BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY

BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY

 the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures
 GOAL: To understand how a plant or animal’s behavior is adapted to its environment. That is, behavior is
understood to be the result of an evolutionary process.

BEHAVIOR

 encompasses a wide range of activities

 an action carried out by muscles or glands under the control of the nervous system in response to an
environmental cue

CAUSES OF BEHAVIOR

 proximate cause
o how the behavior occurs
o the trigger for the behavior
o focuses on
 environmental stimuli that trigger a behavior
 genetic and sensory motor mechanisms underlying a behavior
 ultimate cause
o why the behavior occurs
o the evolutionary reason behind the behavior
o focuses on
 the evolutionary significance of a behavior

RESOURCE ASSESSMENT

 implies the monitoring of ecological resources – to discover the current and changing conditions
 are required components of most hazardous waste site investigations
 is a “qualitative or quantitative assessment of actual or potential effects of a hazardous waste site on
plants and animals other than people and domesticated species”

ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS ARE ABLE TO:

1. assess the condition of the environment

2. provide an early warning signal of changes in the environment
3. diagnose the cause of an environmental problem

TYPES OF ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

1. Strategic Ecological Assessment (SEcA) – to ensure that proposed new developments are compatible with
international obligations to conserve protected habitats and their associated species
2. Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA) – an integrated methodology to provide the multiple scale, up-to-date
information requited to guide conservation actions

ANIMAL COMMUNICATION

 communication comes from Latin word communicare “to share”

 the transfer of information from one or a group of animals (sender or senders) to one or more than animals
(receiver or receivers) which affects wither the current or future behavior of the receivers

ANIMAL COMMUNICATE THROUGH:

1. Visual
a) gestures
b) facial expression
c) gaze following
d) color change
e) bioluminescent communication
2. Auditory
3. Olfactory
4. Electro Communication
 method used by weakly electric fishes
5. Touch
 6. Seismic Communication
 aka vibrational communication
 describes the conveying of information through seismic vibrations of the substrate
7. Auto Communication
8. Chemical Communication
9. Tactile Communication

ANIMAL COMMUNICATION (some of the ways animals express themselves)

Many animals communicate by smell: they release pheromones (airborne chemicals) to send message to others.
Pheromones play an important part in reproduction and other social behavior.

 BEES dance when they have found nectar. The scout bee will dance in the hive and the dance directs
other bees to the location of the nectar.
 CHIMPANZEES greet each other by touching hands.
 MALE FIDDLER CRABS wave their giant claw to attract female fiddler crabs.
 WHITE-TAILED DEER show alarm by flicking up their tails.
 DOGS stretch their front legs out in front of them and lower their bodies when they want to play.
 ELEPHANTS show affection by entwining their trunks.
 GIRAFFES press their necks together when they are attracted to each other.
 GORILLAS stick out their tongues to show anger.
 HORSES rub noses as a sign of affection.
 KANGAROOS thump their hind legs to warn others of danger.
 PRAIRIE DOGS bare their teeth and press their mouths together to discover if they are friends or foes.
 WHALES breach (leap out of the water) repeatedly to send messages to other whales.
 SWANS entwine their long necks both to fight and to court.

FUNCTIONS OF ANIMAL COMMUNICATION

1. Communication during contests

2. Mating rituals
3. Ownership/Territorial
4. Food-related signals
5. Alarm calls
6. Meta-communication

FORAGING BEHAVIOR AND OPTIMALITY IN INDIVIDUALS

Foraging – searching for wild food resources; affects an animal’s fitness because it plays an important role in an
animal’s ability to survive and reproduce
Foraging Theory – a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavior of animals in response to the
environment where the animals live
Foraging Behavior – a complex and important subject that has received considerable attention

CLASSIFICATION OF FORAGING BEHAVIOR

1. Herbivores consume living plants tissue

2. Carnivores consume the tissue of living animals
3. Omnivores eat a mixture of plants and animals
4. Detritovores consume dead organic matter

