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87 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is Behavioural Ecology?
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The study of the relationship between behaviour, ecology and evolution.
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What criteria must be in place for Natural Selection to occur?
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Competition for resources
Heritable Traits Variation |
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What are Tinburgen's 4 why's?
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1. Function- The contribution and value the behaviour has to fitness
2. Mechanism- How the behaviour is achieved (genetics) 3. Development- How the behaviour is developed (imprinting, learning etc) 4. Evolution- Where has the behaviour come from/ how has it evolved in the species. |
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What is meant by an 'Ultimate' factor?
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The survival value of the behaviour
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What is meant by a 'Proximate' factor?
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The immediate causation of a behaviour
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Who came up with Group Selection, what year, and what is the theory?
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Wynne-Edwards, 1964. Group Selection theorises that individuals will act for the 'good of the species' and traits will be adapted that reflect this, such as restricting the birth rate so as not to over-exploit limited resources.
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Who came up with Individual Selection, what year and what is the theory?
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Willams (1966) and Dawkins (1989). Individual Selection suggests that individuals will act 'selfishly' and adopt behaviours that are for the benefit of the individual rather than the group. Selfish animals will survive to reproduce and pass on their genes. Individuals reproduce as fast as they can (e.g. clutch sizes of great tit eggs in Wytham woods)
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What is meant by an Evolutionary Stable Strategy?
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A strategy which, if adopted by a population, cannot be invaded by a mutant strategy
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Which is the ESS, Group Selection or Individual Selection and why?
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Individual Selection is the ESS and Group Selection can be invaded by selfish individuals but not vice versa.
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Who coined the term 'inclusive fitness'?
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Hamilton, 1964.
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What is the equation for Inclusive Fitness?
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Direct Fitness+ Indirect Fitness= Inclusive Fitness
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What is the equation for the Coefficient of Relatedness?
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r= 0.5 (L) where L= the number of generation links between the two individuals concerned.
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Which method is usually used to study fitness: Direct or Indirect?
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Indirect e.g. Clutch/ Brood size
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What is Lifetime Reproductive Success?
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The total number of offspring produced by an individual that survive to breeding age.
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What example of LRS is most commonly used?
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The Red Deer
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What is the cooperation enigma?
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The fact that Natural Selection suggests that all individuals should act selfishly, yet cooperation within populations and species still exists.
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What is Kin Selection?
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Cooperative behaviour expressed towards related individuals
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Who proposed Kin Selection?
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Hamilton & Maynard-Smith, 1964.
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What is Hamilton' Rule and how does it apply to Kin Selection?
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rB>C The relatedness of the individual that Benefits must be higher than the costs. For an altruistic behaviour to spread via Kin Selection, Hamilton's rule must be met.
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What are 'helpers at the nest'? Give an example
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Individuals which, instead of leaving to breed themselves, instead remain at the 'nest' to help raise siblings. For example, Florida Scrub Jays or Silver backed Jackals
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What are plural breeders? Give an example
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Several males and females raise a communal nest together. E.g. Splendid Fairy Wren
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What does Eusociality mean?
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Sterility in large numbers of individuals which help others raise their offspring. Largely seen in colony species.
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What may Eusocial species develop?
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Mophological and behavioural adaptations which create sterile specialized castes
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What is the definition of 'Obligate'?
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The individual is completely sterile and is not capable of breeding
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What is the definition of 'Totipotent'?
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Individuals have the capability to breed but don't, potentially due to limited resources or to suppression by the dominance hierarchy.
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What is Parental Manipulation?
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Parents produce offspring which are sterile in order for them to help raising the next generation (their siblings).
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What is Trophallaxis?
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Food sharing- seen in Vampire bats.
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What are the three main types of cooperation between unrelated individuals?
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1) Mutualism- Both individuals gain/benefit as a result of cooperative behaviour (e.g. Clients & Cleaner fish or Pied Wagtails)
2) Manipulation/ Coercion- Tricking or forcing another individual into cooperating. Sometimes seen in primates 3) Reciprocity- the act of cooperating with another for that individual to reciprocate the behaviour later. |
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What is Reciprocity?
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Carrying out a cooperative behaviour or act for it to be reciprocated/returned at a later date
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What is the prisoners dilemma and what theory is it associated with?
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(Axelrod & Hamilton, 1981) Where an individual cannot make the best decision without first knowing what the other will do. Cooperative behaviour- it can only be an ESS if there are some safeguards against cheating.
