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Plant and Animal responses
AS 3.4 Animal Behaviour and Plant Responses
How, when and why plants and animals respond to external stimuli and internal instructions including inter and intraspecific relationships in order to ensure successful survival and reproduction.
Thinking hats on….
Can you think of a stimulus and its corresponding behavioural response for an animal and a plant?
Can you give the main difference between how animals and plants deal with a stimulus?
What is a habitat?
An organism’s habitat is the physical place in which it lives.
Lichens are found on rocks, trees, and bare ground.
Most frogs, like this leopard frog, live in or near fresh water, but a few can survive in arid habitats.
What does a habitat provide?
The habitat provides organisms with the following resources:
Food and water sources
Mating sites
Nesting sites
Shelter
Whereas the habitat does not change, the environment does.
The environment is everything that affects an organism egbiotic and abiotic factors.
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Abiotic (physical) FactorsThe abiotic factors influence the habitat in which an organism lives. These include:
humidity
sunlight
temperature
salinity
pH (acidity)
exposure
altitude
Depth
Each abiotic (or physical) factor may be well suited to the organism or it may present it with problems to overcome.
Biotic (living) FactorsThe biotic factors influence the habitat in which an organism lives. These include:
Food supply
predator
prey
parasites
Competition
Quick quiz
1) How can a tree be both a biotic and abioticfactor?
Food source and shelter.
Resources are factors that are competed for whereas conditions are factors that influence organisms without being used up.
2) Can you identify a factor that is both a resource and a condition?
Light.
Law of ToleranceThe law of tolerance states that “For each abiotic factor, an organism has a range of
tolerances within which it can survive.”
Examples of
abiotic factors
that influence
size of the
realized niche:
Tolerance range
Optimum range
Unavailable
niche
Marginal
niche
Num
be
r o
f o
rga
nis
ms
Preferred
niche
Marginal
niche
Unavailable
niche
Ecological Niche
The ecological nichedescribes the position of an organism in its environment.
A niche comprises:
the habitat in which the organism lives.
the organism’s activity pattern: the
periods of time during which it is active.
the resources it obtains
from the habitat.
Adaptations
Physical
conditions
Activity
patterns
Presence of other
organisms
Habitat
What could cause the difference between the fundamental and realised niche?
The fundamental niche of an organism is described by the full range of environmental conditions (biological and physical) under which the organism can exist.
The realised niche of the organism is the niche that is actually occupied. It is narrower than the fundamental niche.
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Gause’s Principle“No two species can occupy the same ecological niche in
the same place at the same time. One species will either die, shift away (emigrate) or change its niche.”
In the zone of overlap, interspecific competition is the most intense.
Zone of overlap
Species B
Resource use as measured by food item size
Am
ou
nt
eate
n
Species A
Liebig’s Law of the Minimum
“The essential environmental factor present in the least amount will limit the functioning of the organism.”
Ex. North Island farms lacked cobalt in the 1930s.
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Immediate Orientation in Animals
Behaviours come in two categories
Learned Innate
Imprinting: normally and not so normally
A learned response: behaviour soon after birth is triggered by something and then doesn’t change
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Behaviours come in two categories
Learned• Advantage: learned behaviours
give animals more adaptability to the environment
• Imprinting: means young recognise their parent and their species
Innate
Other learned behaviours
• Habituation: learning that a stimulus is of no importance (eg stock by a road) prevents an organism being in a constant state of alarm
• Conditioning eg learning to do things without “thinking” about it eg walk
• Trial and error: learning what is useful eg food sites, water holes, nest building materials, cat and hot stove.
Behaviours come in two categories
Learned• Advantage: learned behaviours
give animals more adaptability to the environment
• Imprinting: means young recognise their parent and their species
Eg: Imprinting, Habituation, Conditioning, Trial and Error
Innate
Behaviours come in two categories
Learned• Advantage: learned behaviours
give animals more adaptability to the environment
• Imprinting: means young recognise their parent and their species
• Usually involves vertebrates
Eg: Imprinting, Habituation, Conditioning, Trial and Error
Innate• Inherited
• Automatic responses to a stimuli
• Much of invertebrate behaviour is innate
Stimulus: The red belly of the invading male. Innate behaviour: Sticklebacks attacked nonfish-like models with red on the ventral surface.
Innate behaviour Example: Parent/young feeding behaviour in birds.
Sign stimulus: Parent landing at the nest, colour of beak.
Innate behaviour: The begging behaviour of newly hatched chicks (raised heads, open mouths, and loud cheeps).
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Instinctive behaviour
• A series of innate responses co-ordinated to achieve a certain result eg making a nest
• Often one action is the releaser for the next
• Same in the whole species (may be sex differences)
• Often if the sequence is broken, have to start again = “non thinking” process
Behaviours – big picture/ recap
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hREwakXmAo
Taxes
A taxis is a movement of an organism towards or away from a stimulus.
They are named according to the kind of stimulus and the direction of the response.
How are stimuli detected by animals?
What are the main effectors of a response?
What’s the taxis?
Negative phototaxis
Cockroach scuttles away from light
• Woodlice show a negative phototaxis.
• This would will result in them moving away from bright conditions towards darker regions. Brighter conditions tend to be drier and warmer than dark conditions so this behaviour will again result in decreased desiccation.
What’s the taxis?
Clam digs towards gravity
Positive gravitaxis/geotaxis
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What’s the taxis?
Land snail moves upwards when disturbed
Negative gravitaxis/geotaxis
What’s the taxis?
Mayfly nymph swims against a water current
Positive rheotaxis
What’s the taxis?
Mosquito attracted to heat
Positive thermotaxis
What’s the taxis?
Male silk moth attracted by pheromones
Positive chemotaxis
What’s the taxis?
Moth flies towards light
Positive phototaxis
phototaxis
Euglena and moths are positively phototactic
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Thigmotaxis – movement in response to touch.
Hydrotaxis – movement in response to water.
Klinotaxis – side-to-side movement in response to stimulus (blowfly larvae)
Tropotaxis – straight line movement in response to stimulus due to pairs of sensory organs on either side of organism.
Kinesis
• A kinesis is non-directed orientation – moves, but not towards or away from a stimulus.
• The amount of movement is related to the intensity of the stimulus
Orthokinesis
Intensity of stimulus determines the speed of movement.
e.g. slaters move slower in damper air.
Klinokinesis
Intensity of stimulus determines the frequency of turning.
e.g. flatworms turn more often in light making more likely they will turn back into the dark.