Optimal Foraging – feeding is not a single behavior but a large collection of functionally related behaviors
Optimal Food Types – the type of food an animal chooses may be governed by optimality principles

FACTORS INFLUENCING FORAGING BEHAVIOR

1. Learning – an adaptive change or modification of a behavior based on a previous experience

2. Genetics – influenced foraging behavior
3. Predation – presence of predators while an animal is foraging
4. Parasitism – can affect the way in which animals forage

TYPES OF FORAGING

1. Solitary Foraging – animals find, capture, and consume their prey along
2. Group Foraging – animals find, capture, and consume prey in the presence of other individuals

MAINTENANCE OF SEX RATIO

Sexual Polymorphism

 maintained by frequency-dependent selection, leading to predictable sex ratios at equilibrium

 polymorphism
o the occurrence of different forms among the members of a population or colony, or in the life
cycle of an individual organism
o Greek “having multiple forms”

Sex Ratio

 the ratio of males to females in a population

 the relative number of males to females in a population

TYPES OF SEX RATIO

1. Primary Sex Ratio – ratio at fertilization

2. Secondary Sex Ratio – ratio at birth
3. Tertiary Sex Ratio – ratio in sexually active organisms; aka adult sex ratio (ASR) – the proportion of adults in a
population that are male
4. Quaternary Sex Ratio – ratio in post-reproductive organisms

REPRODUCTION

 a fundamental feature of all known life

 each individual organism exists as the result of reproduction

SEXUAL SELECTION

 a special type of natural selection in which the sexes acquire distinct forms either because the members of
one sex choose mates with particular features or because in the completion for mates among the
members of one sex only those with certain traits succeed
 a mode of natural selection where members of one biological sex choose mates of the other sex to mate
with (intersexual selection), and compete with members of the same sex for access to members of the
opposite sex (intrasexual selection)
o TYPES OF SEXUAL SELECTION
 Intersexual – females choosing male mates based on some phenotype
 Intrasexual – males battling for mating

Display – the exhibition of ornate male features to potential female mates

Combat – males within a species compete with each other for access to the females
Mating Systems – describe patterns of male/female pairings

MAITING SYSTEM

 a way in which a group is structured in relation to sexual behavior

Monogamy

 often occurs in species in which both the male and female are required to successfully raise young or in
which males have little chance of monopolizing more than one female

Polygamy

 individuals of one or other sex have more than one mate during the breeding season
 when males in the population mate with more than one female, it is called polygyny (poly means “many”
and gyne means “female”

Polyandry

 andros means “male”

 some females mate with more than one male during the breeding season
TERMINOLOGIES
Animal Communication – the transfer of information from one or a group of animals (sender or senders) to one or
more than animals (receiver or receivers)

Behavior – an action carried out by muscles or glands under the control of the nervous system in response to an
environmental cue

Behavioral Ecology – the study of the evolutionary basis for animal behavior due to ecological pressures

Carnivores – consume the tissue of living animals

Combat – males within a species compete with each other for access to the females

Detritovores – consume dead organic matter

Display – the exhibition of ornate male features to potential female mates

Electro Communication – method used by weakly electric fishes

Foraging – searching for wild food resources; affects an animal’s fitness because it plays an important role in an
animal’s ability to survive and reproduce

Foraging Behavior – a complex and important subject that has received considerable attention

Foraging Theory – a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavior of animals in response to the
environment where the animals live

Genetics – influenced foraging behavior

Group Foraging – animals find, capture, and consume prey in the presence of other individuals

Herbivores – consume living plants tissue

Intersexual – females choosing male mates based on some phenotype; members of one biological sex choose
mates of the other sex to mate with

Intrasexual – males battling for mating; compete with members of the same sex for access to members of the
opposite sex

Learning – an adaptive change or modification of a behavior based on a previous experience

Mating Systems – describe patterns of male/female pairings; a way in which a group is structured in relation to
sexual behavior

Monogamy – both male and female are required to successfully raise young or in which males have little chance of
monopolizing more than one female

