ZOO/ETEK Behavioral Ecology

Lecturer: Stanislav Bureš
Lecture: 1 hour/week + exercise 1 hour/week
Credits: 3
Summer semester
Form of course completion: exam

Survival value of behaviour. Why has this behaviour evolved? Behavioural adaptations in a changing environment. Proximate and ultimate levels of behaviour. Natural selection, sexual selection, genetic basis of behaviour, sexual conflict, mating systems and parental care. Economic decisions, optimality models, competing for resources, predator-prey interactions, living in groups, co-operation and altruism, evolutionarily stable strategies, alternative breeding strategies. Testing hypotheses in behavioural ecology, confounding variables, creation of models, own research approaches, practise in seminars.