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Journal ArticleDOI

On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution in birds

01 Mar 1969-Acta Biotheoretica (Kluwer Academic Publishers)-Vol. 19, Iss: 1, pp 37-44
TL;DR: In this article, the Dickcissel sex ratio is employed as an indirect index of suitability and a sex ratio index was found to be correlated positively with density, consistent with the hypothesis that territorial behavior in males of this species limits their density.
Abstract: This example is provided so that non-theorists may see actual applications of the theory previously described. The Dickcissel sex ratio is employed as an indirect index of suitability. A sex ratio index was found to be correlated positively with density. This is consistent with the hypothesis that territorial behavior in the males of this species limits their density. This study provides a valid example of how the problem can be approached and offers a first step in the eventual identification of the role of territorial behavior in the habitat distribution of a common species.

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Citations
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Book
01 Jan 1998
TL;DR: In this book the authors investigate the nonlinear dynamics of the self-regulation of social and economic behavior, and of the closely related interactions among species in ecological communities.
Abstract: Every form of behavior is shaped by trial and error. Such stepwise adaptation can occur through individual learning or through natural selection, the basis of evolution. Since the work of Maynard Smith and others, it has been realized how game theory can model this process. Evolutionary game theory replaces the static solutions of classical game theory by a dynamical approach centered not on the concept of rational players but on the population dynamics of behavioral programs. In this book the authors investigate the nonlinear dynamics of the self-regulation of social and economic behavior, and of the closely related interactions among species in ecological communities. Replicator equations describe how successful strategies spread and thereby create new conditions that can alter the basis of their success, i.e., to enable us to understand the strategic and genetic foundations of the endless chronicle of invasions and extinctions that punctuate evolution. In short, evolutionary game theory describes when to escalate a conflict, how to elicit cooperation, why to expect a balance of the sexes, and how to understand natural selection in mathematical terms. Comprehensive treatment of ecological and game theoretic dynamics Invasion dynamics and permanence as key concepts Explanation in terms of games of things like competition between species

4,480 citations

Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: Fast and frugal heuristics as discussed by the authors are simple rules for making decisions with realistic mental resources and can enable both living organisms and artificial systems to make smart choices, classifications, and predictions by employing bounded rationality.
Abstract: Fast and frugal heuristics - simple rules for making decisions with realistic mental resources - are presented here. These heuristics can enable both living organisms and artificial systems to make smart choices, classifications, and predictions by employing bounded rationality. But when and how can such fast and frugal heuristics work? What heuristics are in the mind's adaptive toolbox, and what building blocks compose them? Can judgments based simply on a single reason be as accurate as those based on many reasons? Could less knowledge even lead to systematically better predictions than more knowledge? This book explores these questions by developing computational models of heuristics and testing them through experiments and analysis. It shows how fast and frugal heuristics can yield adaptive decisions in situations as varied as choosing a mate, dividing resources among offspring, predicting high school drop-out rates, and playing the stock market.

4,384 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The objectives of this paper are to make predictions regarding species and envi- ronmental types for which the density- habitat quality relationship is likely to be decoupled, and to make examples of situations in which this correlation does not hold.
Abstract: Current methods of evaluating wildlife habitat for management purposes can be arranged in a hierarchy of increasing generality. The most general level is evaluation of wildlife habitat for entire com- munities on the basis of inferences drawn from vegetational structure. At the base of the hierarchy the high resolution studies, upon which accuracy at the higher hierarchical levels depends, usually assume that habitat quality for a species is positively correlated with the density of the species. If habitat quality for a wildlife species is a measure of the importance of habitat type in maintaining a particular species, habitat quality should be defined in terms of the survival and production characteristics, as well as the density, of the species occupying that habitat. Situations in which habitat quality thus defined is not expected to be positively correlated with density are described, along with the species and environmental characteristics that are most likely to produce these situations. Examples drawn from the literature in which density and habitat quality are not positively correlated are described. The positive correlation of density with habitat quality in specific instances cannot be assumed without supporting demographic data. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 47(4):893-901 The foundation of any wildlife habitat management plan is the ability to assess habitat quality accurately. Without this key ingredient, the effort put into care- fully prepared objectives and elegant cat- egorizations of habitat types is largely wasted. Yet biologists often dwell on ob- jectives and categories while treating lightly the assumptions implicit in their assessments of habitat quality. For in- stance, they seldom question the assump- tion that the density of a species in a hab- itat is a direct measure of the quality of that habitat. Perhaps this is because any more accurate investigation of habitat quality to truly reflect the importance of that habitat in maintaining wildlife species populations must be intensive, often at the expense of the broader information base that could be achieved by simple surveys. Such surveys are a particularly common means of evaluating nongame wildlife habitat. The objectives of this paper are to pro- vide some examples of situations in which this correlation does not hold, and to make predictions regarding species and envi- ronmental types for which the density- habitat quality relationship is likely to be decoupled. In such cases, management policies based directly on species abun- dance may be misleading and these errors may be amplified when management ap- proaches are restricted to the higher levels of the hierarchy. This paper is dedicated to the late 0. C. Wallmo, who was always eager to dis- cuss ideas and whose refusal to be any- thing but completely honest in evaluating his own ideas, objectives, and research ideas, as well as those of others, set an example for us to follow.