Klinokinesis is a change in the rate of turning
• Slaters show both an increased speed of movement and increased rate of turning in dry conditions and slower rates of movement in more humid conditions.
• This response will result in them accumulating in more humid regions and so will not lose water from their bodies.
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• What is the stimulus with thigmokinesis and what would you expect to see?
• Stimulus is touch.
• Increased touch would mean more/less movement.
• Slaters show a positive thigmokinesis. This means they are less active when more of their body surface is in contact with other objects (including other woodlice). They will move around so that the maximum amount of their body is in contact with other objects.
• This behaviour results in woodlice forming groups or clumps and also means they will tend to congregate in cracks and crevices. In all these cases they will have better protection from desiccation and also predators.
Starter
• Recap Taxes and Kineses
• Workbook pg 50-53
This weeks workbook pages
• Timing responses – pg 43-49
• Due Monday
• And: remember to keep an eye on the blog page for the glossary words (will go up every lesson or 2).
Animal Behaviour -Timing
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Animal Behaviour –Timing
http://www.britannica.com/science/biological
-rhythm
Many animals show daily or seasonal rhythms in activity
• Daily (diurnal, nocturnal or crepuscular)
• Tidal
• Lunar
• Annual (hibernation, migration)
Rhythms may be behavioral (eg active or asleep) or physiological (eg changes in body temperature).
Diurnal, nocturnal or crepuscular?
Tidal Rhythm
Vs.
Why do tides affect animal behaviour?Link to their survival.
Semilunar Rhythm
Why do tides affect animal
behaviour?
Link to their survival.
Lunar Rhythm
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Length Rhythm Free running rhythm
example
12.4 hours tidal Circatidal crab activity on shoreline
14.8 days semilunar Circasemi-lunar
Marine reproduction
29 days lunar Circalunar marine reproduction
365 days annual Circannual rutting in deer
24 hours daily Circadian sleep-wake cycle.
The Environmental CuesThe Earth's Spin.
results in the solar day (approximately 24 hours). This is responsible for the light-dark cycle.
Result - many organisms are active in the day or at night.
Orbit of the Earth around the Sun.
Results in the year.
Earth’s elliptical orbit and its tilted axis causes the seasons as the Earth tilts towards and away from the sun.
Result - seasons dictate when animals can breed and when some must enter hibernation or migrate.
Orbit of the Moon around the Earth.
This generates the lunar month (24.53 days) and the lunar day (24.8 hours).
Result - many organisms have rhythms that correspond to these periods.
The gravitational pull of the moon also causes the
tides : generally 2 tides per lunar day i.e. every 12.4 hours.
Result - these can govern when tidal zone organisms can feed.
The combined effects of the sun and moons pull causes
neap and spring tides which occur every 14.79 days.
Result - for some marine organisms these may control when they reproduce.
• Organisms must be able to sense these rhythmic changes so that their behaviour is synchronised with it
• Is the cause of the synchronising internal or external?
Synchronisation may be:
• Exogenous: rhythm is controlled by an external environmental stimuli. Removing the stimulus removes the rhythm.
e.g. a barnacle's cilia will beat whenever the tide is in.
• Endogenous: rhythm is controlled by an internal biological clock.
• A combination of both exogenous and endogenous factors.
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How do we know if there is a biological clock?
It maintains a rhythm even when conditions are constant eg always dark, or always light, or constantly covered in water (tidal clocks).
Therefore the rhythmic behaviour must be
driven from within the organism ie must be
endogenous.
It maintains a rhythm even when conditions are constant iealways dark
• However, without an external cue, and in
constant conditions, the timing of this free
running endogenous rhythm gets slowly out
of synchronisation.
• This is because the period of the free
running endogenous rhythm has a frequency
that is not exactly the same as if the
external cue is present.
• A free running rhythm has no external cues and is under constant conditions.
• This cannot continue indefinitely and endogenous rhythms will eventually cease.
Human Activity Actogram When free running Zeitgebers could be:• Circannual:
• Circamonthly:
• Circadian:_____ or ______ or _______.
• Circatidal:tidal flow, position of moon and earths rotation.
• Circasemilunar:• highest and lowest tides.
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Daily physiological rhythms
If the rhythm continues in the
absence of external
zeitgebers it is called a
Biological clock.
Define the following terms…
•Environmental cue•Endogenous rhythm•Free running rhythm•Exogenous rhythm
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Since free running endogenous rhythms are not exactly synchronous with those of the environment there must be constant resetting or entrainment of the biological clock by an external cue known as the zeitgeber. The zeitgeber is usually dawn, dusk or water turbulence.
Essential for adjusting to seasonal changes and migration.
The shift in activity in response to a zeitgeber, is known as a phase shift .
Entrainment is the
process of shifting
the rhythm.
We suffer jet lag until this phase shift occurs.
Biological clocks:
• Control daily rhythms of the body: eg sleep, pulse, blood pressure, temperature, blood cell count, alertness,
• Prepare for migration: eg eating a lot
• Prepare for winter: eg storing food,
• Development of winter coat, hibernating.
• Enable solar or stellar navigation.
Biological Clocks in HumansIt is believed that the
biological clock in
humans is located in the
Hypothalamus
(the part of the brain that regulates the basic drives such as hunger, thirst and
sexual desire.)
How?
• The hypothalamus area of the brain and its pineal gland can sense light in animals
• This secretes melatonin, a hormone which regulates sleep-wake cycles, fluctuations in body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure.
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Advantages of biological clocks• They prepare a plant or organism for an event –
daily, or seasonal or tidal eg hibernation, feeding, migration
• Eg time reproduction: eg animals come on heat about the same time, carry out courtship rituals, release eggs or sperms.
• Clocks register local time which may be important if there is a certain time when it is best to feed or best to hide.
actograms
Human Activity Actogram
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Fiddler crabs live on estuary mudflats. The actogrambelow shows the activity pattern of a fiddler crab in normal environmental conditions.
Describe how many periods the crab has in a 24-hour period. 2
Explain why the crab’s activity starts later each day.Tides. The period between tides is slightly over 12 hours (12.4)/
tide gets later each day. (NO reference to biological clock –this negates answer
Another fiddler crab was placed under constant environmental conditions in the laboratory. The activity pattern is shown.
Explain what these results suggest about the control of the activity pattern in this crab.
The results suggest that the activity is controlled by a biological clock (endogenously). Because the periods are later each day under constant conditions.
