An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology

An Introduction to Behavioural Ecology

Stuart A. West

Language: English

Pages: 520

ISBN: 1405114169

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub


Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/davies/behaviouralecology

This textbook helped to define the field of Behavioural Ecology. In this fourth edition the text has been completely revised, with new chapters and many new illustrations and full colour photographs. The theme, once again, is the influence of natural selection on behaviour – an animal's struggle to survive and reproduce by exploiting and competing for resources, avoiding predators, selecting mates and caring for offspring, – and how animal societies reflect both cooperation and conflict among individuals.

Stuart A. West has joined as a co-author bringing his own perspectives and work on microbial systems into the book.

Written in the same engaging and lucid style as the previous editions, the authors explain the latest theoretical ideas using examples from micro-organisms, invertebrates and vertebrates. There are boxed sections for some topics and marginal notes help guide the reader. The book is essential reading for students of behavioural ecology, animal behaviour and evolutionary biology.

Key Features:

  • Long-awaited new edition of a field-defining textbook
  • New chapters, illustrations and colour photographs
  • New co-author
  • Focuses on the influence of natural selection on behavior, and how animal societies reflect both cooperation and conflict among individuals

“The long-awaited update to a classic in this field is now here, presenting new direc­tions in thinking and addressing burning questions. Richly informed by progress in many other disciplines, such as sensory physiology, genetics and evolutionary theory, it marks the emergence of behav­ioural ecology as a fully fledged discipline….. This is a marvellous book, written in a lucid style. A must-read for those in the field, it is also a cornucopia of new thinking for anyone interested in evolution and behaviour.”

Manfred Milinski, Nature, 2012

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Need kin discrimination Selfish restraint and kin selection Spite Summary Further reading Topics for discussion 307 308 313 318 322 325 327 331 332 333 12 Cooperation What is cooperation? Free riding and the problem of cooperation Solving the problem of cooperation Kin selection Hidden benefits By-product benefit Reciprocity Enforcement A case study – the Seychelles Warbler Manipulation Summary Further reading Topics for discussion 334 334 336 337 339 341 341 345 350 354 356 358 358 359 13.

Forest Insects 17 0 17 0 1 Savannah Insects 5 1 4 0 2 Forest Insects + seeds 3 0 2 0 1 Savannah Insects + seeds 1 7 1 0 7 Grassland Insects + seeds 1 1 1 0 1 Savannah Seeds 2 11 0 1 16 Grassland Seeds 0 15 0 13 3 (1) Species living in the forest tended to be insectivorous, solitary feeders, defend large territories and build cryptic solitary nests. They are monogamous and males and females have similar plumage. (2) Species living in the savannah.

Provides a lucid summary of why species should not be used as independent data points, even for evolutionarily labile traits. The statistical methods for modern comparative analyses are beyond the scope of this book; for recent introductions into the literature see Freckleton and Harvey (2006), Pagel and Meade (2006), Felsenstein (2008) and Hadfield and Nakagawa (2010). Freckleton (2009) reviews the seven deadly sins of comparative analysis. Further examples of comparative studies can be found in.

Mother and father of all the chicks? Why are the chicks begging so noisily and jostling to be fed? Surely this would attract predators to the nest. If we could follow our starlings over a longer period, we may then begin to ask about what determines how much effort the adults put into reproduction versus their own maintenance, about the factors influencing the timing of their seasonal activities, their choice of mate, the dispersal of their offspring and so on. Behavioural ecology provides a.

2011). (a) The relative stimulation of the four avian cone types (ultraviolet sensitive, short-, medium- and long-wave sensitive) is determined from reflectance spectra and the spectral sensitivity functions for each cone type. From Hart (2001). With permission from Elsevier (b) Egg colours are mapped in avian tetrahedral colour space; the position of a colour is determined by the relative stimulation of the four retinal cones. (c) Background colours and spot colours are then compared for cuckoo.

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