1. Chapter 51: Behavioral Ecology
How behavior develops, evolves, & contributes to survival & reproductive success
Ethology
Study of animal behavior (in the animal’s natural environment)
Behavior
What an animal does & how the animal does it
Cause of behavior
Proximate
Environmental trigger for behavior as well as genetic, physiological, & anatomical mechanism for the act
“how”
Ultimate
Addresses evolutionary significance for behavior
“why”

2. Types of behavior Instinct Inherited behavior; developmentally fixed
Examples:
Directional movements
Kinesis- change in activity or rate in response to a stimulus (ex. sow bugs more active in humidity)
Taxis- oriented movement toward or away from a stimulus (ex. Trout face current)
Migration (ex. Migratory restlessness in blackcap birds)
Animal Signals & Communications
Signal=behavior that causes a change in another animal’s behavior
Communication= transmission of, reception of, & response to signals
visual
Tactile
electrical signals

3. Chemical
Releaser Pheromones- cause immediate behavior change
Primer pheromones- cause physiological change
Auditory
which communication is used is dependant on animal’s environment & lifestyle
Fixed Action Patterns
Sequence of unlearned, unchangeable behavioral acts carried out to completion once initiated
Triggered by sign stimulus (external sensory stimuli)
Ex. Male stickleback fish aggressively defends territory when triggered by red color

4. Imprinting
Behavior that involves learning & innate components & is irreversible
Sensitive period: Brief period in which behavior can be learned (typically from parent)
Ex. Graylag gosling accept any moving object as mother during 1st 2 days
Learning
Modification of behavior based on specific experiences
Habituation
loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no information
“cry-wolf” effect

5. Cognition & problem solving
Spatial Learning
Modification of behavior based on experience with spatial structure in the environment (location of nest, hazards, food, mates)
Use landmarks as location indicators
Cognitive maps
Internal representation/code of the spatial relationships between objects in an animal’s surroundings
Associate learning
Ability to associate one feature of the environment (stimulus) with another (the response it produced)
Classical conditioning- stimulus is associated with a reward or punishment
Operant conditioning/trial & error learning- animal associates one of its own behaviors with reward or punishment
Cognition & problem solving
Ability of an animal’s nervous system to perceive, store, process, & use information gathered by sensory receptors

6. **Natural Selection can act on behavior that has a genetic component
Behavioral Variation can exist in
prey selection
aggressive behavior
Parental care
Migratory patterns
**Natural selection most often acts on behaviors that increase survival & reproductive fitness….
Foraging behavior
Mating behavior & choice

7. Mating Behavior & Mate choice
Foraging Behavior
Optimal foraging theory
food obtaining behavior is a compromise between the benefits of nutrition & the cost of obtaining food
Costs include- energy expenditure, risk of own predation
Examples:
Northwestern crows flying up to break open shells of molluscs
Bluegill sunfish selecting larger vs. smaller crustaceans
Mule deer feeding in open areas vs. forest edges
Mating Behavior & Mate choice
Mating relationships
Promiscuous- no pair bonds
Monogamous- single pair bond; no dimorphism
Polygamous- sexual dimorphism
Polygyny- one male mating with several females; male ornamented
Polyandry- single female mating with several males; female ornamented
Need for parental care & certainty of paternity influence mating behavior

8. Sexual selection & mate choice
Intersexual selection
Female preference for a male mating behavior or anatomy influences that behavior or anatomical structure’s rate of occurrence
Female prefer traits that signal male quality/health
Intrasexual selection
Male competition for mates
Agnostic behavior- ritualized contest that determines which male gains access to the resource
Game Theory-
Different strategies effectiveness may vary based on environment & strategies of other individuals
Ex. Ispod Paracerceis sculpta alpha, beta, & gamma males; orange, yellow, & blue throat lizards

9. Social Behavior & altruism
“Selfish” behavior can be explained by natural selection
Altruism: selflessness; animal behaves in such a way that decreases its own fitness but increases the fitness of others in the population
Examples:
Belding’s ground squirrel’s alarm call
Worker bee sterility; sting & die
Naked mole rats protecting queen & kings
Inclusive fitness: total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes through its own offspring or through a relatives offspring
rB>C favors altruistic behavior where:
r= coefficient of relatedness
B= benefit to the altruistic behavior (average # offspring that will be produced as a result)
C= cost of altruistic behavior (average # of offspring that will not be produced as a result)

10. Social Learning Learning through observing others
Kin selection
Individual acts to enhance the reproductive success of relatives
improves the chance that genes the same as his/her own are passed on
Reciprocal altruism
Altruistic individual aids a non-relative with “hope” that the favor will be returned in the future
Found most often in highly social species in which “cheating” would lead to negative consequences
“tit for tat”
Social Learning
Learning through observing others
Culture: system of information transfer through social learning or teaching of individuals in a population
Example: Vervet monkey alarm calls
Sociobiology: study of human culture & its relationship to evolutionary biology