Calculate the period of the rhythm under constant environmental conditions in the laboratory.12.5 – 14 hours
Explain the type of biological rhythm exhibited by the fiddler crabs.Circatidal because it occurs once every 12 hours
• The activity of many organisms is controlled by an internal biological clock.
Describe one benefit an internal biological clock provides an individual, compared with relying on external environmental cues
• An animal can anticipate or predict correct time for a specified activity eg feeding, sleeping, migrating if environmental cues are obscured or not available
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Practice questions
The chart below shows the activity of a weta
kept in a laboratory at 20OC.
From day 1 to 11 the weta was exposed to
12 hours light followed by 12 hours dark.
From day 12 it was kept in constant dark.
Free running period
• The time between repeats of behaviour in CONSTANTconditions
• In this case the behaviour starts later and later every “day” so it must be slightly longer than 24 hours
Daily rhythm = circadian rhythm
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Explain the activity pattern shown by the weta over the 30 days
• It was regularly active during periods of light during the first 12 days
• But it started progressively later when in constant conditions BECAUSE although it has a biological clock that keeps the rhythm, there is no zeitgeber to keep it in time. The endogenous free running period is slightly longer than 24 hours which is why it started activity later each day.
Endogenous or exogenous
• Endogenous because the rhythmic behaviour continued after being put in constant conditions
• This actogram was incorrectly labelled. (You knew that weta is nocturnal)
• This is how it should have looked
Light phase
Light phase
Day 1
Light phase
Day 2
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Light phase
Day 2
again
Light phase
Day 3
Light phase
Day 3
again
This makes for easier comparisons
cockroaches
The diagram above records the spontaneous activity of two species of cockroaches over several days. The dark phase is shaded.
(a) Compare and contrast the behaviour of the two species.
How are they the same?
How are they different?
A
B
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(c) Discuss what you would observe if C. subcorticaria had a
biological clock and C. undulivitta did not.
If C. sub had a biological clock I would observe that its behaviour
in the constant conditions would . . . . . . . . … because _ _ _ _.
However the rhythm _ _ _ _ _ ___
If C. und did not have a biological clock I would observe that its
behaviour in the constant conditions would _ _ _ __ _ __ __.
This is because _ _ _ __
Animal behaviour
Great migrations:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHGRtPYj0D0
Canada Geese -http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/goose_canada?source=relatedvideo
Godwits -http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Flight/Sci-Media/Video/Godwits-in-flight
Recap: Explain how you could find out if rhythmic behavior was driven endogenously or
exogenously.
Endogenous means …….
Exogenous means …….
I would put them in ___________ conditions.
If the rhythmic behaviour continued it is driven ________________
which means it has a ___________ _________
As the plains dry up, wildebeest (gnu) move north and west, to more permanent water and grazing, and return as rain returns to the south.
Migration
Migration is the seasonal movement from one location to another
It is active, predictable, preemptive, long distance and towards breeding/feeding sites.
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( I also changed the Header Code, which is displayed at the top of all of these free host-accounts....)
Humpback Whale Distribution & Migration
Home > Discover > Humpback Whale > Distribution Map
WHALES ON THE NET - http://www.whales.org.au the Online Voice of WHALES IN DANGER (WID)
BACKHOMEPAGETOP
( ... and the footer..)
CopyrightNotice
Humpback Whale
Most shining cuckoos over-winter in the Solomon Islands and near Papua New Guinea, returning to New Zealand in September.
light blue: breeding yellow: going north
orange: wintering grounds and going southLongest Animal Migration Measured: Flies 64000 km a year
Sooty S
hearw
aters
Migration tracks of Bar-tailed Godwits determined using satellite telemetry.
southbound
heading north
Wrybill Plover
August to February
Breed in river beds
February to August
In tidal areas and estuaries in NI
Why migrate?
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Advantages of Migration
• food
• energy
• size
• offspring
• variation
• predation
• colonisation
• plenty of food (away during winter)
• less energy required to keep warm
• those that migrate grow larger
• produce more offspring
• more genetic mixing
• reduces predation
• May lead to new colonisation
Disadvantages of Migration
• get lost
• eaten
• starve
• use too much energy and become exhausted
• can bring back new parasites or pests
Why would diurnal birds be nocturnal migrants?
• safer from predators
• more time during day freed up for foraging
• reduced threat of over heating/ dehydration
• wind direction is more stable at night
• Migrating birds are important ecologically as a food source for other animals.
• They also transport plankton, seeds etc, parasites such as ticks and lice, which can carry micro-organisms harmful to human health.
What instigates migration?
• maturation – salmon, eels
• day length getting shorter is the most common – sensed through skin by pineal gland in birds
• cooler temperatures
• can be innate
Navigation
Moving a particular course toward a specific destination
This requires a
• map sense (aware of latitude/longitude)
• sense of timing (internal clock)
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Methods of Navigation
• visual (landmarks, solar, light, stellar)
• magnetic fields (homing pigeons)
• chemicals (salmon)
• sound (bats)
Visual – Using landmarks
Some organisms use landmarks.
Must be able to sense TIME of day too and adjust course accordingly
Visual – Solar Navigation – the position of the Sun
NB: diagram is for N
hemisphere where sun
is to the south
Desert ants use
the position of
the sun for short distances
Some use a sun compass to orient
themselves.
Why must they
be sensitive to
more than just
the sun?
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• Bees use a sun compass to indicate the direction of a source of food
• And polarised light on overcast days
Some birds use thepatterns of the stars
This is learned behaviour
Stellar Navigation
Sound (sonar) navigation
Bats (ultrasound) and whales (infrasound) interpret sound waves that reflect off objects around them.
Some use earth’s magnetic field to navigate
Magnetic Fields Some have an inbuilt magnetic compass:
magnetite found in cells of some species.
Sunny
day
Overcast
day
Magnets on their back disoriented them No magnets
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Pages on timing responses (43-49)
• Comments? Questions?
This week pg 53-63
• Navigation, Migration, Homing
Chemical Navigation
Sockeye salmon use
smell to find their
home stream
Homing
The ability of certain animals to return to a given place when displaced from it, often over great distances.
May be daily eg roosting birds, or seasonal eg nesting
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Homing
• Limpets return to the same spot on the rock just before the tide recedes.
• Shell shape grows to precisely match the contours of the rock forming a better seal to the rock protecting from either predation or desiccation.
• It is thought that they follow pheromones in the mucus left as they move to find their way back.
Advantages of Homing
• back to a place of
warmth,
shelter
protection from predators
• to return to offspring after feeding
Interspecific relationships
Relationships between members of different species
Predator-prey
relationship
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• Advantages to the predator?