Omnivores – eat a mixture of plants and animals

Optimal Food Types – the type of food an animal chooses may be governed by optimality principles

Optimal Foraging – feeding is not a single behavior but a large collection of functionally related behaviors

Parasitism – can affect the way in which animals forage

Polyandry – females mate with more than one male

Polygamy – individuals of one or other sex have more than one mate during the breeding season

Polygyny – when males in the population mate with more than one female

Polymorphism – occurrence of different forms among the members of a population or colony, or in the life cycle of
an individual organism

Predation – presence of predators while an animal is foraging

Primary Sex Ratio – ratio at fertilization

Proximate Cause – how the behavior occurs; the trigger for the behavior
Quaternary Sex Ratio – ratio in post-reproductive organisms

Reproduction – a fundamental feature of all known life

Secondary Sex Ratio – ratio at birth

Seismic Communication – aka vibrational communication; describes the conveying of information through seismic
vibrations of the substrate

Sex Ratio – ratio of males to females in a population

Sexual Polymorphism – maintained by frequency-dependent selection, leading to predictable sex ratios at

equilibrium

Sexual Selection – a special type of natural selection in which the sexes acquire distinct forms

Solitary Foraging – animals find, capture, and consume their prey along

Tertiary Sex Ratio – ratio in sexually active organisms; aka adult sex ratio (ASR) – the proportion of adults in a
population that are male

Ultimate Cause – why the behavior occurs; the evolutionary reason behind the behavior

animal communication – communication comes from Latin word communicare “to share”

polymorphism – Greek “having multiple forms”

polyandry – andros means “male”

polygyny – poly means “many” and gyne means “female”

CATEGORIES?
CAUSES OF BEHAVIOR

1. Proximate Cause
2. Ultimate Cause

ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS ARE ABLE TO:

1. assess the condition of the environment

2. provide an early warning signal of changes in the environment
3. diagnose the cause of an environmental problem

TYPES OF ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

1. Strategic Ecological Assessment (SEcA)

2. Rapid Ecological Assessment (REA)

ANIMAL COMMUNICATE THROUGH:

1. Visual
a) gestures
b) facial expression
c) gaze following
d) color change
e) bioluminescent communication
2. Auditory
3. Olfactory
4. Electro Communication
5. Touch
6. Seismic Communication
7. Auto Communication
8. Chemical Communication
9. Tactile Communication

FUNCTIONS OF ANIMAL COMMUNICATION

1. Communication during contests

2. Mating rituals
3. Ownership/Territorial
4. Food-related signals
5. Alarm calls
6. Meta-communication

CLASSIFICATION OF FORAGING BEHAVIOR

1. Herbivores
2. Carnivores
3. Omnivores
4. Detritovores

FACTORS INFLUENCING FORAGING BEHAVIOR

1. Learning
2. Genetics
3. Predation
4. Parasitism

TYPES OF FORAGING

1. Solitary Foraging
2. Group Foraging

TYPES OF SEX RATIO

1. Primary Sex Ratio

2. Secondary Sex Ratio
 3. Tertiary Sex Ratio
4. Quaternary Sex Ratio

TYPES OF SEXUAL SELECTION

1. Intersexual
2. Intrasexual
COMMUNITY ECOLOGY
COMMUNITY
 group of individuals from different species in a given area
o Species Richness
o Relative Abundance

INTERSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS

Interaction Ind. #1 Ind. #2

Competition - -
Predation + -
Mutualism + +
Commensalism + 0

COMPETITION
 Interspecific
 Intraspecific

COMPETITIVE EXCLUSION RULE

Two species cannot occupy the same ecological niche.

