Habitat-selection hypothesis

Habitat-selection hypothesis

Habitat selection hypothesis in an attempt to explain the mechanisms of brood parasite nest selection in cuckoos. In habitat selection hypothesis, a female cuckoo retains recognition (is imprinted) of the habitat type in which she was reared, and will subsequently return to this habitat type in order to lay eggs. Habitat might be defined as dry or wet, shrubby or forested, lakeside, etc. This habitat preference increases the likelihood of encountering the suitable host species, as most host species are known to be habitat specific. Thus, habitat selection is thought to allow for random host selection by the female cuckoo (Teuschl et al. 1998; Vogl et al. 2002). A major strength of the hypothesis is that provides a mechanism by which natural selection could work.

References

* Teuschl, Y., B. Taborsky, and M. Taborsky. (1998) How do cuckoos find their hosts? The role of habitat imprinting. "Animal Behavior" 56: 1425-1433

* Vogl, W., M. Taborsky, B. Taborsky, Y. Teuschl, and M. Honza. (2002) Cuckoo females preferentially use specific habitats when searching for hot nests. "Animal Behavior" 64: 843-850


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Habitat — For other uses of Habitat , see Habitat (disambiguation). The remaining fragmented habitats of the African Elephant …   Wikipedia

  • Gaia hypothesis — The study of planetary habitability is partly based upon extrapolation from knowledge of the Earth s conditions, as the Earth is the only planet currently known to harbour life. The Gaia hypothesis, also known as Gaia theory or Gaia principle,… …   Wikipedia

  • Mesopredator release hypothesis — Raccoons (Procyon lotor) and skunks (Mephitis mephitis) are mesopredators, here they share cat food in a suburban backyard. The mesopredator release hypothesis is a relatively new hypothesis from 1988[1] which describes the …   Wikipedia

  • Aquatic ape hypothesis — The aquatic ape hypothesis (AAH), sometimes referred to as the aquatic ape theory, asserts that wading, swimming and diving for food exerted a strong evolutionary effect on the ancestors of the genus Homo and is in part responsible for the split… …   Wikipedia

  • EICA Hypothesis — The Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability (EICA) Hypothesis was first proposed by Berd Blossey and Rolf Nötzold in 1995 as a way to explain the success of invasive, non indigenous species (in particular, plants). Observing that 1) there is… …   Wikipedia

  • Brood parasite — Brood parasitism is a form of parasitism …   Wikipedia

  • Occupancy-abundance relationship — In macroecology, the occupancy abundance (O A) relationship is the relationship between the abundance of species and the size of their ranges within a region. This relationship is perhaps one of the most well documented relationships in… …   Wikipedia

  • Schreckstoff — In 1938, the Austrian ethologist Karl von Frisch made his first report on the existence of the chemical alarm signal known as Schreckstoff in minnows. An alarm signal is a response produced by an individual, the “sender,” reacting to a hazard… …   Wikipedia

  • Piège écologique — La notion de « piège écologique » (ecological traps pour les anglophones) désigne les situations dans lesquelles une modification, rapide et anthropique de l environnement conduit certains organismes à être irrésistiblement attirés par… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • American marten — Conservation status Least Concern ( …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”