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What is meant by 'Tit for Tat'?
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Individuals stuck in a 'Prisoner's Dilemma' should behave in a tit for tat manner- cooperate the first time and subsequently act as the other did.
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How can 'Tit for Tat' evolve when 'defect' is the ESS?
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First evolves between related individuals and then to unrelated individuals through observation of reciprocation of cooperation.
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Who studied cooperation in Three Spined Sticklebacks?
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Milinski (1987)
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What alternative theory for cooperation did Nowak & Sigmund (1993) propose?
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Win stay, lose shift
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The optimal behaviour required to maximise fitness depends on which 2 factors?
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1) Ecological Circumstances
2) Behaviour of other individuals |
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Name three behaviours that need to be optimised for increased fitness
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1) Sexual Behaviour-
How to search for a mate? How to choose a mate? 2) Feeding Behaviour- Where to search for food? What type of food to eat? 3) Territorial Behaviour- Defend territory or not? What size territory to defend? |
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What species is commonly used to demonstrate optimal foraging theory?
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Shore Crabs feeding on mussles. (Elner & Hughes, 1978)
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What are individuals trying to gain by foraging optimally?
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A Net Profit of Energy over cost
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What is a curve of diminishing returns?
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The net gain is diminished the longer an individual spends foraging in a patch
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What is marginal value theorem and who developed it?
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Individuals should use prior knowledge of patch resources to decide whether or not to move onto a new patch.
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What is resource exploitation?
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An individual exploits the habitat which gives the most reward
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Who proposed the 'Ideal-Free Distribution' Theorum?
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Fretwell (1972)
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What are the definitions of 'Ideal' and 'Free' in terms of the Ideal-Free Distribution?
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Ideal- The animals are ideal in that they have complete knowledge and information about availability of resources
Free- The animals are free to go to the patch that will yield the highest prey rewards |
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What is the Ideal-Free Distribution Theorum?
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As more individuals arrive at a patch, the patch becomes depleted of resources until it becomes just as good, or beneficial for new individuals to go straight to a poorer patch.
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What is the Ideal-Despotic Distribution Theorum?
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That individuals arriving first at the best patches will 'settle' or set up territories. As subsequent individuals arrive, they are forced to settle in the poorer patches.
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How is the Ideal-Despotic Distribution Theory different to the Ideal-Free Distribution Theory?
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Unlike the Ideal-Free, the average reward differs between patches in the Ideal-Despotic theory
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What is Interference?
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When one individual acts in such a way as to decline the resource use or exploitation of its competitor. e.g. Leaving scent markings to confuse the other.
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Name two forms of competition
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1) Expolitation (i.e. The Ideal-Free Distribution)
2) Resource Defence (i.e. Territories & Ideal-Despotic Distribution) |
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When do most animals defend their territories?
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During the breeding season
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Give the definitions of the terms 'home-range' and 'territory'
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Home Range: an area over which an animal travels regularly in search of food or mates
Territory: The area over which an animal exerts control through competition |
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Why does territory size usually decrease with increased resources?
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Increased resources = more competition
More competition = more energy expenditure on defence of territory It is easier to defend smaller territories due to less competition, but must still have enough resources to support the individual. Territory size is positively correlated with body size. |
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What usually happens when a male defending a resource rich territory dies?
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Young males move in and occupy the territory or the empty territory is shared between current males who expand their respective territories
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Define the term 'Dominant'
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Having power, controller or influence over others
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Define the term 'Subordinate'
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Being influenced or controlled by another individual
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What is an 'Honest Assessment'?
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An assessment of an opponent prior to fighting which determines whether they are equally matched- e.g. body size (this cannot be cheated or exaggerated)
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Who proposed the idea of 'Sequential Assessment'?
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Enquist & Leimar, 1983
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What is the theory of Sequential Assessment?
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Opponents will start with the least costly behaviour (Roaring, assessment of body size) and then proceed to the more costly behaviours if one opponent does not back down.
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What are the three hypothesis that attempt to explain why a territory holder almost always wins when challenged?
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1) Resident always wins
2) Territory holders are larger 3) Payoff Asymmetry Hypothesis |
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What is the Payoff Asymmetry Hypothesis?
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The idea that there is asymmetrical value of the territory- the current resident will lose more than the intruder and so will fight harder.
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Who proposed 'Game Theory'?
