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| Question | Answer |
| Behaviour = | How an organism interacts with its environment. |
| What is a proximate behaviour cause? | Immediate genetic, physiological, neurological and developmental mechanisms determining behaviour. (How an individual org's stuctures function) |
| What is an ultimate cause of behaviour? | An evolutionary process that produced an animal's tendency to behave in a certain way. It = why a species evolved the structures it has. |
| 2 approaches to studying animal behaviour | Practical vs conceptual |
| Tinbergen's 4 questions AB= CDEF | Proximate: causation + development Ultimate: Evolution and Function Causation = mechanistic explanation of how the individual's structures work. Development - changes with age in an individual. Function - current species traits. |
| Comparative psychology = study of | proximate causation (mechanisms underlying behaviour, internal and environmental stimuli, development of behaviour, learning) |
| Ethology and behavioural ecology = study of | ultimate causation (what is the selective advantage of this behaviour) |
| An animal's repertoire of behaviour = a set of | adaptations that equip it for survival |
| Characteristics of genetically determined behavouirs and their name | Fixed action patterns: Performed without learning stereotypic cannot be modified by learning |
| Ethologists = interested in what type of behaviour? | Instinctive / species specific |
| E.g. of a behaviour acquired at a certain time | Imprinting |
| 4 components of a communication system | Sender Receiver Noise - anything that can interfere with the signal Context - the situation |
| Define communication | An action by 1 organism that alters the probability pattern of behaviour or another organism such that on average the sender or both the sender and receiver will benefit. |
| What = the purpose of a display? And how have they evolved? | To persuade. To increase persuasive power (as opposed to info transfer) |
| What is the value to the sender/receiver in eavesdropping? | Sender = 0/- Receiver = + (An unintended recipient picks up the message) |
| What is the value to the sender/receiver in ignoring? | Both 0/- |
| What is the value to the sender/receiver in manipulation? | Sender = + Receiver = 0/- |
| 4 types of signal | Discrete - digital, all or none Graded - analogue, intensity varies w/ stimulus length. Afferential - communicates info about the sender. Referential - communicates info about an entity external to the sender. E.g. about the environment around them. |
| 4 ways to increase signal context | Composite signals - have a new meaning Syntax - changing the sequence of a display Context - some signals have different meaning in different context. Meta communication - communication about communication whereby 1 display changes the meaning of those to follow. |
| Message = | What the signal encodes about the sender |
| Meaning = | What the receiver construes about the signal. (only inferred from the receiver response) |
| Opportunity cost | The benefit the animal forgoes in doing one behaviour, by not being able to perform others during the same time interval. |
| Cost vs benefit analyses... | Energy expended to perform a behaviour vs the increased chance of being killed of injured in doing so. |
| 3 ways signallers can decrease the risk of eavesdropping | Make them difficult to locate Make them selectively unavailable to predators (e.g. using a colour they cannot see or a channel they cannot sense) Direct your signal to specific individuals (e.g. squid can change colour on certain sides of their body to a mate). |
| What is the audience effect? | The change on behaviour of an individual in the presence of onlookers. Different audiences will cause different alterations of behaviour. E.g. Male vervet monkeys don't tolerate their young if the females are not around. |
| Explain how evolution of signals can be influenced by receiver bias. | Behaviours and signals used may depend on the sensory systems available in the receiver. If these have undergone selection for other functions signals may evolve with them to ensure they can be detected. |
| 4 features of a 'good signal' | Detectability Discriminability and memorability Specificity - increased by using multiple sensory channels & stereotypy Unambiguity |
| 5 sensory (signal) channels | Chemical Visual Acoustic Mechanosensory - touch + surface vibration Electric field |
| What is the communication channel selected determined by? | The species life history - where the signal will be used and how. You want it to be degraded as little as possible so for e.g. in forests you use low frequency and no trills because echoes can interfere. |