• Advantages to the prey?
• Advantages to the environment?
Which is the predator / prey?
Predation
sea star
chitons limpets fan worms anemones snails barnacles mussels
snails
competition for space
pre
dati
on
Predation
spec
ies
rich
nes
s
time
chitons, limpets,
snails, fan worms,
anemones,
barnacles, mussels…
A mixture…gooseneck barnacles, mussels…
only competitively superior
species
predators removed
What strategies can prey employ to increase
their chances of survival? Cryptic
colouration:
a form of camouflage
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Aposematic colouration is bright colouration that acts as a warning of effective physical or chemical defence.
Mullerian mimicry
In this type of mimicry two or more unpalatable species resemble each other. Both gain additional advantage since predators learn more quickly to avoid prey with this colouration.
BOTH HARMFUL!
Batesian mimicry In this type of mimicry the palatable/harmless species mimics an unpalatable/harmful species
Sounds may also be copied
HARMLESS!
HARMFUL!
Behavioural Defences
Structural Defences Chemical Defences
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Monarch butterfly larva Predator-prey Coevolution
• As predators have evolved to exploit their prey, prey have evolved to protect themselves.
• A genetic change in one leads to a genetic change in the other
• E.g. mammalian predators vs their prey….
• Plant has chemicals to deter insects so insects develop chemicals to neutralise the chemical so the plant develops another nasty chemical . . . .
InterspecificcompetitionConclusion from these experiments?
What principle do they illustrate?
Both species are harmed to a certain degree
Gause’s Principle
• Also known as the competitive exclusion principle or Gause’s Principle.
• Two species cannot compete for the same limiting resource for long.
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Write a simple explanation of why this shows Gause’s Principle
• It means that two organisms cannot occupy exactly the same niche.
Exploitation : Herbivory + -
• Animal eats plant
• Plant loses biomass and energy
The organism feeding on the other is called the parasite
The
para
site
usu
ally
doe
s no
t ki
ll t
he
hos
t
Parasitism + -
• Parasites can be endoparasites (inside the body) or
• ectoparasites (living outside the body) Tick ectoparasite on bird wing
Many birds and mammals use dust bathing
to rid themselves of external parasites
Ectoparasites
Bed bug (Cimex lectularis)
Human flea (Pulex irritans)
Head louse (Pediculus humanus)Mosquito vector for Dengue fever (Aedes
albopictus)
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Endoparasites
Taenia scolex (head
region)
Taenia proglottid
(reproductive segment)
Horse gut nematode
Sheep liver fluke
•Don’t look if squeemish!
• Obligate parasites cannot survive without a host, e.g….
• Facultative parasites can survive without a host,
• Much easier to imagine in non-animal species.
• e.g…Common examples are fungi like candida (causes thrush) and Amarilla (honey fungus – parasitizes trees)
• Which of these two types is less likely to kill its host?
Parasitoid
• Only a parasite for a while then kills its host and survives independently – it has a free living stage in its life cycle.
• National Geographic - Body Invaders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs
Plant Parasite plants that live on other plants. Can be hemi-parasites.
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Social Parasites
Takes advantage of hosts behaviour.
Co-existenceCompetition between two species may be
reduced by one or both species modifying a characteristic (i.e. evolving) e.g. feeding time, food type.
E.g. pipis are found near the high tide mark but cockles found near the low tide mark.
Mutualism (symbiosis) ++
Both organisms benefit from the relationship
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Facultative mutualism
Mutual relationship that is not essential for
the survival of either species.
Obligate mutualism
The relationship is essential for the survival of one or both species.
nitrogen fixing bacteria in the roots of legumes such as clover, pea, gorse and beans.
Eg
Many plants have mutualistic associations
with fungal mychorrhizae.
Mychorrhizae increase the capability of
plant roots to absorb nutrients.
In return, the host provides support and a supply of carbohydrates.
Lichens are a fungal-algal
mutual association. (symbiosis.)
The fungus provides a
protected habitat for the algae, and takes up water and nutrients for the algae.
In return, the algae provide
food for the fungus.
Lichens
Why an example of mutualism?
Herbivores have bacteria in their gut that
can digest the cellulose of the plant cells
they eat. In return they provide the
bacteria with food and a safe, warm home.
Many flowers are
adapted to be
pollinated by specific
organisms
What is this an
example of?
coevolution
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Commensalism +0• Commensalism occurs when one species benefits and the other is unaffected.
Epiphytes
• Epiphytes gain brighter
light for photosynthesis
while the host plant is
unharmed.
Amensalism 0-A relationship between two species in which one is harmed but the other is not affected.
For example, squashing insects while walking along
It is opposite to commensalism
• Eg an epiphyte drops from its tree and damages plants below.
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This week: Workbook pages 64-75
Antibiosis +-• An organism produces a chemical that keeps
others out of its space so reducing competiton
Eg Bacteria are inhibited by the antibiotic secreted by the penicillin fungus
Allelopathy - plant produces chemicals to prevent being eaten or stop competitors seeds germinating in its space Plants produce toxins that inhibit the growth of competing species.
Macrocarpa.
Relationship Species A Species B Example
Predation + - Lion and Antelope
Antibiosis & Allelopathy
+ -
Grazing + -
Competition - -
Mutualism + +
Commensalism + 0
Parasitism + -
Amensalism - 0
What type of relationship?
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• Pea crabs living inside shellfish. The crabs gain shelter and food scraps while the mollusc is unharmed. • Grazing mammals trample and destroy vegetation around
waterholes, creating bare zones. The mammals are unaffected by the loss as they go there primarily to drink and not to feed.
•On flax leaves, ‘notch’ caterpillars chew the leaf edges while ‘window’ caterpillars eat holes in the middle of the leaf.they occupy different niches.
Relationships occur between some birds (such as oxpeckers) and large herbivores (such as zebra, Cape buffalo, and rhinoceros). The herbivore is cleaned of parasites and the oxpecker gains access to food
Cape buffalo and oxpecker birds
•Barnacles growing on the shells of mussels.
Interspecific competition
may be reduced by:
Zonation
Stratafication
Succession
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zonation
Eg vegetation zones up a mountain from lowland bush to shrubs, to grassland to herbs to true alpine plants.
The animals alter accordingly.
zonation
A community changes over a geographic gradient because…
they are adapted for distinct geographic conditions egtemperature.
Zonation reduces interspecificcompetition because….
