sparknotes
Behavioral Ecology
Terms
Contingency Theory
-
A mathematical model to determine when an animal should eat a less profitable,
but more abundant food and when the animal should pass this food up in search of
a more profitable, but scarce food. Contingency Theory states that you should
eat the less profitable food 2 if: E2/h2 > E1/(h1 + s1)
Degree of relatedness
-
The probability of two individuals sharing identical genes by descent.
Diploid
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Having two copies of every chromosome, one from each parent.
Direct fitness
-
The number of offspring an individual produces.
Eusocial
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A social strategy marked by a reproductive division of labor, cooperative
rearing of young, and overlapping generations.
Evolutionarily Stable Strategy
-
A strategy such that if all members of a population follow the rules, no other
strategy could invade the population through natural
selection.
Fitness
-
A nonspecific term usually referring to direct fitness.
Frequency-dependent selection
-
A form of natural selection in which the fitness
of an individual's genes is dependent upon the relative frequency of that gene
in the population.
Games
-
An interaction between two players with a conflict of interest.
Haplodiploid
-
A reproductive system in which females are diploid and males result from
unfertilized, haploid eggs.
Haploid
-
Having only one set of chromosomes, usually by meiosis, or resulting from an
unfertilized eggs.
Inclusive fitness
-
The sum of direct fitness and indirect fitness.
Indirect fitness
-
The number of relatives produced multiplied by the degree of relatedness to
those individuals.
Intersexual selection
-
A form of sexual selection in which members of one sex are differentially
attracted to members of the opposite sex, and so competition is for the
attention of the opposite sex.
Intrasexual selection
-
A form of sexual selection in which members of one sex compete with each
other to mate with the opposite sex. Males will frequently fight each other for
a female or for a desirable territory to attract a female.
Marginal value theory
-
A mathematical model to analyze when an animal should leave a food patch in
search of another, fresher patch. Reminiscent of the economic principle of the
law of diminishing
returns.
Meiosis
-
Cell division from one cell into four cells during two separate divisions. The
result are haploid cells.
Mitosis
-
Cell division from one cell into two. Resultant daughter cells have the same
number of chromosomes as the parent cell.
Monogamy
-
A mating strategy in which two individuals from a permanent pair-bond. Most
cases are actually behavioral monogamy where males contribute to parenting and
protection, but both sexes may engage in extra-pair copulations.
Optimality
-
Behavior analyzed in terms analogous to economic decision
making.
Operational Sex Ration (OSR)
-
The Operational sex ratio is the ratio of sexually available females to ready
males.
Parthenogenesis
-
Asexual reproduction. Literally "virgin origin".
Polyandrous
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A mating system in which females mate multiple males.
Polygamous
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Describes individuals engaged in a mating system where individuals (of either
sex) have multiple mates.
Polygyny
-
A mating system in which males mate several females.
Polymorphic
-
The coexistence of two or more traits within a species. For example, eye color
and blood type are polymorphic.
Profitability
-
The amount of energy yielded by a food source divided by the amount of time
spent handling it once it is found. P=E/h
Promiscuous
-
Promiscuity is a mating system in which individuals of both sexes mate with
multiple individuals, a combination of polygyny and polyandry.
Resource defense polygyny
-
A mating strategy in which males arrive at breeding sites early to fight over
desirable territories. Females arrive at the breeding site and choose males
based on their occupied territories.
Sexual selection
-
A form of natural selection in which individuals
have differential reproductive success based on competition for mates.
Spermatophore
-
A bundle of sperm and proteinaceous material presented to female insect as a
nuptial gift.
Strategies
-
The rules describing the behavior an animal may engage in while engaged in
games. The Proportion of the population employing two different strategies:
p+q=1, or p(Q) + q(R) = p(S) + q(T).
Syngamy
-
The fusion of egg and sperm cells into a zygote.
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