| Stereotypy | Standardised ways of performing |
| Ritualisation | Exaggeration of particular movements associated with a display to decrease ambiguity. |
| Describe the evolution of displays | Sender sends a display Receiver perceives it, makes a decision and produces a response. If the response is beneficial the display is refined and reused. (This = +ve feedback) |
| Describe a chemical signal | Pheromones Very specific and info rich Effective day and night over a range of distances Variable volatility and diffusivity Recipient must have the matching receptors so it is not easily intercepted. But it cannot be changed rapidly. |
| As and Ds of a visual signal | Rapid delivery of info over long distances Conveys the exact position of the signaller Requires sufficient light. Requires the receiver to be looking Can be intercepted by other species. |
| As ad Ds of an acoustic signal | Not as rapid as visual Can be used in the dark Can be transmitted in more complex environments like forests Receiver doesn't have to be looking. Can travel long distances Frequencies can be changed to decrease ease of locating the signaller. |
| What are interspecific signals most used for? | Predator deterrence |
| 6 things for predator deterrence | Flash behaviour Warning colours Distracting patterns Attention-grabbing actions Playing dead Alarm signals |
| What is flash behaviour? | Sudden changes in posture intended to startle a predator |
| What are alarm signals for? | They let a predator know it has been detected and has lost its element of surprise. |
| Interspecific signals can also involve _________ between 2 species. | Co-evolution |
| 7 intra specific signal functions | Group spacing and coordination Recognition Alarm signals Finding food Giving and soliciting care Agonism and social status Courtship and reproduction |
| Deme recognition and an e.g. | Is recognising members of their group to mate with, and their displays. E.g. White-corwned sparrow adapted to mate with its local population. |
| Lordosis behaviour | Posturing by some female mammals to show receptivity for copulation. |
| Why is neighbour recognition beneficial? | To prevent animals that frequently come into contact (and who have already established boundaries) from wasting energy responding intensely to them. This saves their energy for strangers when it is needed. |
| Banner-tailed kangaroo defends territories by... And this is an e.g. of what kind of recognition | foot-drumming neighbour recognition |
| As of kin recognition | Minimised inbreeding and so increases fitness |
| List 6 types of recognition | Kin Individual - dolphins Neighbour - robini species - to avoid infertile mating Deme - sparrow Class - social insects |
| Kin recognition | Differential responses to close relatives |
| Species recognition and an e.g. | Avoids infertile mating between members of closely related spp. E.g. drosophila courtship songs - 3 types. |
| A's of parent offspring recognition (type of kin recognition) | Allows offspring to recognise their parents to receive resources from them. |
| Bottlenose dolphins = an e.g. of | Individual recognition in order to maintain social associations. They use repeated complex signature whistles to announce their presence in a pod. |
| Alarm call e.g. | Vervet monkeys Leopard - climb trees Eagle - look up Snake - look down |
| Gannets = e.g. of | Eavesdropping to find food by watching where other successful birds have been fishing and then flying to those areas. |
| Herring gull = e.g. of | Giving and soliciting care signals Offspring peck red dot on parent to signal to them to regurgitate. |
| Aggression | An act directed towards the discomfiture of another individual |
| Agonistic behaviour | Behaviour patterns used during conflict with a conspecific (excludes play fighting and predator behaviour) |
| 4 causes of conflict | Limited resources Hetrogenous environment Patchy resources Aggregation of individuals |
| 2 ways to resolve conflict | Displays and fights It changes depending on the importance of the resource |
| Role of displays in resolving a conflict | Allows time for participants to decide whether to continue to a fight or back down, and indicates their resource holding potential |
| Why are physical fights rare? | Potentially high energy cost Risk of injury Most conflict can be resolved by a display, it is only when two opponents are very evenly matched that it escalates. Even the victor may be injured or weakened and so is less likely to win a future fight again. |
