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UNIT 3: BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY

3.0 Intended Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this learning packet, the students are expected to:

a. Identify the different types of communication signals;

b. Describe the types of learned behavior;
c. Explain how altruistic behavior can benefit a species;
d. Compare instinctive and learned behavior;
e. Write an essay that points out the benefits and costs of group living;
and
f. Illustrate an example of sexual selection in animals.

Introduction
Have you ever strolled in a forest and observed how varied the creatures
living there are, from ferns to trees to mushrooms? Have you ever gone to
a road trip and saw the scenery change outside the window, from
towering stands of coconut palms to grassy plains to mangrove forests? If
so, you've had a taste of ecology.
Ecology is more than just diverse woodlands, virgin forests, and
gorgeous panoramas, though. Have you ever discovered cockroaches
beneath your bed, mold growing in your bathroom, or fungus spreading in
between your toes? If this is the case, then you've witnessed equally valid
forms of ecology in action.
This unit will help you understand the concepts under behavioural
ecology.

Pre-test

To assess yo
ur prior knowledge of the topic to be discussed,
nswera the
following questions in a sentence.
1. What animals live in groups
? Cite at least three
example
s.
2. Do animals act nice to other animals? Provide an example.
3. How do peacocks court peahens?

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Well done! Let us now proceed to our lesson.
3.1 Instinct and Learning
Animal behavior includes all the ways animals interact with other
organisms and the physical environment. Behavior can also be defined as
a change in the activity of an organism in response to a stimulus, an
external or internal cue or combo of cues. Behavior is shaped by natural
selection. Many behaviors directly increase an organism's fitness, that is,
they help it survive and reproduce.
To fully understand a behavior, we want to know what causes it, how it
develops in an individual, how it benefits an organism, and how it evolved.
Some behaviors are innate, or genetically hardwired, while others are
learned, or developed through experience. In many cases, behaviors have
both an innate component and a learned component.

Instinctive behavior
Instinctive behavior is behavior that's genetically hardwired in an
organism and can be performed in response to a cue (stimuli) without
prior experience.

 Reflexes - an involuntary and rapid

response to a stimulus, or cue. For
example, a newborn baby will suck at
anything that touches the roof of its
mouth. This reflex helps the baby get
food by ensuring it will suck at its
mother's breast or a bottle placed in its
mouth.

Instinctive responses are advantageous only if the triggering stimulus

always signals the same situation.

Learned behavior
In general, a learned behavior is one that an organism develops as a
result of experience. Some instinctive behavior can be modified with
learning. Learning may occur throughout an animal’s life, or it may be
restricted to a critical period.

a. Imprinting - is a simple and highly

specific type of learning that occurs at a
particular age or life stage during the
development of certain animals, such as
ducks and geese. When ducklings hatch,

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they imprint on the first adult animal they see, typically their mother, and
the sight of the mother acts as a cue to trigger a suite of survival-
promoting behaviors, such as following the mother around and imitating
her.
b. Conditioned responses
1. Classical conditioning - a new stimulus is associated with a
pre-existing response through repeated pairing of new and
previously known stimuli.
2. Operant conditioning - an animal learns to perform a
behavior more or less frequently through a reward or punishment
that follows the behavior.
c. Other types of learned behavior
1. Habituation - is a simple
form of learning in which an
animal stops responding to a
stimulus, or cue, after a period
of repeated exposure. This is a
form of non-associative learning,
meaning that the stimulus is not
linked with any punishment or
reward.
2. Spatial learning – many animals learn about the landmarks
in their environment and form some sort of mental map. This mental
map may be put to use when the animal needs to go home.
3. Social learning – animals learns the details of their social
landmarks, allowing them to recognize mates, offspring, or
competitors by appearance, calls, and/or odor.
4. Observational learning – an animal imitates the behavior of
another animal.

3.2 Movements and Navigation

a. Taxis and Kinesis

• Taxis - a form of movement behavior

that involves movement towards or
away from a stimulus. This movement
can be in response to l ight, known as
phototaxis; chemical signals, known as
chemotaxis; or gravity, known as
geotaxis—among other stimuli.

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• Kinesis - an organism changes its

movement in a non-directional way—
e.g., speeding up or slowing down—in
response to a stimuli. For example,
woodlice move faster in response to
temperatures that are higher or lower
than their preferred range.

b. Migration
Most animals move about daily to find food and avoid predators. Some
also migrate. During migration, an animal interrupts daily activity to travel
in a persistent manner toward a new habitat.