Stratificationreduces interspecificcompetition because…
birds feeding at different levels
eg kiwi on ground, fantail just above the ground, pigeon up high.
Grasslands show stratification too
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Eg on rock scraped clean by a glacier:
lichens (pioneer community)
mosses
grasses
small shrubs
bigger shrubs
small trees
big trees (climax community)
time
Sand dunes are stabilised by pioneer plants like marramgrass or pingao and replaced by grasses, shrubs and trees as water and nutrient content is built up in the sand.
Succession
Over time one community gets replaced by
another until it reaches a community that
does not change – the climax community.
Disruption (due to erosion, eruption, fire, glacial erosion), results in a distinct series of seralcommunity stages that slowly develop back to the climax community.
Succession…
…reduces interspecific competition because species are not present at the same time.
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Succession occurs as a lake slowly fills in
time
An investigation was carried out to find out the effects of grazing by deer on an area of grassland they frequented. From within the 22 year study period, a three year period was chosen when the deer population was small (as indicated by low catch number
Species Percentage frequency Mean height of each plant species (cm)
Start of 3 year period
End of 3 year period
Fescue grasses(Festuca spp.)
51 32 5.1
Sedges (Carex spp.) 11 8 3.7
Creeping bent grass(Agrostis)
10 5 1.4
Wild thyme (Thymusdrucei)
15 4 0.7
Gutierrezia sarothrae 13 45 18.6
Cirsium flodmanii 0 6 25.9
Mean height ofvegetation (cm)
2.3 17.5
(d)
An investigation was carried out to find out the effects of grazing by deer on an area of grassland they frequented. From within the 22 year study period, a three year period was chosen when the deer population was small (as indicated by low catch numbers). During this three year period, the percentage frequency of a number of plant species was determined, as well as the mean height of the vegetation. The results are shown in the table below.
Species Percentage frequency Mean height of each plant species (cm)
Start of 3 year period
End of 3 year period
Fescue grasses(Festuca spp.)
51 32 5.1
Sedges (Carex spp.) 11 8 3.7
Creeping bent grass(Agrostis)
10 5 1.4
Wild thyme(Thymus drucei)
15 4 0.7
Gutierreziasarothrae
13 45 18.6
Cirsium flodmanii 0 6 25.9
Mean height ofvegetation (cm)
2.3 17.5
a) Describe the effect of the reduction in deer numbers on the mean height of the vegetation over the three year study period and explain how the change in deer numbers caused this change.
(b) Explain the decrease in the percentages of the grass species over the three year period.
Species Percentage frequency Mean height of each plant species (cm)
Start of 3 year period
End of 3 year period
Fescue grasses(Festuca spp.)
51 32 5.1
Sedges (Carex spp.) 11 8 3.7
Creeping bent grass(Agrostis)
10 5 1.4
Wild thyme(Thymus drucei)
15 4 0.7
Gutierreziasarothrae
13 45 18.6
Cirsium flodmanii 0 6 25.9
Mean height ofvegetation (cm)
2.3 17.5
(c) Describe how the vegetation in the area might change further if the deer numbers remained low over the next ten to twenty years.
Species Percentage frequency Mean height of each plant species (cm)
Start of 3 year period
End of 3 year period
Fescue grasses(Festuca spp.)
51 32 5.1
Sedges (Carex spp.) 11 8 3.7
Creeping bent grass(Agrostis)
10 5 1.4
Wild thyme (Thymusdrucei)
15 4 0.7
Gutierreziasarothrae
13 45 18.6
Cirsium flodmanii 0 6 25.9
Mean height ofvegetation (cm)
2.3 17.5
(d) Name the community pattern that is seen in this study.
•Intraspecific interactions are…
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How Animals Communicate
An organism cannot live in isolation - it
needs to be able to communicate with other organisms, either of the same species or of different species.
For an animal, communication can mean the
difference between life or death.
Why communicate?Create a table with a column for ‘why’ and a second column for
‘how’
Visual displays can deter
predators, attract predators (to lead them away) or attract mates
Some animals produce repellent chemicals to keep predators away.
Fighting is harmful to the species so many species have displays that
reduce aggression.
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The positioning and intensity of the waggle dance in bees indicates to other bees the direction of food.
Chicks are often different colours to the adult. This may stimulate parental behavior from the adults, so that they do not see the young birds as competitors for mates or nesting sites.
Birds communicate by sound: eg to indicate this is their
territory, or as an alarm Chemical StimuliAnimals use chemical
stimuli for different
activities such as
mating, marking
territories, setting trails and identifying young.
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Many animals rub objects in their
habitat, depositing pheromones that
mark their presence
Cats detect smells in the roof of their mouth
• Female moths, which are active at night, use chemicals to attract mates.
• Males use their antennae to pick up its presence in the air.
• These chemicals are called pheromones
The spawning of mussels in a mussel bed is regulated by a chemical stimulus so that all of the mussels liberate their eggs and sperms into the water at the same time.
Ants
RelationshipsIntraspecific or Interspecific
And
Negative (Agnostic), Neutral or Co-operative
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Intraspecific RelationshipsIntraspecific relationships are aggressive or co-operative
interactions between members of the same species
Communication continued….
• Choose some vids
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/adaptations
How do animals communicate?
• What do you remember???
Communication
Why do animals need to communicate….
• With the competition?
• With prospective mates?
• With peers?
• With offspring?
Some stimuli are only given out by animals and plants at certain times of the year, generally in the breeding season
Many males change their behaviour in a way which will
attract females, or vice versa: courtship behaviour
Some male birds develop colourful plumage so that the females will be attractedby a visual stimulus as well as by sound.
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Courtship displays
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_yYC5r8xMI
The blue footed boobyThe blue-footed booby is distributed among the continental coasts of the eastern Pacific ocean from California to the Galapagos islands down to Peru. It is strictly a marine bird. Its only need for land is to breed and rear young, which it does along the rocky coasts of the eastern Pacific.
Foot facts:
• Blue feet indicate the current health condition of a booby.
• Brightness of feet decreases with age.
• Chicks cared for by fathers with brightly coloured feet had brighter coloured feet.
• Both parents share incubation and chick rearing responsibilities – they use their feet to keep the eggs warm.
• Females put less energy into egg production when cared for by males with duller coloured feet. Explain why this might be.
Group living Solitary organisms• Live alone most of the
time.
• May only mix with others during breeding
Orangutans are unusual in that unlike most other primates, they are solitary.
Many species of animals are found living in large groups
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Hunting as a group and hunting by oneself.