| 3 ways to avoid conflict = | maintaining a social space in territories By sent marking and howling/dawn chorus. Pre-fight displays Dominance relationships |
| Factors affecting escalation of conflict | Evenness of opponents Persistence Perception - one may try to seem as if it wants to continue and could do for a long time to cause the other one to back down, even if it may not be able to continue displaying for as long as it is implying. Motivation - how much does it need the resource it is battling for? Perceived resource value |
| Why = a resident more likely to win a conflict? | Knows the resource value - where as it = more of a gamble for an intruder to spend energy trying to get it. |
| Siamese fighting fish - 2 behaviour e.g's | Eavesdropping - they will watch future opponents in fights and remember if they won or not, which affects their behaviour towards them. Audience effect - more aggressive in front of potential mates. |
| Why do signals remain honest? | Generally there is a cost to being dominant which requires for e.g. development of muscle and weaponry. This cannot be done without a genuine fitness advantage. Signals have evolved so that only fit individuals can maintain them and bear their cost. |
| Direct fitness | fitness gained by producing offspring |
| Indirect fitness | Reproductive success of the individual's relatives |
| Inclusive fitness = | direct + indirect fitness |
| Maximisation of inclusive fitness drives | kin selection |
| Hamilton's rule (animal behaviour) | For an apparent altruistic behaviour to be adaptive the [fitness benefit of the behaviour to the receiver] x [degree of relatedness between sender and receiver] must be greater that the cost to the sender. |
| Courtship = communication. It allows what form of selection to take place? | Sexual |
| Sexual selection drives the development of... | Secondary sexual characteristics |
| Individuals can improve their chances of reproduction by: | Competing successfully to survive and gain resources = Natural Selection Competing successfully for a mating opportunity - Sexual Selection |
| Intra-sexual selection includes characters that | Aid competition within 1 sex for access to the other. (intra-sexual selection = competing with same sex rivals for mates) |
| Inter-sexual / epigamic selection includes characters that | Enhance attractiveness of individuals of 1 sex to the other. (Inter-sexual selection = the female choice/competition to attract females. Influenced by displays, plumage, colour etc) |
| Post-copulatory sexual selection = | Competition between sperm within the female. |
| Sexual selection = due to | parental investment They want to get the best mate to make the most out of the energy they spend. |
| Why are females more choosy than males? | Females invest more and have a limited number of eggs (and so mating opportunities) as opposed to an unlimited number of sperm and mating opportunities in males. Eggs are therefore more valuable than sperm. Also females are certain they are the mother but males are not certain they are the father so less likely to invest as much energy. |
| E.g. of sexually selected characteristics conflicting survival | Deer antlers being very large and energetically expensive. Bright plumage can be conspicuous and attracts predators - but = an indication that you = fit enough to cope with the increased risk. |
| 5 functions of courtship | Spp, deme, class, indiv recognition Male attraction Mate choice - enables quality assessment Synchronised reproductive behaviours Maintenance of long-t bonds |
| 4 things displays can signify | Healthier Better territory Enhanced parenting potential Good genes |
| Courtship displays can involve aditional materials e.g. | Nest building materials Bright objects signifying something Nuptial gifts |
| Describe an example of a deceptive courtship display | Femme fatale firefly Performs a sp. specific flash pattern of a smaller firefly species. The males of that species are attracted to it and the femme fatale species eats the male. But makes of the larger sp. now do this as well so the female thinks they are food. The large male then switches to its own pattern and confuses the female long enough to mate with her. |
| Complex communication e.g. | Waggle Dance Alternating half circles to the left and right with vigorous waggling of the abdomen in the straight run in between. The direction of the food relative to the sun = the direction of the straight run relative to gravity. So the angle of the straight run indicates the direction of the food relative to the sun. Number of waggles / duration of the straight run = distance from the food. |
