Short Course Description
Behavioral Ecology
The field of Behavioral Ecology deals with the cross road between Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. It seeks to understand why behavior is adaptive given the ecological conditions under which animals have evolved. To that aim, behavioral ecologists combine comparative and experimental approaches with optimization and game theoretical models.
The course will include the following subjects:
Natural selection, ecology and behavior, hypothesis testing in behavioral evolution, optimal behavior and decision making in animals, arms-races and predator-prey interaction, competition for resources and evolutionary game theory, living in groups sexual selection and mate choice, parental care and parent-offspring conflict, mating strategies, altruism and cooperation, animal communication and the evolution of animal signaling.
Full Syllabus
