What is an ecosystem (biotope)?
A natural habitat composed of plants, fungi, microorganisms and animals with interdependent relationships, together with the physical environment.
Dense forest, gallery forest, savanna, desert, taiga, tundra, coral reefs.
What is an ecological niche?
The position of a population or species within an ecosystem.
Q: Which factors define an ecological niche?
Habitat type
Activity period
Diet
Predators and anti-predator strategies
Use of space
What is meant by activity period?
Behavior follows a temporal regularity.
Q: How are species classified according to activity period?
As diurnal or nocturnal species.
Q: What are the basic activity guidelines of animals?
Rest, travel, and feeding.
Why is sleep risky but beneficial?
Perception of the environment is reduced (risk), but the energetic benefits are high.
What is trophic behavior?
All behaviors related to food.
What do food strategies include?
Locating food
Obtaining food
Preparing food
Consuming food
Competing for trophic resources
Maximizing efficiency (cost/benefit balance)
Why are food-related adaptations important?
They have influenced the evolution of behavior, intelligence, and sociability.
What principle governs behavioral optimization?
What does behavioral optimization balance?
The principle of economy.
Energy spent searching and obtaining food versus energy gained from consuming it.
When is there behavioral adaptation according to optimization theory?
When energy use equals energy gain.
Which factors must be considered in trophic behavior?
Energy needs of the species
Cost in time and energy
Distribution and abundance of food
Accessibility
Nutritional content
Risk
Q: What determines the energy needs of a species?
Body temperature control
Activity type
Body size
What is the difference between homeotherms and poikilotherms?
Homeotherms (endotherms) regulate internal temperature; poikilotherms (ectotherms) depend on environmental temperature.
How does activity type affect energy expenditure?
Active behaviors (e.g. hunting, chasing) require more energy than resting behaviors.
What does the Jarman–Bell model describe?
The relationship between body size and nutritional requirements.
Which factors characterize exploited trophic resources?
Abundance
Distribution
Energy value
Difficulty of obtaining
Difficulty of preparing
Difficulty of digesting
Predation risk
How can animals be classified by trophic selection?
Type of food (carnivores, folivores, frugivores, insectivores, etc.)
Food diversity (specialists vs. generalists)
What characterizes trophic specialists?
Exploit one or very few food types
Have specific trophic adaptations
Food recognition is innate
In which environments are trophic specialists favored?
Stable environments.
What characterizes trophic generalists?
Exploit a wide range of foods (omnivory)
Few trophic specializations
Depend on learning and experience
What are disadvantages of trophic generalists?
Unbalanced diet
Ingestion of toxic substances
Competitive disadvantage against specialists
What mechanisms help generalists avoid dietary imbalance?
Neophilia and neophobia
Sensory-specific satiety
Taste aversion learning
Social learning
What is predation?
An individual of one species captures and eats an individual of another species, in whole or in part.
Why is predation ecologically important?
It is one of the most studied interspecific relationships with strong ecological and evolutionary effects.
What are the phases of predation?
Finding prey, neutralization, consumption.
What is predator–prey coevolution?
An evolutionary arms race between predators developing capture strategies and prey developing defensive strategies.
Why do prey evolve faster than predators?
Because the cost of failure (death) is higher for prey than for predators.
What does the Volterra–Lotka model describe?
Predator–prey population cycles and dynamic equilibrium.
Canadian lynx and snowshoe hare population fluctuations.
Is prey always consumed after capture?
No. Predators may kill more prey than needed or kill without feeding.
What is the predatory bite?
An innate killing mechanism targeting the neck to suffocate prey.
How do predators learn hunting skills?
Through play and maternal participation.
What hunting strategies exist for capturing prey?
Active pursuit
Ambush
Aggressive mimicry
Baits
Traps
Tool use
Cooperative hunting
What are the main categories of prey defense strategies?
Hiding,
warning signals,
defensive aggression,
escape,
group defenses,
polyspecific associations.
What is crypsis?
Camouflage through color, texture, shape, or movement.
What is thanatocresis?
Thanatocresis is an anti-predatory strategy in which an animal uses objects from other animals or elements of the environment (e.g. shells) to hide or protect itself.
Hiding → Protective structures.
What are warning signals?
True information indicating danger (e.g. aposematic coloration).
What is Batesian mimicry?A:
A harmless species imitates a dangerous or unpalatable species.
What is defensive aggression?
Fear-induced aggression in response to attack.
What are group defense mechanisms?
Detection, confusion effect, dilution effect, harassment.
What is social spacing?
The minimum distance an animal maintains from conspecifics.
What factors influence interindividual distance?
Age, sex, kinship, status, social context, culture.
What is proxemics?
The study of social spacing and spatial norms.
What is a home range?
The area containing all vital and reproductive resources.
What defines a territory?
A delimited and defended space with priority access to resources.
When is territorial behavior adaptive?
When the benefits exceed the energetic and predation costs.
What defines migration?
Round trips between seasonal areas to access unavailable resources.
What characterizes migration?
Long-distance travel, high energy cost, linear routes, goal-directed behavior.
What guides migratory routes?
Innate programs, ecological cues, solar, stellar and magnetic compasses, biological clocks.
What are the advantages of social spacing?
Prevents interference when fleeing
Prevents food competition
Regulates group travel
Makes parasite transmission more difficult
Classified species (tolerance to proximity)
Gregarious species: tolerate continued physical contact
Solitary species: little or no tolerance to physical proximity
What is the home range?
The space where all vital and reproductive resources are concentrated.
What are fixed points?
Points where different activities happen (feeding, drinking, resting, sleeping, shelters, marking).
What are core areas?
The most used fixed points, usually central areas with maximum protection.
What is a territory?
A delimited and defended space.
What is the total activity space?
The total space occupied by an individual throughout its life.
What are the advantages of territorial behavior?
Priority access to resources
Reduced competition
Increased reproductive success
What are the disadvantages of territorial behavior?
Energetic costs of defence
Increased predation risk
Time investment
What is intraspecific territoriality?
What is interspecific territoriality?
Territorial defense against conspecifics.
Territorial defense against individuals of other species.
erritoriality adaptive?
Q: Why is intraspecific territoriality adaptive?A:It reduces competition for resources within the same species.
Q: Why is interspecific territoriality adaptive?A:It reduces competition between species with overlapping ecological niches.
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