| E.g. of transferred habituation | vervet monkeys habituated to their alarm call if they are habituated to the alarm of the superb starlings. |
| Is there proof that other mammals can use language? | No, but they can learn to combine symbols and words to achieve goals. |
| Describe Jack and Jill behaviour | 2 pigeons 1 would press 'what colour?' button Other was trained to respond to a hidden colour and press the appropriate coloured button. Jack would see that colour and hit the thank you button. they are then rewarded with food. |
| Displays = | Behaviour patterns specially adapted to serve as social signals |
| Conspicuous body structures may have evolved for | Reducing ambiguity and uncertainty of response |
| Complex communication exists in | Insects, birds and mammals |
| Some of the most elaborate displays = in | conflict and courtship |
| Courtship displays = driven by | Sexual selection |
| Energy is inversely proportional to | wavelength |
| PS equation | 6CO2 + 6H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6O2 |
| What things can happen to a photon hitting a leaf? | 1. Bounce off 2. Scattered / reflected 3. May pass straight through 4. May be absorbed and add energy to a molecule |
| Light reactions produce | O2 NADPH ATP |
| The Calvin cycle uses ___ and produces ____. | ATP and NADPH and CO2 Sugars |
| Role of NADPH | Generated from the electron transport chain and then used to reduce carbon dioxide into sugars. |
| Calvin cycle = in the | stroma |
| Calvin cycle does what | Uses ATP and NADPH to reduce CO2 to G3P Also returns ADP and NADP+ to the light-dependant reactions. |
| Antenna complex = | Arrangement of pigments (includes LHC's) |
| Photosystem = | Large multi-protein complex containing a core reaction complex and an antenna complex. |
| Absorbance spectrum = close to the | action specturm |
| Difference between cyclic and non-cyclic PS | Cyclic = only ATP produced Linear = ATP and NADPH |
| Structure of a chlorophyll molecule | Large Mg in the middle Bound by N's |
| Photosystem reaction centre contains | A pair of special chlorophyll molecules which lose electrons when excited. |
| PS final electron acceptor = | NADP+ |
| Emerson effect = | the enhancement on rate of PS when exposed to red (670nm) and far-red (700nm) light. When simultaneously exposed to both rate of PS is much higher than the sum of the rates when exposed to either 670/700nm light individually. This is evidence that the two photosystems cooperate. |
| Linear light-dep PS flow | PSII -> ETC -> PSI -> NADP+ reductase, producing NADPH |
| Which photosystem = associated w/ photolysis of water? | PSII |
| Cyclic PS begins and ends at | PSI |
| Why is there cyclic PS? | Because the Calvin cycle needs more ATP than NADPH |
| Protons of the PS ETC are flowing from where to where? | Thylakoid lumen -> stroma |
| 3 things that contribute to the proton gradient for PS | Phytolysis of water H+ pump in the thylakoid membrane NADPH reductase |
| How are green and purple bacteria different to plants in their PS? | They have 1 photosystem and cannot form O2. Cytochrome bc1 complex uses electrons to reduce NAD+ (rather than NADP+) Oxidised chlorophyll must be returned to its original state by oxidising an inorganic substrate like H2S (rather than water replacing the excited electrons). |
| 1st product of calvin cycle = | 3PG |
| The 3 processes of the calvin cycle | Fixation of CO2 Reduction of 3PG to G3P Regeneration of RuBP |
| 3CO2 = _ G3P And where do they go? | 6 1 leaves to make sugars 5 are used to regenerate RuBP |
| What changes in pH does light cause and how does this affect RUBISCO? | Light causes protons to be pumped into the thylakoids from the stroma, so stromal pH increases. This favours activation of RUBISCO. |
| How does electron flow affect Calvin cycle enzymes? | From PSI electrons flow to ferredoxin and rateher than this passing them on to reduce NADP+ they can be apssed to Thioredoxin enzyme. They break its S-S link and activate it. Thioredoxin can then pass them to 4 other enzymes in the carbon fixation pathway. |
| If O2 is abundant how does this affect rubisco and PS? | Rubisco becomes and oxygenase and adds O2 to RuBP to form 2C phosphoglycolate as well as 3PG so photorespiration occurrs in order to retrieve the carbon from the phosphoglycolate but 1/2 mols of PG is still lost as CO2. Therefore if O2 is abundant PS efficiency is decreased. |
| Photorespiration equation | 2(2-PG) + O2 -> 3PG + CO2 |
| What plants perform photorespiration? | C3 |
| RUBISCO has a higher affinity for O2 or CO2? | CO2 |
| C4 cycle uses what to concentrate CO2 around rubisco? | Spatial separation |
| CAM plants use what to concentrate CO2 around rubisco? | Temporal spearation |