• Many animal migrations involve seasonal movement to and from a

breeding site (e.g. sea turtles)
• For other animals, migration to a breeding ground is a one-way trip
(e.g. Atlantic eel)
• Some animals have magnetic compass (i.e., they use latitudinal
variations of the Earth’s magnetic field to determine direction).
Example: European robin have magnetism-sensitive proteins
(cryptochromes) in their retina; salmon have magnetite in the cells
of their nose.

3.3 Communication Signals

Communication signals are evolved cues that transmit information
from one member of a species to another. Use of a communication
becomes established and persists only if signalling benefits both the signal
sender and the signal receiver. If signalling is disadvantageous for either
party, then natural selection will tend to favour individuals that do not
send or respond to it.

Types of Signals
a. Chemical signals
Pheromones convey information among members of a species. It
requires less energy than calling or gesturing, but it also coveys less
information. There are two types of pheromones:
• Signal pheromone – causes a rapid shift in the receiver’s
behavior.
Example: sex attractants that help male and female find each
other

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Priming pheromone – produces long-term responses
•
Example: Urine of male mice trigger ovulation in female
mice b. Acoustic
Vocal signals help many male vertebrates attract prospective mates,
and give alarm calls that inform others of potential threats.
Example: A prairie dog emits one type of bark when it detects an eagle
and another when it sees a coyote.

Figure. A prairie dog.

c. Visual
Visual communication is most widespread in animals that have
good eyesight and active during the day. Bird courtship requires both
visual and acoustic communication to display that the displaying
individual is a member of the correct species and is in good health.

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\\

Figure. Grebes birds flapping their wings to attract females is an example

of
visual communication.

d. Tactile display
With tactile displays, information is transmitted by touch. For example,
a foraging honeybee worker performs a waggle dance to convey the
distance, location, and quality of a food to its fellow honeybee workers.

Figure. The waggle dance explained.

3.4 Mating and Parental Behavior

Mating systems
Animal mating systems have been categorized into four:

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• Promiscuous – multiple mates for both sexes
• Polygynous – multiple mates for males only
• Polyandrous – multiples mates for females only
• Monogamous – single mate for both sexes
Promiscuity benefits both males and females by increasing genetic
diversity among the offspring they produce. Multiple matings also provide
another benefit: more offspring.
Female choice and Male-Male Competition
Competition for mates is another selective pressure in animals that can
shape form and behaviour.
In many insects and spiders, females choose among males based on the
gifts of food that they offer. For example, a female nursery web spider is
more likely to mate with a male if he approaches her with a gift of silk-
wrapped prey. By choosing a male who can provide such a gift, a female
receives a nutritional boost that helps her produce her eggs.
In some birds such as sage grouse, males converge at a communal
display ground called a lek. The few males who are most attractive to the
females will mate many times, while their less attractive counterparts do
not mate at all. It may seem strange for females to base their choice on a
male’s ability to sing and dance, but the healthiest males perform the
most stunning displays.
In other species, a male establishes a mating territory, an area that
includes resources that females need for reproduction. A territory is any
area from which an animal or group of animals actively exclude others.

Parental Care

Parental care requires time and energy that an individual could otherwise
invest in reproducing again. It arises only if the genetic benefit of
providing care offsets the cost.
• Most fishes provide no parental care, but in those that do, this duty
usually falls to the female. In many species, male guard eggs until they
hatch.
• In some cases, male fishes retain eggs or young on or in their body.
• In birds, two-parent care is most common.
• In about 90% of mammals, the female rears the young. In the
remaining 10%, both sexes participate. No mammal relies solely on
male parental care.

3.5 Group Living

is

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Group living defined as individuals of the same species
maintaining spatial proximity with one another over time with
mechanisms of social attraction. Solitary life in animals is
considered to be the ancestral state of living; and group living
has thus evolved independently in many species of animals. The
terminology varies depending on the taxonomic group or type
of social interactions between group members. For example, a
social group of fish is called a “shoal” and scientists use the
term “community” to define a group of chimpanzees.

Figure. Group of Philippine sardines (left), and vampire bats (right).

The maintenance of group living depends critically on these net benefits

outweighing the costs that an individual experiences from being in a
group. A key advantage is the ability for individuals in a group to access
information gained by other group members.

