Concepts
163 concepts
antipredator behavior
Behaviors that reduce the likelihood of predation, including vigilance and evasion tactics
winter survival
Survival of organisms through winter diapause or dormancy, often related to environmental conditions during overwintering
alarm communication
Vocal signals produced in response to predator detection to warn conspecifics or communicate threat information
social network analysis
A method used to quantify social relationships that not only quantifies the direct relationship between a focal individual and its social partners, but also describes the position of the focal individ...
flight initiation distance
The distance at which an individual initiates moving away from an approaching humans, reflecting flightiness of an animal in response to a potential predator
density dependence
Population regulation mechanism where demographic rates depend on population density through competition and resource limitation
time allocation tradeoff
The finite time and energy budget forcing organisms to trade off between competing activities like foraging and vigilance
mark-recapture
Method for estimating demographic parameters by marking individuals and tracking recapture histories over time
maternal care
Parental behaviors including female-pup interactions, vigilance, and antipredator behaviors that influence offspring survival and development
vigilance behavior
Time allocation to scanning for predators versus other activities like foraging, measured through specific postures and head orientations
social phenotype
Quantifiable aspects of social behavior and social structure that can be subject to natural selection
vital rates
Demographic rates including survival, growth, flowering probability, seed production, and germination that determine population dynamics
dispersal
The movement away from your place of birth and onto another location involving decision to depart, displacement, and settlement
habituation
Process by which animals become less responsive to repeated non-threatening stimuli over time
nesting preferences
The selective choices made by organisms regarding where to construct nests, influenced by environmental factors that affect offspring survival and reproductive success.
anthropogenic disturbance
Human activities that impose novel challenges on a wide range of species, which can negatively influence individuals, populations, and communities as well as ecosystems
centrality measures
Network statistics that quantify the importance or influence of individuals within social networks, including degree, closeness, betweenness, and eigenvector centrality
kin selection
Natural selection that favors behaviors that benefit relatives, even at a cost to the individual performing the behavior
acoustic playback experiment
Experimental technique using recorded sounds played back to animals to test behavioral or physiological responses to acoustic stimuli
environmental stochasticity
Random environmental variation that affects demographic parameters across all individuals in a population simultaneously
philopatry
tendency of an organism to stay in or habitually return to a particular area
behavioral syndromes
Correlations between multiple repeatable, individually distinct behaviors that form consistent behavioral patterns across situations
body condition
Measure of an animal's physical state, often assessed through body mass relative to size
stress hormones
Cortisol and glucocorticoids that help regulate energy balance in animals and could determine dispersal behavior under stressful conditions
vocal individuality
The degree to which individuals can be discriminated from one another based on their vocalizations, quantified using information theory
antisocial behavior
Directed aggression toward conspecifics, increasing spatial distancing from or decreasing huddling with unfamiliar conspecifics
reproductive suppression
Reduction in reproductive output of individuals due to presence of other conspecifics, particularly older or dominant individuals
summer survival
Probability of surviving the summer active season, measured by last sighting dates relative to seasonal cutoffs
animal model
Statistical approach that includes individual identity as a random effect linked to a pedigree to estimate additive genetic variance
fecal glucocorticoid metabolites
Metabolites of stress hormones measured in fecal samples as a proxy for physiological stress levels
focal animal sampling
Behavioral observation method where a single individual is observed continuously for a fixed time period
group size effect
The hypothesis that animals allocate less time to antipredator vigilance as a function of increasing numbers of animals foraging together
phylogenetically independent contrasts
A method to test for phylogenetic signal by comparing empirical data variance to variance from randomly reshuffled species identities across trait data sets
polygamous mating system
Mating system where males compete with one another over access to matelines consisting of groups of related females
reproductive senescence
A within-individual process caused by deterioration in molecular and physiological function resulting in a decrease in survival probability and reproductive output with age
camera trapping
Non-invasive wildlife monitoring technique using motion-triggered cameras to detect and photograph animals
inbreeding depression
Reduced fitness in inbred individuals compared to outbred individuals due to expression of deleterious recessive alleles
intrusion competition
Competition where individuals attempt to take over established breeding resources from other pairs
matrilineal society
Social organization where related females remain together and males typically disperse
recreational trail impacts
Effects of human recreational activities on wildlife communities through habitat alteration, disturbance, and behavioral changes
resting metabolic rate
The rate of energy expenditure for basic physiological maintenance processes, measured as CO₂ emission rate.
time budget
The allocation of time among different activities that determines overall energy expenditure patterns
acoustic localization
Method to determine the spatial origin of sound sources using arrays of microphones and signal processing techniques
affiliative social relationships
Positive social interactions and bonds between individuals including behaviors like grooming, playing, and proximity maintenance
docility
Individual's reaction to being trapped and handled, measured on behavioral scale from aggressive to passive responses
dominance hierarchy
Social ranking system based on agonistic interactions where some individuals consistently dominate others
intraclass correlation coefficient
Statistical measure of repeatability that tests individual consistency of a continuous variable by comparing within-subject and between-subject variation
Life Table Response Experiment
A method to partition variance in population growth rate into contributions arising from temporal covariances of demographic parameters at different time lags
Social Security Hypothesis
Individuals in more tightly connected social groups perceive greater security from predators and allocate less time to antipredator vigilance while foraging
intra-individual variation
Variation in behavioral expression within individuals across time or contexts