Applied Animal Ecology
Graphical abstract: overview of what you should know for exam
General Framework
Graphical abstract:
• Box: represent the population
• To understand population look at the performance of individuals
• Performance: survival, growth and reproduction
• Within this course we assume a closed population, so no immi- and emigration
Conceptual diagram:
• Exponential and logistic growth related to the left diagram
Absolute growth: for the whole population
Relative growth: per individual
• With logistic growth there comes competition between individuals
,MSY: Maximum Sustainable Yield, halfway the logistic growth you find the highest
production
→ if youre goal is to harvest as much as possible you should have a population size of half
your carrying capacity
r: is the speed of the growth
1-N/K is to put the effects of the environment into the growth rate without really
understanding the effects of the environment, as K is carrying capacity and thus effect of the
environment
Lecture 1: Endotherms
Dia 7: Unusual for black rhino to graze on an open grass field (is a browser not a grazer)
Ticks on giraffe, many ticks are indication of poor body condition
How to define species and how to understand their needs or interaction
Key innovations to distinguish groups of animals and define:
• Endothermy
• Advanced digestion
• Parental care & reproductive system
• Modifications in skeletal system
Dia 18: combined ancestor mammals
Dia 19: mammals clustered phylogenetic
,Dia 21: Different groups of mammals evolved in different parts of the world
→ elephant alone in cluster because they outcompeted the afrotheria, which had more
primitive traits and thus a lower fitness than the more modern elephant
→some animals live now somewhere else than where they lived for the most time during their
line-age, e.g. tapir now lives in south-america yet recently there and has lived in other parts of
the world for a longer time
Relevant ecological traits:
• Litter size
• Suckling: laying down vs standing up (counter-predator strategy)
Endothermy, why a ‘wasteful strategy of energy use’?
→ In terms of adaptation and efficiency consideration it becomes a paradox that such an
energetically expensive lifestyle became so successful
Endothermy is a consequence of becoming large as it becomes more difficult to lose heat
Over time animals become smaller again yet still need the same heat → fur, feathers and
endothermy
Dia 28: the larger an animals become, the greater the gap between ecto- and endotherms can
produce power output due to difference in mitochondria, ectos could never perform the same
athletic performances as endos
Dia 32: Internal heat production (know these terms !!!)
• Endothermy: internal heat source
• Ectothermy: external heat source
• Homeothermy: constant body temperature
• Poikilothermy: variable body temperature
Heat gain and loss:
• Difference standing outside in day and night, during day you warm up yet in night you
cooldown and lose heat to the environment,
, • Think about also about heat gain and loss of animals which live in dense areas and
open landscapes, e.g. black rhino used to live in dense forest yet now forages on open
landscapes so loses more heat than used to
Know this overview !!
Dia 34: Metabolic rate endotherm always higher than ectotherm
Skipped dia 35-43
Dia 43: evolution of an animal, see it as a chain of traits which are evolving, when one trait
stops others can still evolve yet not to their fully potential → attempt to visualize evolution of
animals
Allometric: has a slope between smaller than 1
Isometric: is just horizontal line? Weet niet zeker iig die grijze lijn is het
3 phases:
• 1: parental care and locomotion
• 2: thermoregulation and miniaturization
• 3: Locomotion and climate adaptation
Dia 46: animals which are good at running have a higher body temperature
Lagomorpha’s (hares etc) are the real winners? Ff terugluisteren
Dia 49: Mammals and birds are endos and thus need many resources, scheme just to
understand you don’t have to know it by heart
Graphical abstract: overview of what you should know for exam
General Framework
Graphical abstract:
• Box: represent the population
• To understand population look at the performance of individuals
• Performance: survival, growth and reproduction
• Within this course we assume a closed population, so no immi- and emigration
Conceptual diagram:
• Exponential and logistic growth related to the left diagram
Absolute growth: for the whole population
Relative growth: per individual
• With logistic growth there comes competition between individuals
,MSY: Maximum Sustainable Yield, halfway the logistic growth you find the highest
production
→ if youre goal is to harvest as much as possible you should have a population size of half
your carrying capacity
r: is the speed of the growth
1-N/K is to put the effects of the environment into the growth rate without really
understanding the effects of the environment, as K is carrying capacity and thus effect of the
environment
Lecture 1: Endotherms
Dia 7: Unusual for black rhino to graze on an open grass field (is a browser not a grazer)
Ticks on giraffe, many ticks are indication of poor body condition
How to define species and how to understand their needs or interaction
Key innovations to distinguish groups of animals and define:
• Endothermy
• Advanced digestion
• Parental care & reproductive system
• Modifications in skeletal system
Dia 18: combined ancestor mammals
Dia 19: mammals clustered phylogenetic
,Dia 21: Different groups of mammals evolved in different parts of the world
→ elephant alone in cluster because they outcompeted the afrotheria, which had more
primitive traits and thus a lower fitness than the more modern elephant
→some animals live now somewhere else than where they lived for the most time during their
line-age, e.g. tapir now lives in south-america yet recently there and has lived in other parts of
the world for a longer time
Relevant ecological traits:
• Litter size
• Suckling: laying down vs standing up (counter-predator strategy)
Endothermy, why a ‘wasteful strategy of energy use’?
→ In terms of adaptation and efficiency consideration it becomes a paradox that such an
energetically expensive lifestyle became so successful
Endothermy is a consequence of becoming large as it becomes more difficult to lose heat
Over time animals become smaller again yet still need the same heat → fur, feathers and
endothermy
Dia 28: the larger an animals become, the greater the gap between ecto- and endotherms can
produce power output due to difference in mitochondria, ectos could never perform the same
athletic performances as endos
Dia 32: Internal heat production (know these terms !!!)
• Endothermy: internal heat source
• Ectothermy: external heat source
• Homeothermy: constant body temperature
• Poikilothermy: variable body temperature
Heat gain and loss:
• Difference standing outside in day and night, during day you warm up yet in night you
cooldown and lose heat to the environment,
, • Think about also about heat gain and loss of animals which live in dense areas and
open landscapes, e.g. black rhino used to live in dense forest yet now forages on open
landscapes so loses more heat than used to
Know this overview !!
Dia 34: Metabolic rate endotherm always higher than ectotherm
Skipped dia 35-43
Dia 43: evolution of an animal, see it as a chain of traits which are evolving, when one trait
stops others can still evolve yet not to their fully potential → attempt to visualize evolution of
animals
Allometric: has a slope between smaller than 1
Isometric: is just horizontal line? Weet niet zeker iig die grijze lijn is het
3 phases:
• 1: parental care and locomotion
• 2: thermoregulation and miniaturization
• 3: Locomotion and climate adaptation
Dia 46: animals which are good at running have a higher body temperature
Lagomorpha’s (hares etc) are the real winners? Ff terugluisteren
Dia 49: Mammals and birds are endos and thus need many resources, scheme just to
understand you don’t have to know it by heart