Sentinels means less time is spent looking for danger
The group works together to protect young
These animals stay in large groups for their own protection.
• A carnivore is more likely to see a large group of herbivores feeding together than a single herbivore.
• BUT it is much more likely that the carnivore will be seen by one of its members.
• This means that each herbivore is able to spend more time eating and less time looking around for danger.
Young are placed in the centre of the circle
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• A solitary gnu has little chance of escaping from a predator.
• If a herd of gnu are attacked by a predator, each individual has less chance of being caught.
Also, the predator is often "confused" with so much choice. If the predator hesitates over its choice of prey, the prey may gain enough time to escape.
Confusing the predator
Clumping can reduce heat and water loss
They are together in the same place because it offers each one of them better protection (safety in numbers), an available mate when the mating season comes around.
Colonial species form a group at nesting time.
Safety in numbers: particularly if your nest is to the centre
By all producing young at the same time, predators can’t eat them all, so improving the survival rate.
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In order for a group of animals to be truly social it has to show co-operation between its members and a division of labour.
Division of labour means that the jobs to be done are given to different members of the group.
This makes the group more efficient and successful and provides protection to the individual members of the group.
Social groups
In a beehive, different individuals are adapted to carry out different roles, together working for the benefit of the hive.
Honey bees
• The colony has only one queen whose function is to lay eggs
• The workers are all sterile females. Their functions are to feed and care for the larvae, build, clear and guard the hive and search for food. The workers change their jobs according to their ages.
Worker Bee's Activities
Day 1and 2: Cleaning the honeycomb cells and keeping the eggs and the larvae warm.
Days 3 to 6: Feeding the older larvae with beebread.
Days 7 to 11: Feeding the younger larvae with royal jelly.
Days12 to 17: Making beeswax and building honeycombs; moving food around the hive.
Days18 to 21: Guarding and ventilation the entrance to the hive.
Days 22 to 34: Visiting flowers to collect pollen and nectar.
Days 35 to 45: End of the life of a worker bee.
• The drone's only function is to mate with the young queen.
Disadvantages of living in a group
• Disease and parasites spread more readily
• There is competition for the resources they all need
• Crowded conditions increase conflict
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Other amazing animal groups
Lets talk about sex….or at least the before and after:
• Courtship behaviour• Pair bonds/ family groups• Reproductive strategies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_yYC5r8xMI
Intraspecific Interactions -Cooperative Behaviour
• Courtship behaviour
• Pair-bond formation
• Parental care
- Discuss
- Define
- Give the reasons and
- Advantages of these three behaviours
• Courtship pre mating behaviour to attract mate, select best mate, reduce aggression and allow mating, ensures same species are involved
• Pair bond - two organisms pair for a breeding season or for life, ensures survival of offspring, female cannot incubate and feed herself and offspring by herself.
• Parental behaviour Overcomes natural aggression to allow reproduction and care of young - young have good chance of survival
R strategy -typically oviparous (produce eggs)
• Many offspring and hope some survive on their own
• Eg fish, frogs, insects, turtles
• Survival may be assisted by jelly or shell covering the egg, burying them or building a case to protect them and adding food source to egg eg yolk
Reproductive strategies
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Reproductive strategiesK strategy - typically viviparous (young
develop inside parent)
• Produce fewer offspring, have parental care and putting some effort into their survival.
Eg mammals and birds and some reptiles.
More care needed if young are helpless (can’t walk or fly) or carnivorous (have to learn how to hunt)
Cut and order
Mating systems
monogamy (pair bonding)
Male stays with one female for the season – most birds (some for life eg albatross)
She cant produce his offspring without him; she can’t feed herself and incubate or feed young.
Gibbons are monogamous
polygamy
• Mate with several others in the season• Male mates with lots of females in the season = polygyny
• Female mates with lots of males in the season = polyandry (rarer)
• Several males and females mate with each other = polygynandry eg pukekos
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQI5KUfM2xc
Synchronised spawningWhen eggs and sperms are released at the same time by
lots of organisms eg
• coral spawns just after full moon for a couple of days in November
• salmon return to river of origin to spawn at the same time
Grunions spawn just after full moon from march to august
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Synchronised spawning advantages…
• Increases chances of fertilisation
• Too many adults / eggs / young at once for predators to get them all
Courtship
• http://humoncomics.com/archive/animal-lives
• This parental care requires behaviour to change from aggressive (competing for food) to co-operative.
• Normally it is the female that cares for the young but not always eg male seahorse gets pregnant!
•Stimuli called sign stimuli are of significance to cause this behaviour changeEg - round face of some young primates, gaping mouth of chicks, colour of young penguins
Parental Care
Cooperative Parenting
• More than just the parents look after the eggs and the young eg the helpers in a pukeko group, or all lionesses look after all young
Kin-selection
• favouring members of one's genetic family
• eg the pukeko helpers may not breed, but they are encouraging the survival of their family genes
Social insects
• Insect groups such as bees and ants
• Different groups have different roles.
• Generally some are sterile - they care for the reproductive members – but all are offspring of the same queen so they are ensuring the family genes are being passed on successfully.
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“In ornithology, monogamy is necessary for the provision of bi-parental care. Since both parents are usually needed from the brooding period to hatching, evolution has favoured the mutual support of the couple.”
In all species, the coloration and markings of chicks separate them from adults. Scientists believe that the chicks' coloration elicits parental behavior from the adults, and that adult penguins do not perceive the young birds as competitors for mates or nesting sites.
Reproductive strategies
• What is meant by each of the following terms:
• r strategy and k strategy
• mating systems: monogamy, polygyny, polygamy, polyandry, polygynandry, synchronised spawning
• co-operative breeding kin – selection
• social insects
Questions from last week – 64-75This week – 90-94 + 86-90
Territories and Home ranges Territory
An area around an animals home base that is defended from members of the same species
Home range
The area around a territory in which an animal searches for food and other resources but is undefended.
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The home range is the area that provides food, mates and other resources.
It is undefended and may overlap with the home range of other populations.
Territory is defined and defended by…
Pheromones
Song (birds) or other sound eg howler monkeys
Display
Scratched bark
Urine and dung piles
Communication: defining a territory
• Visual or Oral/ Aural displays
• Scent marking – cats
• Aggressive displays and fighting
Within the home range is the territory.
This area is for nesting, mating and/or feeding.
Territoriality is defence of the territory.
• Territories may be held by an individual, a pair or a group.
An Adélie penguin's territory is its nest.
