How to get more from readings

SECTION 1
Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3
Chapter 22
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

SECTION 2
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

Chapter 20

SECTION 3
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17

SECTION 4
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 21

Chapter 23

This chapter is about the broad field of ethology or animal behavior and some of the key things have learned and how they relate to wildlife management. The chapter also covers animal migration ad its special effects on wildlife management.

1. Habitat selection
   1. the ability to recognize suitable habitat seems to be innate (instinctive).
      1. this makes good evolutionary sense. Selective pressure would be very high against animals that could not select habitats that they could survive in.
      2. examples of several studies are presented that showed animals instinctive ability to pick the right habitat
   2. some animals can modify this primarily instinctive behavior based upon early learning
      1. If I grew up successfully in habitat A, I might have learned ways to use habitat A, even though instinctively my species uses habitat B.
      2. knowledge of the local area increases my chances for survival
   3. Understanding wildlife behavior is Important for management because
      1. we cannot judge habitat solely on human standards
      2. what appears good to us may not, in fact, provide the necessary stimuli (cues) to trigger an animals instinctive recognition of the habitat as adequate
      3. successional changes in habitats will reduce habitat quality for some species, even though it may be improving it for others.
      4. if left unmanaged, many kinds of habitats will no longer suit the innate, unchangeable, preferences of wildlife species
      5. It is easier to change the habitat than it is to change the behavior of the species.
2. Courtship behavior
   1. breeding behaviors are frequently a key to wildlife management
      1. they are often stereotypic and obvious activities of wildlife that make it easier for humans to detect them.
      2. they occur at regular times of the year and,
      3. they can serve as good indices to how many animals are in the population.
   2. the text also presents an example (black ducks and mallards) where changing habitats, modified by humans, has created a hybridization problem between closely related species because they had not evolved distinct behavioral cues for mate selection.
3. Reproductive physiology and behavior
   1. most animals, unlike humans, are not capable of breeding year-round. They undergo physiological changes that gear up their reproductive systems for breeding
      1. these physiological changes are often keyed to changes in the environment that indicate the season for successful breeding is near.
         1. things like photoperiod, courtship stimuli
      2. renesting problem; females must reset their physiological clocks (takes time) to attempt to breed again
         1. management must be aware of this problem and protect nesting areas from disturbances (particularly late in nesting period)
   2. reproductive needs of some animals may include subtle environmental cues not readily apparent to human observers
   3. managers must be aware that populations will not breed, and therefore will not persist, if cues necessary to stimulate physiological changes necessary for breeding are not present.
4. Territorial behavior
   1. territory vs. home range
      1. territory is defended against conspecifics
         1. contains those resources that the animal can, and is willing to expend the energy necessary to, defend (e.g., nest sites, localized food sources, etc.)
         2. territory sizes vary between years, in part with resource abundance and population density
         3. territorial behavior can restrict the number of animals breeding and therefore, regulate the population growth rate
      2. home range is the area in which the individual travels to conduct its normal activities (e.g., resting, foraging, watering, sites and travel routes between them).
         1. home range is commonly bigger than the animals territory (e.g., the part of its home range it defends)
         2. theoretically, an animals home range contains all the resources that the animal needs to survive (live and reproduce) over time.
5. Circadian rhythms
   1. these are the 'daily' activity patterns of animals
      1. animals are frequently active at particular times of the day (nocturnal = night; diurnal = day, crepuscular = dawn and dusk) and inactive (hiding or resting) at other times.
      2. biologists should be aware of the species activity patterns so that they can adequately assess habitat use by animals.
6. Dispersal = movement away from an areas without subsequent return to that area
   1. most young animals leave the home range they were raised in and wander to new locations to hopefully establish their own home range
      1. mortality rates are high - young inexperienced animals traveling across unknown and often inhospitable areas are susceptible to predation, starvation, accident etc.
   2. evolutionary reasons for dispersal include:
      1. maintains genetic diversity in the species (reduces inbreeding)
      2. repopulates depleted or vacated habitats
      3. colonizes new habitats when they become available.