RESOURCE PARTITIONING

CHARACTER DISPLACEMENT

PREDATION
PLANT DEFENSES

 Physical
o Thorns
o Spines
 Chemical
o Poisons
 Nicotine
 Strychnine
 Morphine
 Tannins

ANIMAL DEFENSES

 Physical
o Shells
o Horns/Antlers/Quills
o Teeth
 Chemical
o Poisons
o Odors
 Cryptic Coloration
  Aposematic Coloration
 Batesian Mimicry
 Mullerian Mimicry

MUTUALISM

COMMENSALISM
TROPHIC LEVELS

 Primary Producers
 Primary Consumers
 Secondary Consumers
 Tertiary Consumers
 Quarternary Consumers

KEYSTONE SPECIES
BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES
COMMUNITY

 a collection of floras and faunas in an environment interacting with one another,

forming its own composition, structure, environmental development and function
 an interacting group of various species in a common location

BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES

 mangrove communities
 coral reef communities
 seagrass communities

PROPERTIES OF BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES

1. Community Structure
 biotic composition of the community
 entails species abundance and diversity as well as the trophic relationships
that the members of a community established

THEORY DEFINITION
a community is defined by the
interactions between the
organisms in it
Frederick Clemen Holistic Theory
all species are interdependent,
each playing a vital role in the
working of the community
aka open or continuum
abundance of a population of a
species changing gradually along
Henry Gleason Individualistic Theory complex environmental gradients
each species changes
independently in relation to other
species present along the gradient
within the community, species are
functionally equivalent
abundance of a population of a
Stephen P. Hubbell Neutral Theory
species changes by stochastic
demographic processes (e.g.
random births and deaths)

2. Community Function

energy flow course of energy

rebounding from a perturbation or
resilience
disturbance
defying of the effects of the perturbation or
resistance
disturbance
CHARACTERISTICS OF BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES

 species diversity
 species interactions
 spatial structure
 periodicity
 ecotone and the edge effect
 ecological successions

SPECIES DIVERSITY
diversity complexity of species in a community
number of different species co-inhabiting a
species richness
particular area
relative species abundance
number of individuals in a species with respect to
species evenness
the number of individuals in all species in a given
habitat
often have the highest relative species
foundation species
abundance
dominant species
a dominant population that influences more
ecological dominance than the others
ecological dominants – e.g. plants in a
community

regarded as a key because their removal could

lead to the collapse of the community
keystone species
essential in maintaining biodiversity and
upholding the structure of the community

SPECIES INTERACTIONS
Direct Interaction

 there is a direct physical contact between interacting species

Indirect Interaction

 an intermediary species mediates the interaction between the two species

 may be
o linear interaction is exemplified by a competitive hierarchy
o circular interaction is by a competitive network

Predation

 relationship between the prey and the predator

 one member of the pair (the predator) benefits, while the other (the prey) is affected
adversely

Mutualism
  growth and survival of both interacting species are enhanced
 both individuals are benefited

Direct Competition

 either inter or intraspecies

 each is inhibited by the other to access the resources
 includes
o amensalism – one is inhibited without harming the activities of another
o parasitism – usually called destructive symbiosis; parasite feeds off another
organism; parasite gets the nourishment from the hosts then gradually
weakens it which may result to death
o parasitoidism – one lives off another and in the process destroys its host
o allelopathy – release of chemicals by an organism that inhibits the growth of
others
o commensalism – one is benefited and the other one if unaffected

SPATIAL STRUCTURE
 structure of a community may be represented through zonation or through
stratification

Zonation (Lake Community)

ECOTONE
 serves as the boundary between two communities
 edge species – species that are restricted at the ecotone
 e.g. streams running through a meadow and an estuary where the rivers meet the
sea

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION
  the order of community development or ecosystem evolution that involve changes in
the structure and species with time

TYPES OF ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION

 Primary Succession
 Secondary Succession

Pioneers – the earliest plant that settle in the area

Climax Organisms – the plant that settles last and become establishes and forms the climax
of the community

ECOLOGICAL NICHE CONCEPT

 includes the habitat of the organism, its functional role, and its position in
environmental gradients

TWO TYPES OF NICHE

Specialized Niche

 applies to species which have a very well defined or narrow physical, chemical or,
biological requirement for survival
 organisms
o are found in very limited or specific environmental conditions
o more of the endemic species

