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Why do birds have the freedom of the skies while mammals' feet are firmly planted on the ground? What makes one organism the hunter and another the hunted? Why do some creatures stick together in groups while others prefer to go it alone? Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Perspective On Behaviour provides a fascinating insight into the evolutionary and ecological processes that underpin animal behaviour.
Opening with an overview of the evolutionary and methodological framework of behavioural ecology, the book goes on to explore behaviours in terms of the selective pressures involved in their design. It addresses natural selection, sexual selection, and gene selection, before closing with an investigation of the human impact on behavioural ecology.
Featuring chapters written by university teachers, each with research expertise in their respective fields, Behavioural Ecology has been moulded by Danchin, Giraldeau, and Cezilly to give a uniform voice throughout: it is a text with all the qualities of a multi-author book, but without the usual defects. Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Perspective on Behaviour offers a fresh, contemporary account of a field re-invigorated by advances in the last decade, making it the ideal teaching and learning text.
Chapter 1: The History of Behavioural Ecology
Chapter 2: Fundamental Concepts in Behavioural Ecology
Chapter 3: Testing Hypotheses in Behavioural Ecology
Chapter 4: The Phenotypic Approach: the evolutionary physiology approach
Chapter 5: Solitary Foraging
Chapter 6: Social Foraging
Chapter 7: Choosing Where to Reproduce
Chapter 8: The Evolution of Dispersal
Chapter 9: Sexual Selection: Another Evolutionary Process
Chapter 10: Mating Systems and Parental Care
Chapter 11: Differential Sex Allocation in Progeny
Chapter 12: Group living: Hypotheses and Controversies
Chapter 13: Cooperation among altruists
Chapter 14: Communication and the Evolution of Signals
Chapter 15: Long-lived Interactions
Chapter 16: Behavioural Ecology and Conservation Biology
Chapter 17: The behavioural ecology of humans
Chapter 18: Concluding Remarks
[A] clean and comprehensive coherence and whilst a solid reference and textbook work, it is a genuine pleasure to read. Journal of Biological Education It neatly integrates behavioural mechanisms with the adaptive value of behavioural traits, and their underlying genetics. What is more, it is an ejoyable read. It is sure to appeal to a wide spectrum of readers from undergraduates through to professional behavioural ecologists. Owen Jones in Bulletin of the British Ecological Society, 2009 I found a substantial amount of new information and the book is excellent in refreshing one's memory and broadening one's views: and all this for a reasonable price. I am convinced that anyone interested in this field, from undergraduates to professionals, will enjoy this much needed new textbook on behavioural ecology. Marc Naguib in Animal Behaviour, 2008 This is an excellent textbook, useful for students at all levels, as well as professionals. I think this book is set to become the new standard textbook on behavioural ecology. Eliza Z. Cameron in Behavioural Processes, 2008 I think it achieves the very difficult task of being of value to a wide spectrum of readers. It is sufficiently clear and careful in its explanations, and fulsome in its examples that undergraduates can really use it. At the same time, almost everyone who would call themselves professional behavioural ecologists will benefit from reading this book. Graeme Ruxton, University of Glasgow