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Maynard-Smith
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What are the two components of Game Theory?
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Hawks (always fight) and Doves (always run away)
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What ratio of Hawks to Doves gives an Evolutionary Stable Strategy in Game Theory?
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7:5
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What is the Bourgeois strategy?
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Residents should adopt the 'Hawk' strategy and intruders should adopt the 'Dove' strategy
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What are the three mating strategies used by the Ruff?
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Territorial Males- Typical males which display to attract females
Satellite Males- Less 'attractive' males which join territorial male leks for the chance of mating. Female Mimics- Males which have the morphological appearance of females. |
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What are winner and loser effects?
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Winner effects- Those who win an encounter are more likely to keep winning
Loser effects- Those who lose an encounter are likely to continue losing. Winner effects eventually decreases over time but loser effects remain constant |
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What is the Eavesdropping/Bystander effect?
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Individuals can learn from watching others engage in aggressive encounters and use this knowledge in future encounters.
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What is the Audience effect?
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Individuals change their displays and fighting behaviours if they are being observed by audiences. The behaviours/displays also depend on the sex of the audience.
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What are badges of status?
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Honest signals that denote the dominance and condition of an individual.
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What is Anisogamous sex?
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Sexual reproduction which involves one gamete being significantly larger than the other.
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What is Sexual Dimorphism?
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When the males and females of a species have very different phenotypes as a result of sexual selection
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What is Inter-Sexual Selection?
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Traits or features that are developed to help attract members of the opposite sex e.g. Ruffs, Colours
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What is Intra-Sexual Selection?
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Traits or features that are developed to assist with competition with others of the same sex over access to mates e.g. Antlers
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What is Sperm Competition? |
Competition between the sperm of two or more males inside the genital tract of a female for the fertilisation of an ova during a single breeding period |
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What are the three types of Sperm Competition? |
1) Morphology/ Count 2) Insemination Behaviour 3) Preventative Behaviour |
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What is the affect of Sperm count/Morphology? |
Males with smaller sperm will produce more- more likely to fertilize the egg. Males will produce more sperm where the females are promiscuous This results in a trade-off between sperm size and quantity |
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What is the meant by insemination behaviours? |
Males develop highly elaborate penises in order to ensure that it is their sperm that fertilises the egg. The most elaborate are the Ordata.
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Give some examples of Insemination behaviours |
Penises designed to 'scrape out' previous males sperm. Designed to 'pack' sperm in Male Dunnocks peck at the females to make them eject the previous males sperm |
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What is the 'Last male precedent'? |
The theory that the last male to mate with a female will most likely be the father of the largest proportion of offspring |
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What is a preventative behaviour? |
A behaviour or method employed by the males to prevent the female they have copulated with from mating with any other males |
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Give some examples of preventative behaviours |
Copulatory Plugs Chemical 'Chastity Belts' Anti-aphrodisiac |
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Who proposed the idea of 'Kamakaze sperm' and what does the theory state? |
Baker & Bellis Some sperm are abnormally formed. Some aid in formation of copulatory plugs. Others actively seek out and destroy 'foreign' sperm |
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What is Cryptic female choice? |
Where the female somehow chooses to reject a males sperm or destroy a fertilised egg. Occurs: Between mating and fertilisation After fertilisation |
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What is Fisher's 'Runaway' hypothesis? |
Females that mate with males who show an elaborate trait, will produce sons with the trait and daughters with a preference for that trait. Females produce 'sexy sons'. The trait will keep increasing through the generations |
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What is Fisher's Fundamental Theorum? |
The most important traits will not experience much heritable variation. This causes problems as variation and adaptation are necessary in some cases- disease resistance. |
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What is Zahavi's Handicap hypothesis? |
Costly, elaborate traits are used by females as an example of that individuals ability to survive- they have this costly trait but are still able to survive. They are not a 'side effect' of female preference, as in Fishers model. Males only advertise this costly trait when they are in good condition. Examples: Elephants, GCN's, Flamingos. |
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Explain the Hamilton-Zuk parasite hypothesis |
The expression of elaborate male traits is associated with parasite resistance. Females will choose males with certain traits in order to enhance resistance to parasites. These traits undergo variation due to the fact that the parasite and host coevolve. |
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Who has investigated the effect of Barn Swallow streamers on mating success? |
Moller- Barn Swallows and Parasite resistance Rowe et al - Barn Swallows, tail streamers and manoeuvrability |