Benefits of group living

1. Increased foraging efficiency – when a member of the group

finds the best quality resource (e.g. food), it will produce signals that will
guide the other members to the location of the resource.

2. Access to potential mates – Females of a population will select

mates that result in the best quality offspring, while males compete
among each other to mate with a female. Group living provides the
presence of social information within the group, allowing both male and
female members to find and select potential mating partners.

3. Increased defense against predators – larger group of animals

can easily detect a predator nearby, a way known as “many eyes effect”.
It allows the individuals within a group to more effectively identify

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predators, allowing these individuals to flee or adopt postures to alert the
predators that their presence is known.

4. Conserve heat – In endotherms, group living behavior such as

huddling allows animals to conserve heat, thereby providing a distinct
energetic advantage, especially in cold environments.

Figure. Emperor penguins huddling on snow.

Costs of group living

1. Increased within-group food competition – individuals in groups
continually compete with one another for resources.

2. Klepto-parasitism – is where an animal steals food another

individual. Kleptoparasitism is particularly frequent when the energy
require to find food is high.

3. Increased risk of infection, transmission of parasites, and

diseases – Parasites spreads more easily when many hosts are in close
proximity, so the risk of disease/parasite transmission is higher in larger
groups that for solitary animals.

4. Infanticide – is a strategy used by males to increase their

reproductive success. In certain mammals, males kill infants who are
unlikely to have sired so that females can resume estrous and become
ready to resume mating.

5. Inbreeding – One price of group living is that it inherently entails

mating among relatives.

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6. Increased risk of predation – Large groups are more conspicuous

to predators than lone individuals. For example, a large school of fish is
more attractive to whales than smaller groups of fish.

3.6 Altruism
In many animal groups, individuals display altruism. Altruism is behavior
that decreases an individual’s fitness but increases the fitness of other
group members. Giving an alarm call is an example of an altruistic act; it
puts the caller at an increased risk of predation but reduces the risk to
others.

Figure. A prairie dog alerting its group members of a perceived threat is

an example of an altruistic act.

Field studies of social animals confirm that many altruistic behaviours are
preferentially directed at relatives. For example, dominant female hyenas
are more likely to risk injury by joining a fight to assist a relative than to
assist a non-relative. Some animals – such as whales and dolphins –
however, have been observed performing interspecies altruistic acts.

Sperm whal
es adopted a deformed
dolphin (2014)Moko saved stranded pygmy whales (2008)

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Figure. Interspecies altruism has been observed between whales and

dolphins.

Altruistic behavior can also arise through reciprocity, in which an

individual assists group members who have previously assisted it or may
assist it in the future.
REFERENCES
Mader, S.S., Windelspecht, M. (2018). Essentials of Biology 5th Edition.
McGraw Hill Education.
Molles Jr., M.C. (2014). Ecology Concepts and Applications. McGraw Hill
Education. Monson, R. K. (2014).Ecology and the environment. Springer
Science+Business Media New York.
Riisgård, H.U. (2018). General Ecology: Outline of contemporary ecology
for university students 2nd edition. Bookbon.
Starr, C., Taggart, R., Evers, C., Starr, L. (2019). Biology: the unity and
diversity of life 15th Edition. Cencage Learning Asia Pte Ltd.

Online References
Khan Academy. Animal behavior. Retrieved from khanacademy.org
Majolo, B., Huang, Pengzhen. (2017). Group living. DOI:10.1007/978-3-
319-478296_1865-1
Reuter. Dolphin saves 2 whales stuck on New Zealand beach. Retrieved
from reuters.com
Ward, A., Webster, M. (2016) Sociality: the behavior of group living
animals. Berlin, Germany: Springer
Vanthournout, B., Greve, M., Bruun, A., Bechsgaard, J., Overgaard, J., Bilde,
T. (2016). Benefits of Group Living Include Increased Feeding Efficiency
and Lower Mass Loss during Desiccation in the Social and Inbreeding
Spider Stegodyphus dumicola. doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2016.00018

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author would like to extend her gratitude to the review

committee for their guidance in the creation of this learning packet.
Images utilized in this learning packet are not mine and are taken
from works available in google.com, therefore all credit goes to its rightful
owners.

To the learner:

Hello! Good job on finishing our third learning packet for this course.
Please state your name, course, year and section when submitting your

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outputs online. You may send your outputs through the platforms
indicated below. See you on our next learning packet!

JESSICA ADONA
Messenger: Jessica Adona
Email: [email protected]

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