Generalized Niche

 applies to species which can exist in broad ranges of conditions

 e.g. humans and cockroaches

COMPETITIVE EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE

 two species having the same niche and biological requirements can live in the same
area at the same time
 three things that are most likely to happen:
o If 1 species has greater advantage due to greater reproductive capacity or
some other factors, the other organism will eventually be discarded from that
area.
o If 2 kinds of organisms which are not completely similar or identical occupy a
habitat, one the organisms will leave the habitat and occupy the adjacent
habitat for as long as the organism can tolerate the conditions of the
adjacent habitat.
o If 2 species occupy the same area and are very much similar at first, they
develop differences from one another which tend to decrease their
competition this is known as character displacement.
TERMINOLOGIES
Allelopathy – release of chemicals by an organism that inhibits the growth of others

Amensalism – one is inhibited without harming the activities of another

Circular Interaction – exemplified by a competitive network

Climax Organisms – the plant that settles last and become establishes and forms the climax
of the community

Commensalism – one is benefited and the other one if unaffected

Community – a collection of floras and faunas in an environment interacting with one

another, forming its own composition, structure, environmental development and function;
an interacting group of various species in a common location

Community Structure – biotic composition of the community; entails species abundance and
diversity as well as the trophic relationships that the members of a community established

Direct Competition – each is inhibited by the other to access the resources

Direct Interaction – there is a direct physical contact between interacting species

Diversity - complexity of species in a community

Ecological Dominance – dominant species; a dominant population that influences more

than the others

Ecological Niche Concept – includes the habitat of the organism, its functional role, and its
position in environmental gradients

Ecological Succession – the order of community development or ecosystem evolution that

involve changes in the structure and species with time

Ecotone – serves as the boundary between two communities; more likely to be denser and
richer than the two nearby communities

Edge Species – species that are restricted at the ecotone

Energy Flow – course of energy

Foundation Species – often have the highest relative species abundance

Generalized Niche – applies to species which can exist in broad ranges of conditions

Holistic Theory – a community is defined by the interactions between the organisms in it ; all
species are interdependent, each playing a vital role in the working of the community

Indirect Interaction – an intermediary species mediates the interaction between the two
species

Individualistic Theory – aka open or continuum; abundance of a population of a species

changing gradually along complex environmental gradients; each species changes
independently in relation to other species present along the gradient
Keystone Species – regarded as a key because their removal could lead to the collapse of
the community; essential in maintaining biodiversity and upholding the structure of the
community

Linear Interaction – exemplified by a competitive hierarchy

Mutualism – growth and survival of both interacting species are enhanced; both individuals
are benefited

Neutral Theory – within the community, species are functionally equivalent; abundance of a
population of a species changes by stochastic demographic processes

Parasitism – usually called destructive symbiosis; parasite feeds off another organism; parasite
gets the nourishment from the hosts then gradually weakens it which may result to death

Parasitoidism – one lives off another and in the process destroys its host

Pioneers – the earliest plant that settle in the area

Predation – relationship between the prey and the predator; the feeding by the predator on
parts or all of the free living organisms and other organisms know to be prey; one member of
the pair (the predator) benefits, while the other (the prey) is affected adversely

Resilience – rebounding from a perturbation or disturbance

Resistance – defying of the effects of the perturbation or disturbance

Specialized Niche – applies to species which have a very well defined or narrow physical,
chemical or, biological requirement for survival

Species Evenness – relative species abundance; number of individuals in a species with

respect to the number of individuals in all species in a given habitat

Species Richness – number of different species co-inhabiting a particular area

CATEGORIES?
BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES

1. Mangrove Communities
2. Coral Reef Communities
3. Seagrass Communities

PROPERTIES OF BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES

1. Community Structure
2. Community Function

THEORIES UNDER COMMUNITY STRUCTURE

1. Holistic Theory
2. Individualistic Theory
3. Neutral Theory

COMMUNITY FUNCTION

1. Energy Flow
2. Resilience
3. Resistance

CHARACTERISTICS OF BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES

1. Species Diversity
2. Species Interactions
3. Spatial Structure
4. Periodicity
5. Ecotone and the Edge Effect
6. Ecological Successions