The size of the home range and territory are determined by….
• availability of resources – more resources means a smaller territory.
• density of population
• aggression /place in hierarchy of the individual or group
• competition with other species for the same resources
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Aside: Fit for purpose
• A territory may not be maintained all year round, and it may change depending on the needs of the animal.
Advantages of
territoriality
Each animal has enough food, safe
breeding and nesting sites
Reduces the spread of disease
and parasites
Successful males have
best territory so best genes are handed
on
Become familiar
with resource locations
Unsuccessful males have no territory and no mate
Territories act as
population control.
Intruders and
defenders know their
roles.
Reduces intraspecificcompetition
A pride of lions
Lions live together in a group called a pride.
The pride is made up of one dominant male, between 4 to 12 lionesses and their cubs.
• The territory of the pride is between 15km2 and 100km2.
• The male marks the boundaries of theterritory by placing a mixture of scent and urine on bushes and twigs.
• He also roars loudly to let other animals know that he is there. Other lions are not allowed to hunt in the marked territory.
• The male cubs are chased out of the territoryby the dominant male when they are between 2 and 3 years old. The young males then have to look after themselves.
• When they are fully grown they can challenge a dominant male. If the younger male wins, the dominant male is chased out of the territory and any cubs which he fathered are killed.
• The lionesses co-operate in hunting for the pride. All of the lions eat together and the cubs have to fight to get their share. When food is scarce the lionesses eat and their cubs starve. In general, about half of the cubs survive and grow into adults. The females will not have another litter until the cubs are between 18 and 24 months old and are able to look after themselves.
• This prevents overcrowding within the territory.
• The females share the task of looking after the cubs. The lionesses will suckle cubs which are not their own.
• Note, however, that the females and the cubs are all related to each other.
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Advantages and disadvantages of territories
Benefits Costs
Note – territory cards
Advantages and disadvantages of territories
Benefits Costs
• Defending resources
• Access to mates
• Energy to defend it
• Energy to mark it
What is the ultimate cost or benefit to that individual or species– how does this strategy help or hinder the animals survival? How does it help or hinder the ‘improvement’ of the species.
Wekas (Gallirallus australis) are endemic flightless New Zealand
birds. The diagram below shows the relative sizes of territories held
by male wekas in two separate study locations; Kapiti Island bird
sanctuary, and a regenerating native bush area at Double Cove
close to Picton in the Marlborough Sounds. Territory size on Kapiti
Island averaged 1.96 hectares, while at Double Cove territory sizes
ranged between 2.6 and 15.8 hectares. Kapiti Island weka territoriesDouble Cove weka territories
Scale 1:100 000 (both diagrams)
• The researcher also observed that territorial birds were found up to 200 m into neighbouring territories at Double Cove, something never seen at Kapiti Island.
(a)Define territory.
(b) Describe TWO ways in which
wekas might maintain their
territories.
(c) Suggest TWO reasons why the
territories in the two locations
vary in size.
d) Why would a territorial weka be found in a neighbouring
territory at Double Cove, yet not at Kapiti Island?
• While the weka is territorial all year round,
many other common New Zealand birds
such as sparrows and starlings come
together in flocks after the breeding season.
Often all the flock roosts in one tree.
• (e) Give TWO possible advantages of this
flocking behaviour to an individual in the
flock.An albino weka
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The African hunting dog lives in a group called a pack. The pack shows a
wide variety of social behaviour.
The territory of the pack can be up to 520km2. The dominant male marks
the boundary with urine. No other pack is allowed to hunt in the
territory. The pack consists of between 8 to 20 members including both
males and females.
African hunting dogs
The Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise finds a new mate each season. In comparison Albatrosses mate for life.
(g) Discuss how each bird species benefits from its mating strategy
(
State TWO reasons why some animals have aterritory. For each reason, describe thebenefits this gives to the population.
Gannets nest virtually only apeck apart and defend theirterritories by calling andpecking at each other.
Territories are a characteristic of certain populations such as gannets.
This is a population ofAustralian gannets in NewZealand.
The Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise is a territorial bird. For most of the year, the male bird does not allow other birds, including females, into his territory.
a. Suggest ONE reason why the male Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise defends his territory.
b. Explain why neighbouring birds have different songs.
The males use song to mark their territory and warn off other birds. The songs from birds occupying neighboring territories will often be slightly different.
The Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise is a sexually dimorphic species. The female is predominantly brown with patches of black. The male in comparison has a conspicuous colouration with velvety black iridescent wings, sulphur yellow wing plumes and coral pink legs.
His tail has 12 long wire-like feather shafts.
Females of many bird species often select
the most colourful males as mates. What
does this suggest about the suitability of
such males as mates?
• Once mating has taken place only the female incubates the eggs and rears the young. The male takes no part in parental care.
• Discuss how the different roles of males and females in reproduction helps explain the differences in coloration of the two sexes.
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During the males elaborate courtship display the male sways his body rhythmically exposing his bright plumage and brushing his 12 tail plumes across the female.
(e) Describe TWO purposes of courtship behaviour.
Agnostic behaviour: Conflict between members of the same species.
Aggressive and Submissive Behaviours(Hierarchies and Territories)
Hierarchies
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0u5RK_IL6s
• What other animals do you know of that have hierarchies?
• What’s the best place to be in a hierarchy?
Hierarchies
A linear order of dominance within a social group.
Hierarchies are usually controlled by aggressive and submissive behaviours rather than fighting in order reduce the chance of injury to individuals
a.k.a – Pecking order
Biozone – pg 66-68
Tell me about Hierarchies…..
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Tell me about Hierarchies…..
• Linear order of dominance
• Means there is a “top dog” or alpha and at the other end an omega
• Usually dominance or submission is shown through displays rather than fighting.
• What animals do you know that form hierarchies?
The "peck" order
Usually, the number 1 animal (dominant) has the firstchoice of food and mates and can chase away the number2 animal (subordinate). Likewise the number 2 takespriority over number 3.
This means that each member of the group has a specific position on the social ladder.
Who gets to be “top dog”?
• Older
• Stronger
• Aggressive
• Larger
• Healthy
• Have offspring – kin alliance
• Know the territory
• Usually male
Who gets to be “top dog”?
Animals that hold higher positions in a hierarchy tend to have 'better genes.
Why is this a good thing…
• For individuals?
• For the group?
• For the species?
• A linear hierarchy has a ___ organism ("alpha") which ______ the whole group
• the second in line ("beta") dominates all but the _____ and so on.
