1. Behavioral ecology
Chapter 51

2. Innate vs. learned behaviors
Innate behavior is developmentally fixed
Inherited, instinctive.
Automatic & consistant
Learned behavior is behavior that is changed due to experience.
Behavior develops during animal’s lifetime
Varied and flexible
Change with experience and environment.

3. Evolutionary basis for behavioral ecology
It is part of an organisms phenotype
Grounds for natural selection
How does a behavior contribute to the survival of and fitness of a species
Reproductive success

4. Ultimate and proximate causations of behavior
Proximate questions’ focus is the environmental stimuli, the underlying genetic, physiological, and anatomical mechanisms.
“How” and “what” questions
Ultimate questions’ focus is the evolutionary significance of a behavior.
How does the behavior contribute to the survival & reproduction of the organism.
“Why” questions.

5. FAP and sign stimulus
Fixed-action pattern (FAP) – a sequence of unlearned behavioral acts that is essentially unchangeable and once begun is carried to completion.
A sign stimulus triggers a FAP – an external stimulus.

6. Nature vs. nurture Nature – genes Nurture – environment
In biology nature versus nurture is not a debate. Biologists study how both genes and the environment influence the development of phenotypes and behavioral phenotypes.

7. Habituation
The loss of responsiveness to stimuli that convey little or no information

8. Imprinting, imprinting stimulus, and critical period
Imprinting is a type of behavior that includes both learning and innate components and is generally irreversible .
Critical (sensitive) period is a limited period in the animals development when certain behaviors can be learned
The imprinting stimulus is something to which the response will be directed.

9. Associative learning
The ability to associate one feature of the environment (a stimulus such as color) with another (bad taste)

10. Classical, operant and observational learning
Classical conditioning is a type of associative learning in which an arbitrary stimulus is associated with a reward or punishment.
Operant conditioning- the animal learns to associate one of its own behaviors with a reward or punishment, and then repeat or avoid this behavior
Observational learning involves cognition, copying the behavior of other individuals.

11. Ultimate basis of learning
Environment and genetics can interact in influencing the learning process.

12. Kinesis, Taxis, migration
Innate behavior
Kinesis is a simple change in activity or turning rate in response to a stimulus.
Taxis is more or less automatic, oriented movement toward or away from some stimulus.
Migration –annual or seasonal long distance movement of animals.

13. Foraging
Foraging is the behavior associated with recognizing, searching for, capturing, and consuming food.
Optimal foraging theory states that the behavior is a compromise between the benefits of nutrition and the costs of obtaining the food
Energy expenditure
Risk of being eaten

14. Optimal forging strategies
Energetics – for an animal there is a trade off between energy gained (food) and the energy expended.
Prey densities dictate prey selectivity.
Animals do not feed randomly, but it is based on size of prey and distance
High prey density- high selectivity
Low prey density- low selectivity

15. Agnostic behavior
Ritualized contest that determines which competitor gains access to resources, such as food or mates.
Ritual behavior like “play fighting” where the outcome of the contest is determined by size, strength, form of horns, teeth, and so forth.
Victories are psychological.
Intrasexual selection that can reduce variation among males.

16. Advantages of courtship
Increases the degree of sexual dimorphism
Female choice can select for one best type of male in a given situation- resulting in low variation among males.
Female chooses a healthy males increases the probability of producing healthy offspring.

17. Ultimate basis for mate selection
The product of a form of natural selection called sexual selection

18. 3 main mating systems
Promiscuous- no strong pair-bonds or lasting relationships
Monogamous- mates remain together for a longer period- one male mating with one female
Polygamous- an individual of one sex mating with several of the other.

19. Polygyny vs. polyandry Species are generally dimorphic
Polygyny – one male mates with several females
The male is often highly ornamented
Polyandry – one female mates with several males.
Females are generally more showy and larger than males.

20. Needs of the young
Can a single parent care for and supply the offspring food?
What maximizes reproductive success?
What would leave more viable offspring ?
Birds have a tendency towards monogamous relationships
Mammals are cared for by lactating female – males play no role in raising the young.

21. Certainty of paternity
Relatively low in species with internal fertilization because the acts of mating and birth are separated over time
Males may engage in behavior that increase their certainty
Guarding females, removing sperm, introducing large quantities of sperm
Relative high in species when egg laying and mating occur together.
Males are just as likely to tend to offspring

22. Altruistic behavior
Altruism may have evolved due to inclusive fitness.
Inclusive fitness is the total effect an individual has on proliferating its genes by producing its own offspring and by providing aid that enables other close relatives, who share many of those genes, to produce offspring.

23. Kin selection
Natural selection that favors this kind of altruistic behavior by enhancing reproductive success of relatives.