Module BIOL3561: BEHAVIOURAL AND EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY

Department: Biological and Biomedical Sciences

BIOL3561: BEHAVIOURAL AND EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY

Prerequisites

• • Level 2 Ecology (BIOL2461); Level 2 Behaviour (BIOL2511); Level 2 Evolution (BIOL2451)

Corequisites

• • At least one other Level 3 Biological Sciences Module

Excluded Combination of Modules

• • None

Aims

• To explore the evolutionary and ecological processes that underlie the range of behaviours and life history strategies shown by animals in nature.
• To study theories which seek to explain the behaviour of animals.
• To develop an understanding of quantitative modelling procedures used to study behaviour.

Content

• Impact of ecology on behaviour.
• Impact of evolution on behaviour.
• Conflict and competition.
• Mating and sexual selection.
• Social interactions and altruism.
• The nature of individuality.

Learning Outcomes

• To comprehend how and why behaviour and life-history are shaped by a variety of forms of selection.
• Comprehend how tensions between competing units with different selection pressures may be resolved (e.g. parent offspring conflict, conflict for resources, sexual conflict, reciprocal altruism).
• Knowledge of the relative costs and benefits of behaviours and life-history strategies in ecological and evolutionary contexts.

• To be able to apply quantitative modelling procedures, including optimisation techniques and game theory, to understand and predict behaviour and life-history.
• To be able to critically assess the strengths and weakness of different theoretical frameworks of major behavioural and evolutionary ecological issues.

• Literacy, in being able to consult and extract information from printed and on-line archives.
• Data analysis, in interpretation and critical analysis of published modeling, experimental and field studies within behavioural and evolutionary ecology.
• Communication skills, using the written word and graphics, involved in essays / research reports.
• Self-motivation, in self-guided learning.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures deliver subject-specific knowledge.
• Workshops reinforce subject-specific knowledge and understanding gained from lectures and the development of key and subject-specific skills.
• Tutorials / Seminars give enhancement of the student learning experience, supporting attainment of all learning outcomes.
• Self-guided learning contributes to subject-specific knowledge and self-motivation.
• Reports are based on subject-specific knowledge.
• Unseen examinations demonstrate achievement of the appropriate level of subject-specific knowledge of development, with an emphasis on understanding and communication (essay and problem-based questions).

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Workshop.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University