| C4 cycle in C4 plants occurrs in which type of cell? | Mesophyll |
| In C4 plants which cell does the calvin cycle occurr in? | Bundle-sheath cell |
| PEP carboxylase caatalyses.. | PEP (3C) + CO2 -> oxaloacteate (4C) |
| CAM plants store malate in | Vacuoles |
| What do CAM plants do in the day? | Use up malate stores and convert it to pyruvate and then starch by the calvin cycle. |
| What do CAM plants do in the night? | Take in CO2 from the atmosphere and with PEP (from chloroplast stores) fix it in oxaloacetate that is made into malate to be stored for use in the day. |
| CAM-idling = | stomatal closure over the whole day in severely stressed plants |
| CAM-cycling | No nocturnal stomata opening, CO2 is instead recycled from respiration. |
| Facultative CAM | Optional use of CAM cycle in C3/4 plants. It typically occurs under drought-stress conditions. |
| What does rubisco activase do? And what is it activated by? | It lowers the inhibition of rubisco cause by sugar phosphates. It is activated by light. |
| Why is the C4 cycle beneficial? | It reduces photorespiration and water loss in hot climates. |
| Primary CO2 acceptor for C3 plants and C4 and CAM? | C3 = RuBP C4 and CAM = PEP |
| More photorespiration in C3, C4 or CAM? | C3 |
| Calvin cycle used in C3, C4 or CAM? | All of them. |
| Describe a more mewly discovered C4 cycle | Can be with dimorphic chloroplasts in the same cell. The CO2 is concentrated in the vascular region and taken into the cytosol external region. |
| Ferredoxin-Thioredoxin control system operates to | Link light to the regulation of other chloroplast processes. This reduces waste of resources produced. |
| Light compensation point | No net CO uptake or loss |
| Light saturation point | Max rate of PS where light ceases to be the limiting factor. |
| Adaptations to light | Excessive light -> leaves may change their angle to be steeper and deflect more, and chloroplasts may become more elongated, as well as more of them. Also more cells are packed in to the same area (by elongating) and they have more RUBISCO protein. |
| Shade plants perform better in the period before the | compensation point. |
| 4 responses to increasing light fluxes by plants (Photoprotection) | Decreased absorption - change leaf inclination Thermal energy dissipation Removal of ROS by superoxidase dismutase etc Inactivation of PSII After these mechanisms can no longer cope you go into photodamage. |
| Why does a sun leaf go into photodamage zone at a lower light flux at a lower temperature? | Because a lot of the photoprotection mechnisms are enzyme dependant and these work more slowly at a lower temperature. |
| Shade leaf vs sun leaf in terms of their range of ligh flux in the PSic zone | Sun leaf has a much larger PSic zone / higher tolerance in a wider range of light flux |
| 3 ways a leaf dissipates heat | Long wavelength radiation Conduction and convection Evaporative / latent heat loss |
| Dynamic photoinhibition | When moderate excess light decreases quantum efficiency (decrease from optimal R. of PS at the start) without reducing the maximum rate. |
| Chronic photoinhibition | High levels of excess light decreases quantum efficiency and maximum PS'ic rate. |
| Dangerous ROS's that come about as a result of excess light absorption | Triplet state of ChI, superoxide, singlet oxygen, H2O2, OH radical. |
| What does Zeaxanthin do, what is it made from, and why? | It binds to proteins in PSII and changes the conformation of light harvesting proteins so that light is not transmitted to the reaction centre and is instead dissipated as heat. It is made from violxanthin going to antheraxathin to zeaxanthin in high light. |
| xanthophyll cycle | causes violxanathin to accumulate in low light and zeaxanthin to accumulate in high light. So zeaxanthin follows light distribution and violxanathin is indirectly proportional to light. |
| When zeaxanthin peaks what happens to PS efficiency? | Decreases as not all the energy is going into electron transport, some is being dissipated as heat. |
| Flavenoids = natural | Suncream |
| 3 things that protect plant cells from UV injury | Epicuticular waxes Cartenoids Flavenoids |
| 6 factors affecting fate of solar energy | Coulds Air-ice interactions Volcanic gasses and particles Air-ocean interactions Net long and net short wavelength radiation |
| Thermohaline circulation = | Localised separation of surface and deep water currents. |
| Thermohaline circulation = AKA... | Meridional overturning circulation MOC |
