Marine Behavioral Ecology Midterm Study Guide
Words to Know
Anthropomorphism
FAP/MAP
Sensory Exploitation
Ritualization
Boundary layer
Pheromone
Marg. Value Theorem Niche
Evolutionary Stable State/Strategy
Sign Stimulus
Phylogenetically Independent Contrasts
Orthokinesis
Klinokinesis Klinotaxis
Tropotaxis
Kairomone
Principle of Allocation
Competitive exclusion Ritualized Threat Display
ZOA
ZOO ZOR
Milling
Concept Questions
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Introduction to Behavioral Ecology
Describe how the study of behavior has changed through time.
What are Darwin’s four postulates of natural selection?
Differentiate between comparative behavior and ethology and how they performed behavioral studies
Who are Tinbergen and Lorenz and what did they contribute to the field of behavioral ecology?
Differentiate between consummatory and appetive behaviors.
Compare classical and instrumental conditioning. How are they alike? How are they different?
What are Tinbergen’s 4 questions and how do they relate to behavior?
Give an example of a study that shows that behaviors are influenced by both nature and nurture.
Performing Experiments in Behavioral Ecology
Describe how manipulative experiments, correlational survey studies, modeling, and the comparative
method are used to examine adaptive behaviors. Give at least 1 pro and 1 con of each method.
What are the limitations of the comparative method? What methods are used to more accurately
interpret comparative data?
Why must we control for an animal’s phylogenetic relatedness in comparative studies?
Differentiate between null and alternate hypotheses and independent and dependent variables.
Are all behaviors adaptive? Why or why not?
Signals and Cues
Differentiate between cues and signals. Give an example of both.
Describe the process by which cues evolve into signals.
Differentiate between deceit and eavesdropping
Give examples of when eavesdropping is a –(S)/+ (R) interaction and 0(S)/+(R) interaction
List and describe 3 reasons why signals might be hard to fake.
How is deceit maintained in a population?
What properties of chemical cues can affect behavioral responses?
What is a Reynolds number and how does it affect the movement of chemical cues in environments?
What is a boundary layer and how does it affect the transport of odor plumes?
How does light dissipate and refract in water?
What are the properties of sound waves?
How is sound speed affected by temperature, salinity, and pressure?
What frequencies of sound travel the best through water?
27) Can all animals produce low frequency sounds? Why or why not?
28) What are some advantages and disadvantages of each signaling modality?
29) What factors may affect signals during communication and bias their evolution?
Behavioral Ecology of Foraging
30) What factors affect an animal’s foraging decisions?
31) What are the characteristics of sit and wait vs pursue predators?
32) What variables are used to decide which prey an animal should eat in OFT?
33) What are the assumptions and predictions of optimal foraging theory?
34) What evidence is there for or against animals conforming to OFT?
35) Be able to graphically determine an animal’s giving up time in response to changes in patch distance and
quality.
36) How does an animal’s state influence its foraging behavior?
37) What are 3 ways that animals can learn about foraging from their conspecifics?
38) What are the 3 criteria for teaching in animals?
39) What are the predictions and assumptions of IDF distribution theory?
40) Describe the ideal despotic distribution.
41) What evidence is there that animals are cognitively aware of their surroundings and foraging
opportunities?
Competition
42) What is the difference between a fundamental and a realized niche?
43) What are 3 ways we can measure competition between species? Describe each and give an example of
each method.
44) Describe and give an example of an emergent effect. Differentiate between risk enhancement and risk
reduction.
45) Differentiate between additive and substitutive design. What is the flaw of each design?
46) What is a multiplicative risk model and why is it used over an additive model?
47) How does the economic defendability of territory defense change with resource and competitor
density?
48) Give examples of multiple mating strategies used by males to secure mates.
49) Calculate the cost of being a hawk or a dove when V=100 C=20 and vice-versa. How do these variables
affect the abundance of hawk and dove strategies in an environment?
Living in Groups
50) What benefits do animals get from living in groups?
51) Why do many invertebrate species spawn synchronously?
52) What is the selfish herd theory?
53) How is vigilance affected by group size?
54) Why be vigilant at all if you live in a group?
55) What selection pressures are for or against fish schooling?
56) Are group sizes larger, smaller, or equal to optimally predicted sizes? Why or why not?
57) What simple decision rules affect fish schooling behavior?