AP Biology Behavioral Ecology meerkats

AP Biology Why study behavior?  Evolutionary perspective…  part of phenotype  acted upon by natural selection  lead to greater fitness?  lead to greater survival?  lead to greater reproductive success?

AP Biology What questions can we ask?  Proximate causes  immediate stimulus & mechanism  “how” & “what” questions  Ultimate causes  evolutionary significance  how does behavior contribute to survival & reproduction  adaptive value  “why” questions male songbird  what triggers singing?  how does he sing?  why does he sing? male songbird  what triggers singing?  how does he sing?  why does he sing?  how does daylength influence breeding?  why do cranes breed in spring?  how does daylength influence breeding?  why do cranes breed in spring? Courtship behavior in cranes  what…how… & why questions Courtship behavior in cranes  what…how… & why questions

AP Biology What is behavior?  Behavior  everything an animal does & how it does it  response to stimuli in its environment  Nervous to muscular system involvement  innate behaviors  automatic, fixed, “built-in”, no “learning curve”  despite different environments, all individuals exhibit the behavior  learned behaviors  modified by experience  variable, changeable  flexible with changing environment

AP Biology attack on red belly stimulus court on swollen belly stimulus Innate behaviors  Fixed action patterns (FAP)  Sequence of unlearned acts that are triggered by a sign stimulus (external cue)  Carried out to completion male sticklebacks exhibit aggressive territoriality Egg Laying Geese

AP Biology Complex Innate behaviors  Use of environmental cues to carry out behavior  Migration, Hibernation, Estivation, Courtship  “migratory restlessness” seen in birds bred & raised in captivity  navigate by sun, stars, Earth magnetic fields Monarch migration Sandpiper ancient fly- ways Bobolink Golden plover

AP Biology Innate: Directed movements  Taxis  Response movement toward (positive taxis) or away from (negative taxis) a stimulus  phototaxis  chemotaxis  Kinesis  Random movement in response to a stimulus ex: stopping, starting, or turning. ex: sowbug “kinesis” increases when conditions are dry.

AP Biology Plant Behaviors  Responses to environment  Governed by hormonal signals  Phototaxis – movement towards light  Photoperiodism – response to different times of day

AP Biology Learning: Imprinting  Young animals go through a “critical period” whereafter they follow the organisms present during the period. Konrad Lorenz video

AP Biology Learning: Associative  learning to associate a stimulus with a consequence  operant conditioning  trial & error learning  associate behavior with reward or punishment  ex: learning what to eat  classical conditioning  Pavlovian conditioning  associate a “neutral stimulus” with a “significant stimulus” Frazier Sheldon

AP Biology Learning: Habituation Loss of response to stimulus  decrease in response to repeated occurrences of stimulus  enables animals to disregard unimportant stimuli  ex: falling leaves not triggering fear response in baby birds  ex: animals standing next to highway don’t get frightened after time

AP Biology Learning: Spatial  Establishment of memories that reflect the physical structure of the environment.  Ex: Squirrels using physical markers to find buried food.  Ex: Wasps using physical markers to find their nest.

AP Biology sea otter Learning: Problem-solving/Cognition  Involves reasoning, awareness, recollection and judgment tool use crow Insight learning Griffin

AP Biology Social behaviors  Interactions between individuals that develop into evolutionary adaptations  communication / language  agonistic behaviors  dominance hierarchy  cooperation  altruistic behavior

AP Biology Visual Communication  Honey bees  dance to communicate location of food source  waggle dance

AP Biology Sound Communication  Bird song  species identification & mating ritual  mixed learned & innate  critical learning period  Insect song  mating ritual & song  innate, genetically controlled Red-winged blackbird

AP Biology Chemical Communication  Pheromones  chemical signal that stimulates an innate response from other individuals  alarm pheromones  sex pheromones

AP Biology Pheromones Spider using moth sex pheromones, as allomones, to lure its prey The female lion lures male by spreading sex pheromones, but also by posture & movements Female mosquitos use CO 2 concentrations to locate victims……but apparently some of us breathe more than others… marking territory

AP Biology Social behaviors  Agonistic behaviors  threatening & submissive rituals  symbolic, usually no harm done  ex: territoriality, competitor aggression

AP Biology Social behaviors  Dominance hierarchy  social ranking within a group  “pecking order”

AP Biology Social behaviors Pack of African dogs hunting wildebeest cooperatively White pelicans “herding” school of fish  Cooperation  working together in coordination

AP Biology Behaviors should increase fitness!  Foraging behavior:  Finding food and the energy costs  Mating systems:  monogamy – single parents don’t work well, so males and females raise offspring together  polygamy/polyandry – maximizing reproductive success and protection  Certainty of paternity:  Behaviors to increase chance of sperm fertilization  Sexual Selection/Mate Choice:  Sexual dimorphism results  Courtship behaviors – correlate to general health Birds Moonwalker

AP Biology Social behaviors  Altruistic behavior  reduces individual fitness but increases fitness of recipient  increasing survival of close relatives passes family genes on to the next generation – evolutionary fitness! How can this be of adaptive value? Belding ground squirrel “Kin Selection”

AP Biology “Picture a hot dog that's been left in a microwave a little too long…add some buck teeth at one end, and you've got a fairly good idea of what a Naked Mole Rat looks like.” Colonial mammals are altruistic!  Naked mole rats  underground colony, tunnels  queen, breeding males, non-breeding workers  hairless, blind

AP Biology Make sure you can…  Provide proximate and ultimate explanations for behaviors  Compare innate and learned behaviors and provide examples of each  Describe how a particular behavior can evolve  Explain how particular behaviors contribute to an organism’s fitness  Explain how altruistic behaviors can evolve in a population

AP Biology Any Questions??