SPECIES INTERACTIONS

1. Direct Interaction
2. Indirect Interaction

INTERACTIONS UNDER INDIRECT INTERACTION

1. Linear Interaction
2. Circular Interaction

SPECIES INTERACTIONS
1. Predation
2. Mutualism
3. Direct Competition

ZONES IN LAKE ZONATION

1. Littoral Zone
2. Limnetic Zone
3. Benthic Zone
4. Euphotic Zone
 5. Profundal Zone

TYPES OF ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION

1. Primary Succession
2. Secondary Succession

TWO TYPES OF NICHE

1. Specialized Niche
2. Generalized Niche

IF 2 SPECIES IN THE SAME AREA OCCUPY THE SAME NICHE, 3 THINGS THAT ARE MOST LIKELY TO
HAPPEN:

1. If 1 species has greater advantage due to greater reproductive capacity or some

other factors, the other organism will eventually be discarded from that area.
2. If 2 kinds of organisms which are not completely similar or identical occupy a habitat,
one the organisms will leave the habitat and occupy the adjacent habitat for as long
as the organism can tolerate the conditions of the adjacent habitat.
3. If 2 species occupy the same area and are very much similar at first, they develop
differences from one another which tend to decrease their competition this is known
as character displacement.
POPULATION ECOLOGY
 study of populations in relation to the environment
 includes environmental influences on population density and distribution, age
structure, and variations in population size

POPULATION

 group of individuals of the same species living in the same general area

DENSITY

 number of individuals per unit area or volume

 population density results from interplay of processes that add individuals and those
that remove them from the population
o immigration and birth add individuals
o death and emigration remove individuals

DISPERSION

 pattern of spacing among individuals within the boundaries of the population

PATTERNS OF DISPERSION

 environmental and social factors

o influence the spacing of individuals in a population
 Clumped Dispersion
o individuals aggregate in patches
o grouping may be result of the fact that multiple individuals can cooperate
effectively or because of resource dispersion
 Uniform Dispersion
o individuals are evenly distributed
o usually influenced by social interactions such as territoriality
 Random Dispersion
o position of individual is independent of other individuals
 e.g. plants established by windblown seeds
o uncommon pattern
o e.g. ferns

DEMOGRAPHY

 study of the vital statistics of a population and how they change over time
 death rates and birth rates – particular interest to demographers

LIFE TABLES

 an age-specific summary of the survival pattern of a population

 constructed by following the fate of a cohort (age-class of organisms) from birth to
death
 built by determining number of individuals that die in each age group and
calculating the proportion of the cohort surviving from one age to the next
 data for life tables are hard to collect for wild populations
 life table for ground squirrels shows death rate for males is higher than that for females
 mortality rate is quite consistent from one year to the next
SURVIVORSHIP CURVES

 data in a life table can be represented graphically by a survival curve

 curve usually based on a standardized population of 1000 individuals and the x-
axis scale is logarithmic

THREE GENERAL TYPES OF SURVIVORSHIP CURVES

 Type I Curve
o animals that produce few young but care for them well
 e.g. humans and elephants
o death rate is low until late in life where rate increases sharply as a result of old
age
 wear and tear, accumulation of cellular damage, cancer
 Type II Curve
o has fairly steady death rate throughout life
 e.g. rodents
o death is usually a result of chance processes over which the organism has little
control
 e.g. predation
 Type III Curve
o species that produce large numbers of young which receive little or no care
 e.g. oyster
o survival of young is dependent on luck

REPRODUCTIVE RATES

 reproductive table or fertility schedule – age-specific summary of the reproductive

rates in a population
 measured over lifespan of a cohort
 fertility schedule ignores males

REPRODUCTIVE TABLE

 the table tallies the number of females produced by each group

 product of proportion of females of a given age that are breeding and the number
of female offspring of those breeding females

LIFE HISTORY

 study of life histories focuses on explaining why organisms differ in their reproductive
patterns

