A complete summary of all lectures with accompanying graphical abstracts from the Applied animal ecology course at WUR. The summary is entirely in English, with a few difficult words translated into Dutch in italics.
I managed to get a good pass with the summary.
General framework
Perspectives of this course
Population: group of individuals
[ during this course populations are only affected by birth and mortality ]
An individual can be viewed as a
storage (energy, protein, other
nutrients)
→ more inflow than outflow
needed for a positive balance,
otherwise a state of catabolism will
occur
Catabolism: using up the storage of
it’s own resources, eventually not
being able to fuel its own energetic
processes.
When (e.g.) a mineral is lacking,
how come → zoom into the
environment for its resources
For energy: if an animal loses a lot of energy, often this is caused by environmental conditions like the
environment.
[The focus of this course will be on how the
environment influences an individual, which has
influence on the population]
In- and outflow of individuals at an population
level.
Senescence: old age
,0 = Mutual population change: in the end the gain equals the loss and the population stays the same
in size. Can occur with low birth rate and low mortality rate, but also with high birth rate and high
mortality rate.
Low increase and reasonable decrease of the population
→ Boost increase the population
Reasonable increase and high decrease of the population
→ Decrease mortality
Every production within an individual has to be fuelled
E.g. antlers of the red deer → without enough calcium, a poor rack of antlers will be produced.
Intervention was needed with lick blocks.
Anabolic: the inflow is higher than the outflow
Catabolic: outflow is higher than the inflow
High energy and/or nutrient uptake
High energy and/or nutrient expenses
- High quality/quantity of
- Costly environment?
resources?
- Costly activity?
- Animal adaptation to extract
- Costly (re)production?
resources?
There is variation in intake and
expenditure in space an time!
E.g. temporal variation in expenditure
,From individual budgets to population dynamics
Negative state → Positive state
The decrease in the energy intake per individual results in the decrease of the number breeding
female individuals and juveniles.
The intake per individuals goes
beyond the carrying capacity
Resulting in a decrease of the
intake per individual, resulting
in a decrease of breeding
females and therefore a
decrease in juveniles
, Lecture 1: Endotherms
Mammals and Birds: evolutionary success stories
➔ Tremendous variation in mammals and birds around the globe
Key innovations of mammals and birds:
- Endothermy: heating up the own body
o High metabolism
o Insulation through feathers and hairs
o Efficient blood circulatory and breathing system
- Advanced digestion
o Modifications in the skull
o Modified digestive tract
o (for mammals) dentition: variation between teeth
- Parental care & reproductive system: limited young, but high investment for increasing the
chance of success
o Eggs
o Pouch
o Womb
- Modifications in skeletal system
o Modifications for running or flying
Mammal evolution
Mammal evolution based on continental drift
Relevant ecological traits:
- Feeding young (suckling) standing
- For herbivores less young per nest
- From less to more parental care
- Speed of life
- Seasonal adaptation
Endothermy
Endothermy is evolved in conditions with enough resources. Endotherms need to maintain their high
energy-demand for survival.
Aspects characterizing typical endothermic temperature physiology:
- The basal or resting metabolic rate is high.
- The body temperature is higher than the animal’s normal ambient temperature and lies
between about 28 and 40°C in mammas and between 38 and 42°C in birds, depending on
species.
- The core body temperature is maintained at a constant value. In mammals it normally varies
not more than 1-2°C during the daily cycle, whereas birds can be a bit more flexible
(depending on species and physiological status). Exceptions are hibernation and torpor.
- Main organs of internalized heat production are brain, liver, heart, kidneys and gut.
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