Searching Behaviour: The Behavioural Ecology of Finding Resources

ISBN-13: 9780412292101 / Angielski / Twarda / 1991 / 358 str.

William J. Bell; W. J. Bell

Opis

This is a book about proximate mechanisms. Although some theoreti cal structure is used to introduce the subject, the intent is to offer a comprehensive view of the mechanistic side of searching (or foraging) so as to balance the current emphasis of books on mathematical and functional models. It seems to me that the pendulum needs to swing back to studies of how animals behave, and that maybe in so doing models will become valuable again in driving experimentation. I have probably included too many examples in this book, and some are even presented in great detail. Hopefully, they provide a complete picture of the kind of animals used, the experimental setup, the kinds of data yielded, and how the data were analysed. I have done this in response to frustrating experiences of reading chapters in behavioural ecobgy books that provide insufficient information with which to evaluate an author's conclusion."

Recenzje

it can be recommended to anyone interested in learning about the background to this field of research - The Biologist

Spis treści

One Introduction.- 1 Theoretical framework.- 1.1 Animal abilities (internal constraints).- 1.2 Resource availability and distribution (external constraints).- 1.3 Efficiency and optimization.- 1.4 Trade-offs: competition and risks.- 1.5 Plasticity in searching behaviour.- 1.6 Summary and conclusions.- Two Information for the Localization and Assessment of Resources.- 2 Orientation cues: information for searching.- 2.1 Orientation based on external sensory information.- 2.2 Orientation based on internally-stored or internally-derived information.- 2.3 Stochastic influences or ‘noise’.- 2.4 Summary and conclusions.- 3 Scanning mechanisms.- 3.1 Vision.- 3.2 Mechanoreception.- 3.3 Contact chemoreception and olfaction.- 3.4 Audition.- 3.5 Summary and conclusions.- 4 Initiating factors: when to search.- 4.1 Searching rhythms.- 4.2 Resource stimulus.- 4.3 Physiological state.- 4.4 Summary and conclusions.- 5 Assessment mechanisms: resource, patch and habitat selection.- 5.1 Assessment of resources.- 5.2 Assessment of patches and habitats.- 5.3 Summary and conclusions.- Three Search Mechanisms.- 6 Locating patches and distant resources.- 6.1 Searching when no environmental cues are available.- 6.2 Searching based on environmental cues.- 6.3 Summary and conclusions.- 7 Restricting search to a patch.- 7.1 Looping/spiralling or zigzag motor patterns.- 7.2 Patch-edge recognition.- 7.3 Variable move lengths.- 7.4 Changes in arrival-departure directions.- 7.5 Summary and conclusions.- 8 Foraging in the most profitable patches and leaving when profitability declines.- 8.1 Simple patch-departure mechanisms.- 8.2 Counting and keeping track of time to decide when to leave a patch.- 8.3 Can animals really estimate capture rate?.- 8.4 Summary and conclusions.- 9 When to return to a resource patch.- 9.1 Cropping.- 9.2 Traplining.- 9.3 Leaving patches early.- 9.4 Summary and conclusions.- 10 Learning to forage efficiently.- 10.1 Conditioning.- 10.2 Sampling between patches.- 10.3 Switching between patches conditional on what other individuals are doing.- 10.4 Sampling and spatial memory.- 10.5 More on spatial memory.- 10.6 Summary and conclusions.- 11 Exploratory behaviour.- 11.1 Summary and conclusions.- 12 Central place foraging.- 12.1 Distance travelled and patch choice as related to metabolic costs.- 12.2 Distance travelled as a function of predation risks.- 12.3 Group effects.- 12.4 Summary and conclusions.- Four Sources of Variability.- 13 External environment.- 13.1 Abiotic factors.- 13.2 Biotic environment.- 13.3 Influences of other individuals.- 13.4 Alternatives to searching.- 13.5 Summary and conclusions.- 14 Internal environment.- 14.1 Deprivation: time-dependent effects on searching.- 14.2 Status-dependent changes in searching behaviour.- 14.3 Summary and conclusions.- 15 Genetic factors.- 15.1 Variability in searching traits.- 15.2 Interactions between internal and external environment and genes.- 15.3 Summary and conclusions.- 16 Ontogenetic and maternal influences.- 16.1 Maternal effects.- 16.2 Juvenile behaviours.- 16.3 Early adult experiences.- 16.4 Summary and conclusions.- Five Methodology.- 17 Analysing search tracks.- 17.1 Data collection.- 17.2 Analysis of tracks.- 17.3 Summary and conclusions.- 18 Computer simulations of search behaviour locomotory patterns.- 18.1 Summary and conclusions.- References.