LIFE HISTORY TRAITS

 products of natural selection

 evolutionary outcomes reflected in the development, physiology, and behavior of an
organism

LIFE HISTORY DIVERSITY

 some species exhibit semelparity – “big-bang” reproduction; reproduce once and

die
o e.g. bamboo, salmon, and century plant
SEMELPAROUS REPRODUCTION

 often an adaptation to erratic climatic conditions

 suitable breeding conditions occur rarely and organisms devote all their resources to
reproduction when conditions are good
o e.g. century plant

ITEROPAROUS REPRODUCTION

 some species exhibit iteroparity – repeated reproduction and produce offspring

repeatedly over time
o e.g. humans, cats, and birds
 occurs when organisms have good prospects of reproducing in the future
o e.g. they are long-lived
 characteristic of larger organisms and those that experience more stable
environmental conditions

“TRADE-OFFS” AND LIFE HISTORIES

 organisms have finite resources, which lead to trade-offs between survival and
reproduction
 e.g. kestrels whose broods were artificially enlarged had reduced overwinter
survivorship
o conversely, birds whose broods were reduced had higher overwinter
survivorship

QUANTITY VS. QUALITY OF OFFSPRING

 organisms face tradeoffs between the number and quality of young they can
produce because they have only a limited quantity of resources to invest
 the choice is basically between a few large or many small offspring

POPULATION GROWTH

 occurs when birth rate exceeds death rate

 organisms have enormous potential to increase their populations if not constrained
by mortality

PER CAPITA RATE OF INCREASE

 if immigration and emigration are ignored, a population’s growth rate (per capita
increase) equals the per capita birth rate minus the per capita death rate
 equation for population growth is ΔN/Δt = bN-Dn
o where N = population size, b is per capita birth rate and d is per capita death
rate
o ΔN/Δt is change in population N over a small time period t
 the per capita rate of population increase is symbolized by r
o r = b-d
o r indicates whether a population is growing
o (r >0) or declining (r<0)
 ecologists express instantaneous population growth using calculus
 zero population growth occurs when the birth rate equals the death rate r = 0
 population growth equation
 𝑑𝑁
= 𝑟𝑁
𝑑𝑡

EXPONENTIAL POPULATION GROWTH (EPG)

 describes population growth in an idealized, unlimited environment

 rate of reproduction is at its maximum
 equation for exponential population growth is

𝑑𝑁
= 𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑁
𝑑𝑡

 the j-shaped curve of exponential growth

o characteristic of some populations that are rebounding

LOGISTIC POPULATION GROWTH

 exponential growth cannot be sustained for long in any population

 a more realistic population model limits growth by incorporating carrying capacity
o carrying capacity (K) – maximum population size the environment can
support

THE LOGISTIC GROWTH MODEL

 the per capita of increase declines as carrying capacity is approached

 constructed by starting with the exponential model and adding an expression that
reduces the per capita rate of increase as N increases
 logic growth equation includes K
𝑑𝑁 (𝐾 − 𝑁)
= 𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑁
𝑑𝑡 𝐾
as population size (N) increases, the equation ((K-N)/K) becomes smaller which slows
the population’s growth rate
 predicts different per capita growth rates for populations at low and high density
o low density population growth – rate driven primarily by r the rate at which
offspring can be produced; grows rapidly
o high population density – population growth is much slower as density effects
exert their effect

THE LOGISTIC MODEL AND LIFE HISTORIES

 at low density
o per capita food supply is relatively high
o selection for reproducing quickly should be favored
 at high density
o selection will favor adaptations that allow organisms to survive and reproduce
with few resources
o expect lower birth rates

selects for life history traits that are sensitive

K-selection or density-dependent selection
to population density
selects for life history traits that maximize
r-selection or density-independent selection
reproduction

POPULATION REGULATION
  populations are regulated by a complex interaction of biotic and abiotic influences

POPULATION CHANGE AND POPULATION DENSITY

birth rate and death rate do not change

density-independent populations
with population density
birth rates fall and death rates wise with
density-dependent populations population density
more common