What Is Behavioral Ecology?

Behavioral ecology is a branch of ecology. Based on Darwin's theory of evolution, highlight the perspective of adaptation, and study the relationship between the evolution of various behavioral characteristics of animals and their ecological environment. Basic point of view: In order for animals to achieve their ultimate purpose, that is, to multiply and inherit their genes to the greatest extent, they must deal with all problems that occur in the ecological environment in the most effective manner. Behavioral ecologists believe that the existing animals are the most adaptable species, and are the best decision makers to adapt to the environment. To this end, they propose the optimality theory, the best foraging, and the competitive theory. Based on these theories, research on various animal behaviors has been strongly proven. ^[1]

Behavioral ecology is the science that studies the interrelationship between biological behavior and its environment, and studies the behavior, mechanism, and ecological significance of behavior in a certain habitat. In other words, behavioral ecology is the study of biological behavioral functions,

Behavioral ecology originates from four academic factions that developed in the early 1960s: JHCrook and D.Lack of the United Kingdom studied the social organization of birds and apes and various ecological factors for research. A comparative research method was proposed . W.D. Hamilton and J. Maynard Smith explicitly proposed

Behavioral ecology mainly studies the behavioral mechanisms in ecology and the ecological and evolutionary significance of animal behaviors, that is, studying behavioral functions, survival values, fitness and evolutionary processes of animals. The behavioral characteristics of animals are the same as the morphological and physiological characteristics of animals. They are not only affected by both genetics and the environment, but also formed through natural selection during long-term evolution, so they also have species specificity. Sometimes two species that are difficult to distinguish in morphology can be identified by different behavioral patterns. In nature, behavioral patterns are often an important aspect of interspecies isolation and identification of related species. ^[4]

The study of behavioral ecology is generally divided into four steps. Through careful observation, put forward hypotheses, test hypotheses, and finally predict future behaviors. Of course, predictions are also tested. For example, observing the life of certain animal clusters, two hypotheses can be proposed: if it is clustered only during the breeding period, this may be beneficial for males and females to find mates and mate; if it is only clustered in winter, it may be to improve the predation opportunity Either avoid predators or change the microclimate. Then, the following three methods are used to test the above hypotheses. Compare different individuals of the same species. Whether the gregarious individuals are better than solitary individuals in terms of feeding, mating, and avoiding natural enemies. Comparison between different species. The evolution of different species and different ecological conditions are interrelated. Comparisons between species can help us understand how their ecological differences (such as foraging conditions and predation pressure) affect behavior and how they affect animal life Way-whether it is a cluster or independent, in which species live in a specific feeding behavior. Experimental methods. This method is superior to the previous two methods in that it can study what changes in behavior occur by changing an ecological factor (such as the size of the cluster and the abundance of food). ^[5]

In theory, the development of behavioral ecology will be closely related to the development of the basic disciplines of life sciences. Animal behavior has a genetic basis. If comprehensive progress is made in the genetic mapping of specific behaviors, it will create conditions for people to regulate animal behaviors. At that time, people will be able to introduce a specific behavior into a group of animals through biotechnology.

The development of high technology has brought new opportunities for the development of behavioral ecology. The application of multimedia technology will create conditions for decomposing animal behavior units, storing and replaying animal behaviors, identifying determinants of animal behaviors, and finally constructing theoretical models of animal behaviors. Remote sensing, global positioning system, and geographic information system technologies will have a huge impact on the study of macroscopic behaviors of wild animals. These technologies provide researchers with tools to explore the adaptation of macroscopic behaviors of wild animals in the context of global change. In the 21st century, animal behavior ecology will make breakthroughs in the macroscopic aspect.

The in-depth study of behavioral ecology will definitely promote the development of other disciplines. First, an understanding of the survival and reproductive behavior mechanisms of individual animals will develop individual ecology. The evolutionary adaptation significance of different animal behavioral strategies drives the study of theoretical ecology and evolutionary biology. Behavioral ecology puts forward higher requirements for classical behavioral research. People must understand the sensory pathways and response mechanisms of different types of animals to the environment. May understand the nature of animal behavior to adapt to the ecological environment.

Behavioral ecology will become an important applied basic discipline, which will contribute to the ex situ conservation of rare and endangered animals in the future, and contribute to the behavioral development of specific endangered species in the ex situ environment. The cultivation of normal survival and reproductive behavior offers new insights. Individuals in ex situ protected populations may not be able to reproduce due to behavioral obstacles; or they may not be able to adapt to the wild environment due to lack of behavioral templates; or they may not be able to communicate genes with wild individuals of the same species due to reproductive or social behavioral obstacles; The same artificially-bred individuals exchange genes, leading to failure of ex situ conservation. In addition, natural enemies do not exist in the artificial breeding environment. How to cultivate the ability of individuals to identify and escape natural enemies is an important content of ex situ conservation.

In addition, behavioral ecology will also play a guiding role in aquaculture, animal farming, ocean fishing, and domestication of wildlife, such as regulating the social behavior and feeding behavior of animals, exploring the behavioral rules of synchronous estrus of animals, and increasing biological Productivity, master the migration law of marine fish, increase catches, etc. The domestication of wildlife is also inseparable from behavioral ecology. The domestication of wildlife is first of all the domestication of its behavior. Domestic environmental conditions require wild animals to change their behaviors. On the one hand, it depends on artificial selection; on the other hand, it depends on the artificial induction of the behavioral development of wild animals in the domestic environment. Research from practice will add new content to animal behavior ecology. ^[7]