   3. individual animals disperse because
      1. there are insufficient resources for them to survive and reproduce where they currently are and while there are some resources there someone else already has them (mom or dad currently have the den, food, reproductive opportunities)
      2. choice has to be made: is it better to fight (against older dominant individual that already has resources) or to look elsewhere (uncertain future) - usually the answer is the latter.
7. Responses of wildlife to humans
   1. different species have different responses to the presence of humans
      1. some species did not respond (auks, dodo's,etc) and have already gone extinct
      2. most species flee - this response can be used to help biologists detect and count how many animals are present
      3. some species hide - making it difficult to detect them - also requiring that suitable hiding places are managed for if the species is to persist near humans
      4. a few species respond aggressively (e.g., grizzly bear, moose..) making confrontations with them dangerous to humans.
   2. animals can become habituated to human presence - creating problems, particularly in urbanizing habitats.
      1. animals no longer fear/flee humans and can become dangerous to people who aren't aware
      2. animals become accustomed to the resources that are by-products of human presence (trash etc.) and become pests
8. Imprinting and parental care
   1. a key but brief period (hours) where specific stimuli are recorded in the memory of the young animal that will stay with that individual for life (several examples in text)
   2. an adaptive behavior, in the evolutionary sense, enabling mothers and offspring to recognize each other and identify their own kind.
   3. Problems when that period is interrupted and individuals imprint on the wrong thing. But, also has been taken advantage of by biologists to help rear endangered species (whooping crane)
9. Migration - moving (may be periodic) from one area to another with subsequent return to the original area.
   1. types of migration
      1. latitudinal - typical north-south movement with seasons
      2. altitudinal - relatively short distances up-down mountain sides to habitats that, as in latitudinal migration, may be seasonally unavailable.
      3. nomadic - instead of movement between 2 seasonal ranges, there is an almost continuous movement that generally circles back to original area (e.g., wildebeest, bison)
   2. Birds - because of their great mobility (flight) many birds are migratory between seasonal wintering and breeding areas.
      1. waterfowl flyways - North American waterfowl have regular migration routes to and from their arctic breeding areas: Pacific, Central, Mississippi, and Atlantic flyways (see Fig. 5-6 in text)
      2. different species migrate at different times; there is often a chronological sequence to the migratory species occurrence at any point in North America.
      3. migrational homing - refers to the ability and tendency for individual birds to return to the same site that they bred successfully (or were reared) before
      4. management of migratory birds requires
         1. that adequate habitat is available in wintering and breeding areas additionally safe habitats must be available along the migration route.
         2. management of hunting over the entire set of habitats used: wintering, breeding, and migration.
   3. Reptiles -
      1. some marine reptiles (e.g., sea turtles) migrate long distances returning to specific breeding beaches
      2. several species of North American snakes 'migrate' to winter dens hibernacula ,which may have been used for thousands of years, where thousands of snakes over winter.
      3. human developments, like highways and housing developments can create barriers that effectively prevent such migrations.
   4. Mammals - bats and many large terrestrial herbivores
      1. bats, like birds, migrate latitudianlly from south and Central America to North America
      2. most migratory terrestrial herbivores migrate altitudinally
         1. elk, caribou, some deer and moose migrate regularly
         2. human developments, as with reptiles, may create barriers to such movement
         3. as with migratory birds, managers must provide for both seasonal habitats and migration routes.
10. Managing migratory animals
    1. Migratory animals frequently move across jurisdictional boundaries (e.g., over state lines, across national boundaries, even just between the National Park and the adjacent private land) for some reason they just don't pay attention to the signs.
       1. in these cases, wildlife management requires high levels of coordination between political units
       2. managers must ensure that they provide the necessary resources for the species over its' range despite the fact that those needs cross political boundaries
       3. more importantly, managers need to coordinate the harvest of migratory species so that it is not overexploited when it falls under the temporary jurisdiction of 1 state or nation.
       4. additionally, coordination is required because management objectives for the species may differ across jurisdictional boundaries.
    2. Early successes in managing North American waterfowl would not have been possible without the establishment of international treaties that coordinated regulatory authority for the management of migratory birds crossing national borders.