Download Behavior and Ecology of Vertebrates

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
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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!.
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