Behavioral Ecology Ms. Gaynor AP Biology

 Social behavior = the interaction among members of a population  Behavioral biology = study of what animals do when interacting with their environment  Behavior can be interpreted in terms of proximate causes (immediate interaction with the environment) or ultimate causes (evolutionary differences) Behavioral Ecology

Behavior  Ethology = study of animal behavior  Proximate cause = physiological & genetic mechanisms of behavior –Ask yourself “H O W is the behavior occurring?” Ex: hormones, light or temperature cues, environment signals  Ultimate cause = evolution ary significance of behavior –Ask yourself “WHY is the behavior occurring?” Protection, less competition, better mating, etc.

WHY? HOW?

 What is the proximate cause?  HOW is the behavior occurring? Colors and size of tail feathers allows peacock to attract mate  What is the ultimate cause?  WHY is the behavior occurring? The peacock wants a girl to reproduce with

1. Innate = behavior that is instinct or inherited (NOT LEARNED) EX: Care for offspring by female, suckling, mating 2. Fixed action pattern (FAP) = sequence of unlearned (innate) acts; unchangeable; carried to completion triggered by an external sensory stimulus or cue (called a sign stimulus ) Types of Behavior

 Sign stimulus = external sensory cue –Ex: 3-spined stickleback (Tinbergen ‘73 Nobel) –Female Wasps, their nests and pinecone/rocks Where is my nest?

 The graylag goose always retrieves an egg that has been bumped out of her nest in the same manner This is a fixed action pattern She carries this sequence to completion, even if the egg slips away during the process Get back here! logy/animations/ch30a01.htm

Types of Behavior Con’t Learning 3. Habituation = loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey no information; simple learning 4. Imprinting = limited learning within a specific time period called the critical (or sensitive) period 5. Associative learning: A. classical conditioning - reward/punishment behavior –Ex: fish tank, dogs and food B. operant conditioning - trial and error –Ex: Wolf and porcupine 6. Observational learning = imitating –EX: monkeys I’ll never do that again!

Classical Conditioning Examples

Table 37.4

 Imprinting : a behavior that includes both learning and innate (unlearned) components and is generally irreversible  This is distinguishable from other types of learning by having a sensitive period, a limited phase in an animal’s development that is the ONLY time when certain behaviors can be learned What is the proximate cause? What is the ultimate cause?

 How do young know on whom – or what – to imprint?  How do young geese know that they should follow the mother goose?  The tendency to respond is the innate behavior within the birds  The outside world provides the imprinting stimulus Wait up, mama!

Another Type of Behavior  Maturation = behavior due to developing physiological changes –Innate behavior that can not occur until a certain age/ maturation –Ex: Birds fly when they are physically able  ability to fly is innate I can fly now!

1. Kinesis = simplest type of animal movement random movement in response to a stimulus NO exact direction (NON-DIRECTIONAL) 2. taxis A more or less automatic movement DIRECTED toward (+ taxis) or away from (- taxis) some stimulus Examples include rheotaxis (current) chemotaxis, hydrotaxis and phototaxis 3. Some animals use landmarks to find their way within an area (Ex: whales, birds) 4. Migration= birds migration behavior is genetically programmed and inherited TYPES of ANIMAL MOVEMENT

Movement in a directed way enables animals to:  avoid predators  migrate to a more favorable environment  obtain food  find mates and nest sites

Examples of Directed Movements

Communication and Behavior TypeDescriptionEx ChemicalChemicals used called PHEROMONES Reproductively receptive female moths attract male moths – emit pheromones into air VisualVisual displays displays of aggression or during courtship Sickleback fish AuditorySounds used to communicate over long distances, through water, and at night. Whale songs Tactile Touching is common in social bonding, infant care, grooming, and mating. Wolves greet the dominant male in the pack by licking his muzzle.

Social behavior  Agonistic behavior ~ contest behavior determining access to resources  Dominance hierarchy ~ linear “pecking order”  Territoriality ~ an area an individual defends excluding others  Mating systems: –promiscuous ~ no strong pair bond –monogamous ~ one male/one female –polygamous ~ 1 with many polygyny ~ 1 male/many female polyandry ~ 1 female/many males

Altruistic behavior  THINK: “All in the family”  Behavior that is detrimental to the individual but favors the survival its relatives  WHY? –Spread of population’s genes –Ex: honey bees & wasps Queen, Worker (female), Drone (male  parthogenesis)