List of top Behavioural Ecology Questions

A researcher is interested in understanding whether multi-species sociality (in which species form cohesive groups with other species) plays a role in helping species cope with habitat disturbance. She estimates the survival rates of social species and solitary species in undisturbed and disturbed habitats, and these are plotted in the graph below.

Circles represent mean survival rates and error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. Based on the means and confidence intervals presented in the graph (\(\alpha = 0.05\)), which one or more of the following can be reasonably concluded?

A research group studied the timing of Arctic ground squirrel emergence from hibernation. They collected data over a 25-year period and found that female and male ground squirrels differed in how variable their emergence times were. Across years, no matter what the above-ground temperatures were, male ground squirrels emerged in the same week in April. Females usually emerged during the same week as the males if it coincided with snowmelt, but in colder years, they re-entered hibernation and emerged later after snowmelt. Which one or more of the following statements is/are possible proximate cause(s) for this phenological pattern?

Species 1 and 2 belong to the same genus and co-occur at the same site. Which one or more of the following strategies would facilitate their coexistence at the site?

Consider a predator encountering two prey types P1 and P2. Assume the energy value of P1 is greater than that of P2. Assume also that the search time to find each prey type is inversely proportional to its abundance in the habitat. The prey-choice model in optimal foraging theory evaluates whether the predator should specialise on P1 or generalise to feed on both P1 and P2. This model predicts specialising on P1 when:
\[ \frac{E_1}{S_1+h_1} > \frac{E_2}{h_2} \]
where \(E_1\) is the energy value of P1; \(h_1\) is handling time for P1; \(E_2\) is the energy value of P2; \(h_2\) is handling time for P2; \(S_1\) is the search time for P1. According to the condition given above, which one or more of the following options does the decision to specialise on P1 depend on?

Many species of reef fish change sex once during the course of their lives. In these fish, a bigger body size increases an individual's competitive ability. When strong male-male competition creates high variance in fitness among males, which one of the following scenarios is most likely?

The coefficient of relatedness \(r\) is the probability that a gene in one individual is identical by descent with a gene in another individual. In a large, diploid, sexually reproducing population with outbreeding, the value of \(r\) for two offspring with the same mother but different fathers is __________ (round off to two decimal places).

Living in groups gives benefits but also brings costs. The graph below plots per capita benefits (solid line) and per capita costs (dashed line), both measured in the same units, against group size. Four group sizes are marked on the x axis: P, Q, R, and S.

Given these patterns in benefits and costs, which one of the group sizes P, Q, R, S best represents the optimal group size?

The colour and markings of the eggs of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) are similar to those of the eggs of the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus). Which one or more of the following options explain(s) this similarity?

Which one or more of the following is/are signalling mechanism(s) that birds are known to use to beg their parent for food?

Which one or more of the following benefits can explain the evolution of dispersal of animals from their natal area?

Ecologists have studied the distributions of birds on archipelagos. Some studies found an interesting "checkerboard" pattern within island groups. Sister species were never present on the same island, even when the islands were very close to each other. Which one of the following processes best explains this checkerboard pattern?