• The "beta" is therefore ________ to the "alpha”.
Advantages of living in a social hierarchy:
For the species1. Reduces fighting and tension in the group
2. Reduces competition once established
3. Often results in only dominant individuals reproducing (passing on the strongest genes)
For the individual1. Increased survivorship because weaker
protected by stronger
2. Better and safer access to resources and mates
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Social hierarchies only work when…
• Each animal recognises • every other member of the group.• various displays from other members
• The group is stable over a long period of time.
Social hierarchies exist because…
• There is advantage to the individual – protection, resources and mates.
• Hierarchies reduce fighting and competition within a group
Changes in the pecking order take place ifone animal successfully challenges anotherone. Aggressive Vs Submissive
Costs + Benefits Costs and Benefits
Cost:• Costs energy• Risk of death or injury
Costs:• Less resources• Poor access to mates
Benefits:• Better access to resources• Better quality mates
Benefits:• Save energy• Less risks associated with fighting (sometimes)
What’s the point?
Pukeko and Weka
Describe the behaviourIs it Aggressive or Submissive?
• Raised feathers/ feet?• Upright stance?• Pointed forward?• Beak High?• Tail feathers/ vulnerable parts showing• Turning away• Head down• Body lowered
Aggressive Vs Submissive
Displays of aggressive behaviour Displays of submissive behaviour
• Raised feathers/ feet • Tail feathers/ vulnerable parts showing
• Upright stance • Turning away
• Pointed forward • Head down
• Beak High • Body lowered
How can we, and other members of your species tell?If I were a Pukeko……. (NB: there are some great examples of wolf dominant and submissive behaviour on your one note).
Biozone – pg 62
NB: more on animal communication next weekBiozone – pg 60
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Costs and benefits
Advantages of maintaining a hierarchical social group Disadvantages of maintaining a hierarchical social group
Costs and benefitsAdvantages of maintaining a hierarchical social group
Disadvantages of maintaining a hierarchical social group
The alpha male is the strongest, largest, fittest animal and he has mating rights to the females. This ensures that his genes are the ones that are being passed on to the offspring. The species benefits because the offspring are genetically fitter.
The less fighting over food and other resources. More dominant individuals have the rights to resources, ensuring they are in the best physiological state for reproduction. It also means that less individuals get hurt in fighting over food resources.
Individuals at the bottom of the pecking order survive on scraps and leftovers. They therefore receive less nutrition and are in poorer physiological state.
Fighting is inevitable, especially when challenging for higher positions on the pecking order. This can lead to injury which may prevent certain individuals from reproducing.
The term pecking order originates from studies of relationships among hens.
The following set of data shows the interactions of six free range hens.
1) Write the letters of the hens in order from most dominant to least dominant
2) Which hen appears to be challenging for a higher position in the hierarchy?
3) Hens are female. Describe two factors (besides sex) that could influence an individual’s position in the hierarchy.
4) Many other bird species and most primates exhibit hierarchical behaviour. Describe three advantages of this type of social organisation to either the group or the individual.
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Hierarchies in wolvesWolves are found in the wild only in northern Europe, Canada and the northern states of the USA. They are very social animals, living in family packs of up to 20 wolves.
The pack is well organised with a dominant animal, generally a male, as the alpha wolf. Next is the beta wolf who acts as the disciplinarian to reinforce the alpha’s decisions. The omega wolf is the lowest ranking member of the pack. The other wolves rank between the beta and the omega wolves.
Describe the social structure seen in wolf packs
Wolves are often seen grooming each other and taking part in play fights
2. Describe how the following behaviours are important in maintaining the social structure of the pack
Grooming
Play fighting
Young males will often leave the pack to find a mate and form a new pack
3. Explain how this benefits the wolf species.
The images show two behaviours commonly seen in wolves
4. Which behaviour is associated with the omega wolf?
5. Explain why the omega wolf would display this behaviour
The omega wolf is the last to get access to food and may be chased away from areas favoured by the dominant wolves. Despite this the omega wolf remains within the pack.
Describe two advantages to the omega wolf remaining within rather than leaving the pack.
Wolf packs in Europe are generally much smaller than those in Canada
2. Explain why pack sizes might be smaller in Europe?
Practice Question: Olive Baboons
Home ranges and daily ranges have been recorded for some olive baboon troops in Africa. The data for troops in four areas is recorded in the table.
• Explain what the term home range means.
• Explain how environmental factors impact on BOTH the home range size and the daily range of olive baboons.
• You must include the given information in your explanations.
Area Approximate home range size (km2)
Approximate daily range (km)
Average troop size Habitat Yearly rainfall (mm)
Bole Valley,Ethiopia
0.745–1.12 0.3–2.0 15–24 Mixed forest and grassland
2000
Ishasa,Uganda
3.88–5.18 0.2–2.4 60 Forest and shrub-land
1100–1600
Gilgil, Kenya 19.7 2.2–7.8 49 Open grassland and shrub-land
500–1000
Laikipia Plateau, Kenya
43.8 5.64 100 Dry grassland 400–600
QUESTION ONE: BEHAVIOUR IN AUSTRALASIAN GANNETS
Australasian gannets, Morus serrator, are known as colonial breeders. During the summer, large colonies of birds can be found within gannet colonies, where breeding pairs fiercely defend their individual nesting territories. However, recent studies have shown that when foraging at sea, the same birds show no territorial behaviour across their chosen feeding areas, and yet they appear to maintain largely separate foraging areas at sea, specific to the particular colonies they belong to when nesting on land.
Gannets display territorial behaviour when nesting on land, but not when foraging at sea.
Discuss the reasons why Australasian gannets appear to behave as described above.
In your answer:
• describe territorial behaviour
• use biological ideas to explain why the territorial behaviour provides adaptive advantages for the gannets
• justify possible reasons why the Australasian gannets appear to maintain separate foraging areas when at sea.
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Review:
• Members of the same species have the same requirements = have the same ecological niche.
• Competition within a species for resources is called intraspecific competition.
• Hierarchies and Territories partition resources within a species.
Build a class Hierarchy
• Use your epic arm-wrestling skills to create a class Hierarchy
• Winners play winners, losers play losers to work out an “order of dominance”
Build a class Hierarchy
• Use your epic arm-wrestling skills to create a class Hierarchy
• Winners play winners, losers play losers to work out an “order of dominance”
• Was there anything other than physical prowess on display (ie smack talk/ posturing)?
• Is it a good idea to show dominance through physical conflict?
Why? Or Why not?
