Dynamic Modeling in Behavioral Ecology

This book describes a powerful and flexible technique for the modeling of behavior, based on evolutionary principles. The technique employs stochastic dynamic programming and permits the analysis of behavioral adaptations wherein organisms respond to changes in their environment and in their own current physiological state. Models can be constructed to reflect sequential decisions concerned simultaneously with foraging, reproduction, predator avoidance, and other activities. The authors show how to construct and use dynamic behavioral models. Part I covers the mathematical background and computer programming, and then uses a paradigm of foraging under risk of predation to exemplify the general modeling technique. Part II consists of five "applied" chapters illustrating the scope of the dynamic modeling approach. They treat hunting behavior in lions, reproduction in insects, migrations of aquatic organisms, clutch size and parental care in birds, and movement of spiders and raptors. Advanced topics, including the study of dynamic evolutionarily stable strategies, are discussed in Part III.

Mare Mangel is Professor of Agricultural Economics, Entomology, and Zoology at the University of California, Davis

Preface and Acknowledgements	p. xi
Introduction	p. 3
Fundamentals	p. 9
Basic Probability	p. 11
Notation	p. 11
Discrete Random Variables and Distributions	p. 15
Conditional Expectation	p. 18
Appendices
The Poisson Process	p. 19
Continuous Random Variables	p. 25
Some Other Probability Distributions	p. 29
Renewal Processes	p. 37
Patch Selection	p. 41
Patch Selection as a Paradigm	p. 41
Biological Examples	p. 42
The Simplest State Variable Model	p. 45
An Algorithm for the Dynamic Programming Equation	p. 52
Elaborations of the Simplest Model	p. 58
Discussion	p. 63
Appendices
Further Elaborations of the Patch Selection Paradigm	p. 63
Alternative Constraints	p. 63
Variable Handling Times	p. 64
A Diet Selection Model	p. 65
A Model with "Fat Reserves" and "Gut Contents"	p. 67
Sequential Coupling	p. 69
Uncertain Final Time	p. 71
Lifetime Fitness and Utility	p. 73
Behavioral Observations and Forward Iteration	p. 76
The Fitness of Suboptimal Strategies	p. 79
Addendum to Part I: How to Write a Computer Program	p. 82
Applications	p. 105
The Hunting Behavior of Lions	p. 107
The Serengeti Lion	p. 108
Some Possible Explanations of Lions' Hunting Behavior	p. 109
A Dynamic Model	p. 113
Communal Sharing	p. 121
Discussion	p. 124
Reproduction in Insects	p. 126
Fitness from Egg Production and Experimental Background	p. 126
A Model with Mature Eggs Only	p. 131
A Model with Mature Eggs and Oocytes	p. 142
Parasitism and Density Dependence	p. 143
Discussion	p. 148
Migrations of Aquatic Organisms	p. 149
Diel Vertical Migrations of Zooplankton	p. 152
Cladocerans	p. 153
Copepods	p. 162
Diel Migrations of Planktivores	p. 165
A Model of Aquatic Predation	p. 167
A Dynamic Model of Diel Migrations	p. 171
Predictions of Zooplankton Migrations	p. 178
Parental Allocation and Clutch Size in Birds	p. 182
A Single-Year Model of Parental Allocation and Clutch Size	p. 183
A Multi-Year Model of Parental Allocation and Clutch Size	p. 192
Hypothesis Generation and Testing Dynamic Behavioral Models	p. 195
Movement of Spiders and Raptors	p. 198
Movement of Orb-Weaving Spiders	p. 199
Population Consequences of Natal Dispersal	p. 204
Additional Topics	p. 213
Formulation and Solution of State Variable Models	p. 215
Identifying State Variables, Constraints, and Dynamics	p. 217
The Optimization Criterion: Fitness	p. 223
The Dynamic Programming Algorithm	p. 225
Computer Realization	p. 228
Discretization and Interpolation	p. 228
Sequential Coupling	p. 231
Stationarity	p. 232
Alternative Modeling Approaches	p. 233
Average-Rate Models	p. 233
Mean-Variance Models	p. 235
Life-History Models	p. 238
Optimal Control Theory	p. 238
Appendix
Fitness in Fluctuating Environments	p. 240
Some Extensions of the Dynamic Modeling Approach	p. 247
Learning	p. 247
Dynamic Behavioral Games	p. 259
A Dynamic Game between Tephritid Flies	p. 261
A Game between Juvenile Coho Salmon	p. 270
Epilogue: Perspectives on Dynamic Modeling	p. 280
References	p. 289
Author Index	p. 303
Subject Index	p. 306
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

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Dynamic Modeling in Behavioral Ecology

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