2,312 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A conceptual framework depicting the interplay among four basic mechanistic components of organismal movement is introduced, providing a basis for hypothesis generation and a vehicle facilitating the understanding of the causes, mechanisms, and spatiotemporal patterns of movement and their role in various ecological and evolutionary processes.
Abstract: Movement of individual organisms is fundamental to life, quilting our planet in a rich tapestry of phenomena with diverse implications for ecosystems and humans. Movement research is both plentiful and insightful, and recent methodological advances facilitate obtaining a detailed view of individual movement. Yet, we lack a general unifying paradigm, derived from first principles, which can place movement studies within a common context and advance the development of a mature scientific discipline. This introductory article to the Movement Ecology Special Feature proposes a paradigm that integrates conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and empirical frameworks for studying movement of all organisms, from microbes to trees to elephants. We introduce a conceptual framework depicting the interplay among four basic mechanistic components of organismal movement: the internal state (why move?), motion (how to move?), and navigation (when and where to move?) capacities of the individual and the external factors affecting movement. We demonstrate how the proposed framework aids the study of various taxa and movement types; promotes the formulation of hypotheses about movement; and complements existing biomechanical, cognitive, random, and optimality paradigms of movement. The proposed framework integrates eclectic research on movement into a structured paradigm and aims at providing a basis for hypothesis generation and a vehicle facilitating the understanding of the causes, mechanisms, and spatiotemporal patterns of movement and their role in various ecological and evolutionary processes. "Now we must consider in general the common reason for moving with any movement whatever." (Aristotle, De Motu Animalium, 4th century B.C.).

2,133 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1986
TL;DR: Predators and food are the keys to understanding fish shoals; synchronised co-operation defeats predators, and optimal food gathering in shoals reflects a shifting balance between joining, competing in, or leaving the group.
Abstract: Predators and food are the keys to understanding fish shoals; synchronised co-operation defeats predators, and optimal food gathering in shoals reflects a shifting balance between joining, competing in, or leaving the group In the wild, predators may arrive while shoaling fish are feeding, and so vigilance is a crucial behaviour Once detected, predator defence takes precedence over feeding, since an animal’s life is worth more than today’s dinner

1,200 citations

References
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Book
01 Jan 1954

3,086 citations

Book
01 Jan 1962
TL;DR: Wynne-Edwards has written this interesting and important book as a sequel to his earlier (1962) Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behaviour, and reviewing it has proven to be a valuable task for one who normally is only at the periphery of the group selection controversy.
Abstract: Wynne-Edwards has written this interesting and important book as a sequel to his earlier (1962) Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behaviour. Reviewing it has proven to be a valuable task for one who normally is only at the periphery of the group selection controversy. My comments will be organized into three sections: one regarding the factual content of the book, a second attempting to relate my own expectations and predictions based on soft selection with facts described by Wynne-Edwards, and a third criticizing the argument that has been advanced for group selection. A number of important studies have been summarized in this book. Foremost is the extensive work on red grouse with which Wynne-Edwards has been associated for more than 30years. A great deal of ecological, physiological, nutritional, and behavioural information regarding this bird has been reviewed in seven chapters (pp. 84-170) with additional comments liberally sprinkled elsewhere. Anyone interested in avian biology who has missed this important study must read this book. Also extensively reviewed is the work of Michael Wade on group selection in Tribolium, the flour beetle. Wade's data are presented in enough detail that his work can be understood by those who have not seen the original publications. [Twice (pp. 210 and 233) reference is made to a 40-fold difference between two of Wade's selected lines, whereas the figure on p. 209 suggests that the difference is nearer 7-fold. Figure 11-16 also contains an error.] A number of other studies have been reviewed in some, but not exhaustive, detail. Among these are Smithers and Terry's analysis of immunology in schistosomiasis, Birdsell's studies of the social structure of Australian aborigines and Sewell Wright's shifting balance theory of evolution. Numerous other observations are cited in the text, none in so great detail as those mentioned here, and many in such rapid succession as nearly to overwhelm the reader. Many of Wynne-Edwards' conclusions are based on densityand frequencydependent selection, territoriality and the migration of individuals between and within populations at various heirarchal levels (in-groups, demes, populations and higher categories). Still, there is no mention of authors such as Howard Levene or Wyatt Anderson. Consequently, I feel justified in presenting

1,842 citations

Book
01 Jan 1966

1,572 citations