Chapter 43 Behavior Ecology

Behavior is any action that can be observed and described Behaviors have a genetic basis and environmental influences Experiments using lovebirds show that hybrids show intermediate nest building methods Feeding habits of two different garter snakes and their hybrids show a genetic basis

Fig Percentage of Snakes Inland garter snake does not eat slugs. Coastal garter snake eats slugs. inland coastal Tongue Flicks per Minute Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. (Coastal): © John Sullivan/Monica Rua/Ribbitt Photography; (Inland): © R. Andrew Odum/Peter Arnold, Inc.

Maternal behavior in mice depends on gene called fosB When mothers first inspect their young, information sent to hypothalamus fosB alleles are activated and a particular protein is produced End result is a change in neural circuitry in hypothalamus and causes good maternal behavior Mice that lack good maternal behavior also lack fosB alleles so hypothalamus does not activate any enzymes and other genes for good mother behavior Originally thought that some behaviors were fixed action patterns that were elicited by signal stimulus

With new experiments, many FAPs improve by learning Learning is defined as a durable change in behavior brought about by experience Imprinting is a form of learning first observed in birds when chicks, ducklings, and goslings follow the first moving object they see after hatching This is usually their mother Has survival value and leads to be able to recognize one’s species and appropriate mates

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Associative learning is a change in behavior that involves an association between two events Both classical conditioning and operant conditioning are examples In classical conditioning, two different types of stimuli (at same time) cause animal to form association between them Work of Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov In operant conditioning, a stimulus-response connection is strengthened Rewards for proper response B. F. Skinner known for lab work on operant conditioning

Believed giving positive reinforcement more successful than punishing undesirable behaviors Migration is long-distance travel from one location to another Requires orientation, the ability to travel in a particular direction Many birds use sun and stars to orient themselves They have biological clock within and a sense of time to compensate for sun movement Experienced birds can navigate They change direction in response to other environmental clues like Earth’s magnatic field

Fig Holland Switzerland Spain Breeding range Wintering range typical migratory route of starlings experimental relocation of all starlings flight path of experienced starlings flight path of inexperienced starlings Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Animals may learn through imitation and insight An example is Japanese macaques Insight learning occurs when an animal suddenly solves a problem without any prior experience with the situation Chimps stacking boxes; ravens pulling meat attached to a string up

Page. 805 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. Ravens learn to retrieve food

Some animals form a society in which members organize in a cooperative manner beyond sexual and parental behavior Communication is an action by a sender that may influence the behavior of a receiver Pheromones are chemical signals in low concentration that are passed between members of the same species Moths, ants and termites, cheetahs and other cats Humans have vomeronasal organ in the nose that can detect odors and pheromones Auditory communication is fast, effective night or day, and can be modified

Visual communication used by species active during day Tactile communication occurs when one animal touches another Grooming in primates, cements social bonds within a group Honeybees use a combination of methods especially tactile in directing others to food source

Fig a. b. 40 o Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. © OSF/Animals Animals/Earth Scenes

Behavioral ecology assumes behavior is subject to natural selection For food gathering, animals often have a particular home range where they spend most of the day One part of range defended from other members of species is their territory and behavior is territoriality Food gathering is technically called foraging for food Optimal foraging model states that it is adaptive for foraging behavior to be as energetically as possible Animals that take in more energy likely have more offspring Most primates are polygamous and males monopolize multiple famales

Because of gestation and lactation, females invest more in offspring than males Males are expected to compete with other males for limited number of receptive females A few primates are polyanthrus where one female mates with more than one male Some primates are monogamous which means that they pair bond, and both male and female help with the rearing of the young Sexual selection is a form of natural selection that favors features that increase an animal’s chances of mating. Sexual selection often results in female choice and male competition

Fig Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display. © D. Robert & Lorri Franz/Corbis

Group living can help an animal avoid predators, rear offspring, and find food Disadvantages include disputes over feeding and sleeping sites Altruism is a behavior that has the potential to decrease the life-time reproductive success of the altruist, while benefiting reproductive success to another member of the society Genes passed to next generation in two different ways 1) Direct when parent can pass a gene directly to offspring 2) Indirect when a relative that reproduces can pass the gene to the next generation

Individual selection, called kin selection, is adaptation to environment due to the reproductive success of the individual’s relatives Inclusive fitness of an individual includes personal reproductive success and reproductive success of relatives In reciprocal altruism, animals aid one another for future benefits