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Behavioral Ecology of Vertebrates (Long Description) Behavioral Ecology focuses on how organisms use behavior to maximize their fitness in the ecological setting in which they find themselves. In the early days of this class we will study the ecological communities near the wilderness field station, learning how to identify the major plant species present and read past disturbance history (recovering burns, secondary succession after clear-cutting, regenerating beaver meadows, patterns of bog succession, for example) so that we understand the places that animals select for their home ranges. Then, starting with birds amphibians and reptiles, we will survey the members of the five classes of vertebrates found in Northern Minnesota so that we know how to identify the “players” that we will select to answer behavioral ecological questions and something of their lifestyle and how that affects where they are found and what they do there. This introductory material provides background understanding of the vertebrates that are our study subjects. Then we will focus on various questions of behavioral ecology through readings discussions, field observations, data collection and analysis, and short lectures. Some major topics include: How birds use vocal behavior to attract mates, defend territories and how we can use their vocal behavior to look for species patterns in habitat choice. Mating systems and why they are adaptive. For instance, why is it adaptive for 90% of the bird species to be socially monogamous, while 90% of mammals are polygynous? What is different about the ecology of loons,owls and raptors which makes it adaptive for them to truly be genetically monogamous, while most of the song birds are socially monogamous (having the appearance of monogamy while stealing some extrapair copulations “on the side”)? How do small mammals select habitat, and are they territorial, or not, monogamous or polygamous? What is the phenology of frog, toad and tree frog breeding (we can identify them by sound)? How do anuran amphibians choose mates (or do they)? What prey do fish select, and how does this correlate with they body form? How do mammalian dental patterns permit us to identify skulls to species, and how do these dental formulae correlate with food choice and foraging habits? Why are some species solitary, while others are social and found in groups? Why are these and other behavioral patterns adaptive (or are they?)? We will spend as much time outside either working from canoes or on foot as we possibly can. We will identify vertebrates we encounter by the clues they provide us (song in birds, and calls of anurans (frogs, toads, and treefrogs) for example, scats and other “sign” of mammals, visual identification of all vertebrates and some invertebrates we encounter. Some days we will collect systematic behavioral data (for instance, the rate of visits by hummingbirds to feeders containing different concentrations of sugar in water), appearance of new behaviors and the frequency at which they occur as loon chicks mature, activity data and movement patterns of mammals at times, the clues male anurans use to decide whether or not to attempt sex etc. But something that is so different about field station classes from those you have taken on campus is that we are always “out of control.” So we will be alert to “experiments of nature” that present themselves and we will change our plans frequently to learn from what nature presents us at that moment! If we were to encounter a moose feeding in a wild rice bed, for instance, of 1 course we would watch its behavior and try to understand what food it selects, and what it rejects. If we found a loon hunting to supply its chick with food, of course we would collect feeding rate data and try to determine what it is catching. If an osprey was circling, looking for a fish to grab, of course we would watch how its various body part are used to grab and capture its fish. Working individually or in pairs, students will carry out individual research projects on topics they find interesting, using appropriate scientific techniques. These projects will result in a paper written in scientific format. We collect data while at the field station, and reduce it for an oral report in the last days of the class, but final papers are written after you return home. I will read and evaluate a preliminary draft then grade the final paper that is due by September 1. Examples of some topics that students have studied in past years include: How short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda) kill mice, how they proceed to eat a mouse, and the rate of disappearance of mouse in the day after a kill; Clues that garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) use to decide whether or not to attack a prey animal, and how they ingest their prey; Choice by hummingbirds in selecting nectar of different sugar concentrations; Whether game fish like Northern Pike (Esox lucius) prefer the invasive rusty crayfish to native crayfish, and how crayfish thwart predation by gamefish; Dominance relations in male and female finches at feeders, based on who displaces whom. Some things you will need specifically for this class, include one or more waterproof field notebooks that fit easily into a day pack and a supply of pencils; good binocularsthe sharper and higher the magnification (many are 7X but 8 or 10X might give you better resolution) the better you will be able to observe; an appropriate notebook for taking class notes; a good bird guide if you have one (I prefer Robbbins et al, Birds of North America, available at any bookstore because of the sonagrams it contains. A camera is nice, but modern cell phones are amazing. Of course you won’t be able to call out of it, but you can take images through binoculars! Bring a daypack to carry these items, suntan lotion, mosquito spray, rain gear and other sundries when we go on outings. Grades will be based on several exams, quizzes, and the final paper, as well as your contribution to the class in all ways. From your behavioral ecology class, then, we expect you will learn to “read” plant communities, identify many species of vertebrates, understand the big questions that behavioral ecologists ask and how to approach answering them, become a skilled canoeist and camper and learn a lot about yourself while you learn a lot about the near boreal forest and the life in them. I am excited to share this class and the wilderness field station with you, and trust that this may well be “the learning adventure of your life” (so far!. 2