Deck 11: Habitat Selection, Territoriality, and Aggression

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT an assumption of the ideal free distribution model?

A) All patches contain identical resources.
B) Individuals can move between patches at no cost.
C) Individuals have equal competitive ability.
D) Fitness in each habitat is negatively density-dependent.
E) Individuals attempt to maximize fitness.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is a prediction of the ideal free distribution model?

A) Fitness is positively density-dependent in all habitats.
B) Individuals use public information to assess habitat quality.
C) Fitness for settled individual is independent of habitat quality.
D) Dominant individuals have higher fitness than subordinates.
E) Fitness for an individual is a positive function of habitat quality.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What data suggested that guppies distribute themselves in two food patches according to the ideal free distribution model?

A) The ratio of individuals matched the ratio of food provided in the two patches.
B) Dominant individuals settled in the high-quality patch.
C) Competition was more intense in the high-quality patch.
D) Energy intake rate was correlated with food patch quality.
E) Fitness of individuals was a function of food patch quality.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Imagine a situation in which the amount of resources in two habitat patches varies each year and individuals distribute themselves according to the ideal free distribution model. If you were to collect data on the density of individuals in each patch each year and then plot these data on a graph, what relationship would be predicted?

A) A straight line with negative slope
B) A horizontal line
C) A straight line with positive slope
D) A vertical line
E) A curved line with multiple peaks

Question 5

What data are required in order to plot an isodar?

A) The number of resources in two habitat patches over several years
B) The number of individuals in two habitat patches over several years
C) The change in fitness of two populations each year
D) The fitness of individuals in a population that changes each year
E) The population size that results in positive fitness each year in a habitat

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT true about habitat selection in pike in Lake Windemere?

A) Individuals distributed themselves according to the ideal free distribution model.
B) Fitness was negatively density-dependent in each basin.
C) Population size varied over time.
D) The south basin was the higher-quality habitat.
E) Individuals used a win-stay lose-shift habitat selection strategy.

Question 7

According to Barber, Marquis, and Tori's (2008) work, what factor appears to affect habitat selection of cuckoos?

A) The density of hardwood trees
B) The presence of other cuckoos
C) The density of gypsy moth larvae
D) The average size of trees
E) The number of predators present

Question 8

What data are required to document an Allee effect?

A) Patterns of mating behavior
B) The movement behavior of individuals
C) The habitat selection of individuals
D) The frequency of aggressive interactions in a population
E) The fitness of individuals

Question 9

Muller (1998) observed conspecific attraction in desert clickers. What hypothesized mechanism explains her observations?

A) Rheotaxis
B) The dilution effect
C) Frequency-dependent selection
D) An Allee effect
E) Predation risk

Question 10

You are studying predation mortality in a population of small birds and notice that individuals in groups of less than five individuals suffer higher mortality than those in groups larger than five individuals. This observation is consistent with which of the following?

A) The dilution effect
B) An Allee effect
C) The selfish herd hypothesis
D) Conspecific cueing
E) Social queuing

Question 11

What mechanism explains the observations of conspecific cueing by individual desert clickers and American redstarts?

A) Individuals responded to the vocalizations of predators.
B) Individuals responded to the sight of conspecifics.
C) Individuals responded to the sight of predators.
D) Individuals responded to the odor of conspecifics.
E) Individuals responded to the vocalizations of conspecifics.

Question 12

What is the hypothesized benefit of conspecific cueing in American redstarts?

A) A reduction in competition
B) A reduction in predation risk
C) A reduction in the time to find a high-quality habitat
D) A reduction in the energetic costs of parental care
E) An increase in immune system function

Question 13

Which type of individual exhibited conspecific attraction in American redstarts?

A) Juveniles
B) First-time breeders
C) Returning adults
D) New adult immigrants
E) Post-reproductive individuals

Question 14

What distinguishes a territory from a home range?

A) The presence or absence of aggressive defense
B) Their relative sizes
C) Their habitat qualities
D) The degree of heterogeneity in them
E) The frequency of mating behavior that occurs in them

Question 15

In striped parrotfish, which of the following is negatively correlated with territory size?

A) Density of competitors
B) Resource density
C) Total resource amount
D) Predator density
E) Total number of potential mates

Question 16

Why do we expect that territory size will often be negatively correlated with the number of competitors in the environment?

A) As competitors increase, stabilizing selection increases.
B) As competitors increase, individuals require more food.
C) As competitors increase, disease transmission rates increase.
D) As competitors increase, density-dependent selection increases.
E) As competitors increase, so does the cost of territory defense.

Question 17

Why does the hawk-dove model predict variation in fighting behavior in a population?

A) The fitness of hawk and dove strategies are equal in the evolutionary stable strategy (ESS).
B) The fitness of the hawk strategy is greater than the fitness of the dove strategy.
C) The fitness of the dove strategy is greater than the fitness of the hawk strategy.
D) The fitness of each strategy varies over time.
E) Because it is an asymmetric game

Question 18

In contests over resources, which individual has the highest probability of winning an aggressive contest?

A) The one with the greatest behavioral flexibility
B) The one that plays the hawk strategy
C) The one that plays the dove strategy
D) The one that plays both the hawk and the dove strategy
E) The one with the highest resource-holding power

Question 19

In what way do assessment models differ from the hawk-dove model?

A) Only assessment models predict a pure ESS.
B) Only assessment models predict variation in behavior as a contest continues.
C) Only assessment models assume identical opponents.
D) Only assessment models do not predict an ESS.
E) Only assessment models include no cost of fighting.

Question 20

In red-spotted newts, fight duration between two males was associated with which of the following?

A) The presence of females
B) The relative size of the female
C) The relative age of the opponents
D) The difference in testosterone of the opponents
E) The value of a nest

Question 21

In mice, winners of a fight tend to win future fights. What hypothesized mechanism explains these observations?

A) Winning enhances attractiveness to females.
B) Winning reduces stress level.
C) Winning reduces metabolic rate.
D) Winning elevates testosterone level.
E) Winning reduces juvenile hormone level.

Question 22

In mice, high testosterone levels are NOT associated with which of the following?

A) Increased attack rate on a rival
B) Decreased latency to attack a rival
C) Increased probability of winning a fight
D) Increased metabolic rate
E) Increased aggression level

Question 23

In Mozambique tilapia, Oliveira and colleagues (2001) demonstrated that increased testosterone levels were associated with which of the following?

A) Observing an aggressive interaction
B) Engaging in an aggressive interaction
C) Winning an aggressive interaction
D) Increased age
E) Increased body size

Question 24

What predicted relationship differ between self- and mutual assessment models?

A) The relationship between contest duration and winners RHP.
B) The relationship between contest duration and loser RHP
C) The relationship between winner RHP and loser RHP
D) The relationship between fight intensity and winner RHP.
E) The relationship between fight intensity and loser RHP.

Question 25

State the five assumptions of the ideal free distribution model.

Question 26

Abrahams (1989) observed that guppies did not distribute themselves according to the ideal free distribution model in the first trial of a day. What assumption of the model was likely not met at this time of the day?

Question 27

Describe two mechanisms that are used to explain observations of conspecific attraction. How do experiments on desert clickers and American redstarts relate to these mechanisms.

Question 28

How do game theory models differ from other optimality models, like the optimal patch use model or the diet models discussed in the Foraging chapter?

Question 29

Describe the data you would use to distinguish whether individuals in a newly discovered species established territories or rather used home ranges instead.