| Describe one of the major drivers of THC in the Labrador sea | Deep water forms when cold dense water sinks Water is transported to high latitudes of NA by NA drift. Surface = more saline b/c when it travelled up through the tropical there was high evap. This freezes lower than 0 degrees Freezing to produce ice further increases salinity. Its density increases and it sinks to form the north Atlantic deep water. |
| What 3 aspects of orbit affect climate? | Eccentricity (more eliptical or circular) Precision - axis 'wobble' Obliquity - axial tilt |
| Why does higher CO2 in the atm not increase PS rate? | Because after an extended period of high CO2 they start to adapt and initial PS rate increase is not maintained. E.g. lower stomal density or smaller opening to increase water efficiency. |
| Water efficiency = | CO2 assimilated / water lost |
| Water is most dense at | 4 degrees celcius |
| Fresh water vs salt water | Fresh = higher turnover, less saline, lower diversity |
| Why does fresh water have lower diversity than salt? | Time Oceans have been present uninterrupted for more years, whereas freshwater sources have more change and disruptions. E.g. can dry up and reform. |
| What affects dispersal and colonisation of freshwater sourceS? | Glacial periods Changes in geomorphology causing: formation of ox bows; change in crust creating new depressions; landslides blocking streams to form new ponds or lakes. |
| Fresh water life dispersal | Lifecycle stages must be resistant to dessication and eggs may be dispersed by insects or the wind. Most need to stay in the water. |
| Lake hydrosere | Plant succession water -> littoral vegetation -> wetland -> land |
| fresh water composition | Influenced by geology and soil SO2 and CO2 dissolved in it. |
| Igneous vs sedimentary rock buffering capacity | Igneous low Sedimentary high |
| Igneous rock | Tight intimate mix of crystals Few soluble ions released Dilute in ionic composition |
| Sedimentary rock | Jumbled particles Often porous Abundance of CaCO3 Soluble ions released. |
| Do larger lakes have higher or lower ionic composition? | Higher |
| N in water is from | N fixation |
| S in water is from | rain |
| Ca, Mg, Na, K & P in water are mainly from | Weathering |
| Eutrophication | Increased primary production due to increased nutrient levels. |
| Oligotrophic Mesotrophic Eutrophic Hypertrophic | Nutrient levels = Low, medium, high or very high |
| Typical oligotrophic area = | Upland area of river catchment on igneous rock. |
| Oxygen solubility is ________ related to temp | Inversely |
| Lotic = __water | Running |
| Lentic = ___ water | Standing |
| Lotic vs lentic | Lotic = unidirectional not variable, variable size but usually shallower and narrower than lentic, well mixed and isothermal as opposed to stratified, higher amounts of suspended material because of currents, allochthonous - org matter from outside the system as opposed to autochthonous. |
| Source of energy for lotic system | External detritus Mostly streamside vegetation called course particulate organic matter, CPOM |
| Describe a eutrophic system | High SA:V Heavy algae growth Phytop concentrated in the upper layer make it appear murky Turbidity restricts light penetration limiting surface productivity Org matter drifts to the bottom High decomposition depletes O2 Shallowness aids nutrient recycling which causes positive feedback and leads to the system's extinction. |
| 7 ways a lake can be formed | Retreating glaciers Deposition of silt in streams Cut off meanders Shifts in the earth's crust Craters of extinct volcanoes Human activity |
| The three lake layers: | Epilimnion Metalimnion Hypolimnion |
| Mixing in lakes occurrs in which seasons | Spring and autumn |
| In winter how can you describe lake stratification? | Inverse |
| In summer is lake O2 low or high? And what are the exceptions? | Low Deep oligotrophic lake; low demand for O2 in hypolimnion so it isn't depleted. Clear lake; light penetrate below the thermocline so O2 can be higher in deep water due to PS. |
| High pelagic:littoral ratio - dominated by | Phytoplankton |
| Low pelagic:littoral ratio - dominated by | Macrophytes |
| During which seasons do phytoplankton increase and decrease? | Increase in spring with mixing Decrease in summer due to stratification and rapid depletion of nutrients. |
| Nekton = | fish that = able to swim independently of the current. |
| Profundal = more simple or complex communities? | Simple |
| Littoral vs profundal benthos | Littoral = heterogeneous, warmer, more O2, more intrinsic food, more microhabitats, higher sp richness: many insect larvae and fish. |
| How are sponges adapted to lotic systems? | Attach to substrate |
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