts the FAP

yawning

signals a phisiological change

super-normal stimulus

prefer an excessive stimulus to the normal stimulus.

learning

modification of behavior resulting from specific experiences

habituation

organisms learn to ignore repeated stimuli. The “cry-wolf” effect

Associative Learning

Behavior is conditioned by association. Two types differ in how the association is established.

Classical conditioning

An involuntary response is associated positively or negatively with a stimulus that did not originally elicit the response; for example, pavlov’s dog.

operantconditioning

trial and error learning. Behavior is reinforced by a reward or punishment. An example is Toads eventually learning not to strike at stinging insects

Cognitive learning

solving problems with conscious thought (perception, analysis, judgement, recollection, imagination). Ecamples are chimpanzee stacking boxed to reach higher or Crows solving problems.

Displacement Behaviors; Why?

A normal behavior (eating, grooming, etc.) occurring at an odd time; for example; Cat grooming itself after a failed hunt/ accident. Birds will often stop to preen in the middle of fight.; Internal conflicts… stress… wants to do something but can’t.

Filial Imprinting

The recognition, response, and attachment of young to a particular adult or object and usually irreversible. Ducks and geese can imprint on humans( whatever they see first).

Sensitive Period

A limited phase during development where imprinting takes place

Playing

usually young individuals. often, it is practicing certain behaviors that may be important later in life.

Migration

seasonal movements of populations between different geographic areas

why migrate?

to find better areas for feeding and breeding

Zugnruhe

Migratory restlessness. Anxious behavior in migratory animals

Navigation

knowing where you are and where you want to go

piloting

moving from one familiar landmark to the next

orientation

identifying and following compass directions

displaced european starlings

adults can orient and navigate; juveniles can only orient and must learn to navigate

Celestial navigation

general direction. orient toward sun during day, not star at night

Toographic features

coastline, mountain ranges, prevailing wind directions

olfaction

odors are used by many seabirds to find nesting colonies and their own nests within a colony

anosmia

‘smell blindess’

earth’s magnetic field; a; b; c

birds appear to use both the angle and the intensity of magnetic field lines; Birds can only sense magnetic field if can oly sense changes in inclination not sensitive to declination; detect disturbances less than 1/1000  the strength of the earths field

magnetite-based model

Magnetite in the beak or eyes are connected to brain nerves

radical pair-based model

A pair of molecules in the back of the eye have interacting electrons that can be affected by magnetic fields, which could lead to differences in photoreceptor cells. Perhaps migratory birds can see the Earth’s magnetic field in different colors or shades?

Why do some birds fly in a v formation?

a. Might help with communication

b. Reduce wind resistance (drafting)

Murmuration; why?

fly in densely-packed, swooping flocks through the sky; defense against Aerial predators

Evolutionarily stable strategies

An inherited behavior/strategy that yields the best fitness as long as most/ all members of the population adopt it

Optimal Foraging theory

selection favors foraging/feeding behavior that is as efficient as possible

kept-parasitism

stealing food from another individual

territorial behavior

benefits of excluding use must outweig the cost of defending it. Territoriality occurs at intermediate levels of resource availability and quality

parent-offspring conflict

parents care only until offspring independent; after that, they are just competition

Nest parisitism

Parents forego all parental duties and force another bird species to raise their young. Found in Old World Cuckoos and New World Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Sibling rivalry

Competition among siblings for limited parental resources

siblicide

killing sibilings as a way to gain access to all of the parental resources

why animals cooperate

more successful than working alone

reciprocal altruism

Acting in a way that reduces your fitness, but benefits another’s fitness with expectation that the other individual will reciprocate in the future. Ex. Unrelated Vampire bats sharing blood meals

Inclusive fitness

your fitness plus the fitness of you’re genetic relatives

kin selection

behaviors or strategies that help your genetic relatives survive, even if reduces fitness for you

Haploidiploidy

Example of Kin selection. Bees have Diploid Females and Haploid males. Sisters ( the workers Bees) are more closely related to r each other (75%) than they would be to their own offspring (only 50%). Beacuse 75% is greater than 50%, Worker bees help their sisters raise more sisters rather than mate and have their own offspring

Toxoplasmosis

(Cat litter box disease)/ Caused by a protist infection(Toxoplasma gondii). Makes rates and mice less fearful of open spaces and attracted to Cat during. Tis increases the probability that the rat or mouse will be eaten by a Ca, which is the host where T.g can reproduce sexually. Common infection inhumansl; but must avoid if pregnant

Baculovirus

Gypsy Moth virus that causes the caterpillars to crawl to the top of a tree, die, and kind of ‘melt’ to release virus particles downward that infect other Gypsy Moth Caterpillars/

Intomophaga

E. maimaiga is a fungus that infect and kills the gypsy moth caterpillar.Infected caterpillars crawl down the tree trunk, head-first, where they die and become dry and crusty.