Behavioral ecology

Behavioral ecology, also spelled behavioural ecology, is the study of the <a href="/facts/Evolution/Hj0qAaBk">evolutionary</a> basis for <a href="/facts/Ethology/dM3CpysA">animal behavior</a> due to <a href="/facts/Ecology/YE8upuJU">ecological</a> pressures. Behavioral ecology emerged from <a href="/facts/Ethology/dM3CpysA">ethology</a> after <a href="/facts/Niko_Tinbergen/aAISrhrM">Niko Tinbergen</a> outlined <a href="/facts/Tinbergen%2527s_four_questions/2yMa03CF">four questions</a> to address when studying animal behaviors: what are the <a href="/facts/Proximate_cause/El1K6rEk">proximate causes</a>, <a href="/facts/Ontogeny/ckqaQlL7">ontogeny</a>, <a href="/facts/Adaption/5K2gNpDB">survival value</a>, and <a href="/facts/Phylogeny/f5vVEpeY">phylogeny</a> of a behavior?
If an organism has a trait that provides a selective advantage (i.e., has adaptive significance) in its environment, then <a href="/facts/Natural_selection/JXTte6en">natural selection</a> favors it. Adaptive significance refers to the expression of a trait that affects fitness, measured by an individual's reproductive success. Adaptive traits are those that produce more copies of the individual's genes in future generations. Maladaptive traits are those that leave fewer. For example, if a bird that can call more loudly attracts more mates, then a loud call is an adaptive trait for that species because a louder bird mates more frequently than less loud birds—thus sending more loud-calling genes into future generations. Conversely, loud calling birds may attract the attention of predators more often, decreasing their presence in the gene pool.
Individuals are always in <a href="/facts/Competition/FpQaEhHv">competition</a> with others for limited resources, including food, territories, and mates. Conflict occurs between predators and prey, between rivals for mates, between siblings, mates, and even between parents and offspring.

Behavioral ecology open-in-new

Behavioral ecology