51

Front 1

Proximate questions

Back 1

How Q's?
What is the mechanistic basis for the behavior?
How does development affect the behavior?

Front 2

Ultimate questions

Back 2

Why Q's
What is the evolutionary history of the behavior?
How does the behavior contribute to survival and
reproduction?

Front 3

eusocial insects

Back 3

sisters are more closely related to each other than they are
to their own offspring

Front 4

kinesis

Back 4

Directed movement
- not oriented, change in frequency in response to stimulus

Front 5

taxis

Back 5

Directed movement - oriented movement towards or away from stimulus

Front 6

Altruism

Back 6

Behavior that reduces individual fitness but increase the fitness of other individuals in the population

Front 7

Hamilton’s rule

Back 7

B . r > C
B: benefit
r: relatedness
C: cost

Front 8

ethology

Back 8

The study of animal behavior in natural conditions.

Front 9

fixed action pattern (FAP)

Back 9

sequence of behavioral acts that is essentially unchangeable and usually carried to completion once initiated.

Front 10

sign stimulus

Back 10

An external sensory stimulus that triggers a fixed action pattern.

Front 11

imprinting

Back 11

learned behavior with a significant innate component, acquired during a limited critical period.

Front 12

sensitive period

Back 12

A limited phase in an individual animal′s development when learning of particular behaviors can take place.

Front 13

signal

Back 13

A behavior that causes a change in behavior in another animal.

Front 14

promiscuous

Back 14

A type of relationship in which mating occurs with no strong pair–bonds or lasting relationships.

Front 15

monogamous

Back 15

A type of relationship in which one male mates with just one female.

Front 16

polygamous

Back 16

A type of relationship in which an individual of one sex mates with several of the other.

Front 17

polygyny

Back 17

A polygamous mating system involving one male and many females.

Front 18

polyandry

Back 18

A polygamous mating system involving one female and many males.

Front 19

agonistic behavior

Back 19

A type of behavior involving a contest of some kind that determines which competitor gains access to some resource, such as food or mates.

Front 20

altruism

Back 20

Behavior that reduces an individual′s fitness while increasing the fitness of another individual.

Front 21

inclusive fitness

Back 21

The total effect individual has on proliferating its genes by producing offspring and enabling close relatives to produce offspring

Front 22

kin selection

Back 22

A phenomenon of inclusive fitness, used to explain altruistic behavior between related individuals.

Front 23

reciprocal altruism

Back 23

Altruistic behavior between unrelated individuals

Front 24

social learning

Back 24

Modification of behavior through the observation of other individuals.

Front 25

sociobiology

Back 25

The study of social behavior based on evolutionary theory.

Front 26

habituation

Back 26

a type of learning that leads to a decrease in response to a stimulus

Front 27

operant conditioning

Back 27

learning associated with reward or punishment

Front 28

classical conditioning

Back 28

learning to associate a stimulus with a particular outcome

Front 29

species diversity

Back 29

The number and relative abundance of species in a biological community.

Front 30

species richness

Back 30

The number of species in a biological community.

Front 31

relative abundance

Back 31

Differences in the abundance of different species within a community.

Front 32

trophic structure

Back 32

"The different feeding relationships in an ecosystem, which determine the route of energy flow and the pattern of chemical cycling. "

Front 33

food chain

Back 33

"The pathway along which food is transferred from trophic level to trophic level, beginning with producers. "

Front 34

food web

Back 34

"The elaborate, interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem. "

Front 35

energetic hypothesis

Back 35

The concept that the length of a food chain is limited by the inefficiency of energy transfer along the chain. Predicts that food chains should be relatively longer in habitats of higher photosynthetic productivity

Front 36

dynamic stability hypothesis

Back 36

The idea that long food chains are less stable than short chains. Predicts that food chains should be shorter in unpredictable environments

Front 37

dominant species

Back 37

Those species in a community that have the highest abundance or highest biomass. These species exert a powerful control over the occurrence and distribution of other species.

Front 38

biomass

Back 38

The dry weight of organisms in a particular habitat.

Front 39

invasive species

Back 39

A species that takes hold outside of its native range; usually introduced by humans.

Front 40

keystone species

Back 40

A species that exerts strong control on community structure by the nature of its ecological role or niche.

Front 41

Foundation Species

Back 41

cause physical changes in the environment that affect the structure of the community

Front 42

facilitator

Back 42

A species that has a positive effect on the survival and reproduction of other species in a community

Front 43

biomanipulation

Back 43

Reduces algae by manipulating the higher–level consumers