HABITAT SELECTION (B)
Habitat choice&repro success
ind makes a good choice of habitat, will have high repro success
ex: aphid that feed cottonwood (Female with larger leaves have greater repro success than small leaves
Proximate Factors: Environmental cues
Abiotic environmental cues
Social cues
Risk of predation & competition
Determinants of habitat preference
Traditional
heredity
Learning&early experience
Ex: Gerbils prefer feeding sites around bushes/grass & active during new moons. When their competitors(striped mice) were removed, gerbils increased foraging activity
Humidity
Temperature&humidity
ex: Isopod moves randomly until it finds high humidity
Drosophila prefer warm temp where humidity high
Sales (1970): habitat selection in fish based on exploitary behavior
Animals moves more in unsuitable habitat & less in suitable one
Testing if genetics prediposition to certain stimuli can be altered by early experience (imprinting)
Habitat selection is important for conservation
Ex: chipping sparrow. (3 groups-wild caught (prefer pine), lab reared&no foliage exposure (prefer pine), lab reared&oak foliage exposure (prefer oak))
If 2 animals reared from birth in identical env differ in habitat preference when adults
Ex: coal tits-pine, blue tits-aok
has been shown for insects, molluscs and crustaceans
passed form one generation to next through learning process
Habitat imprinting
occurs in migratory vertebrates that return to natal sites to breed
Ex: bird & salmon
Moose & deer increased their home range but sheep does not
Moose&deer are solitary animals that establishes ranges by ind exploration after driving out by mothers
Sheep transmit home range knowledge from generation to next with same group members. No exploration like moose and deer. Rather poor adaptation to env. Mother does not chase away their young