foraging ecology
The study of how animals search for and utilize food resources in their environment
temporal dynamics
Changes in ecological patterns and processes across different time scales
demographic factors
Age and sex characteristics affecting susceptibility to mortality
social caste system
Division of labor in social insects with distinct morphological and behavioral castes including queens, workers, and males
Life Table Response Experiment
A method to partition variance in population growth rate into contributions arising from temporal covariances of demographic parameters at different time lags
nesting traits
Life history characteristics related to where and how bees construct their nests, categorized as above-ground or below-ground
depletion sampling
Population estimation method using repeated sampling to remove individuals and estimate total abundance from decline curve
life cycle
The complete sequence of developmental stages from germination through survival, growth, flowering, and reproduction in sessile plants
life history
hunting season regulations
Legal frameworks governing when, where, and how many game animals can be harvested including bag limits, possession limits, season length and timing, and area closures
life history stages
Discrete developmental periods in marmots separated by annual hibernation: pups (<1 year), yearlings (1 year), and adults (≥2 years)
life history traits
Ecological and life history traits that determine a bird species response to extreme meteorological events and vary with elevation
neighborhood composition
Spatial arrangement and characteristics of conspecific individuals within pollination range affecting reproductive success
open system dynamics
Population dynamics in systems characterized by high levels of dispersal and recruitment from external sources
pathosystem
The ecological system comprising a pathogen, its host, and their environment
predatory sequence
The sequence of steps predators must complete: encounter prey, identify them as suitable, approach and attack, prevent escape, and consume
push-pull strategy
Pest management approach that repels pests from desired resources while attracting them to manageable locations
rare species monitoring
Systematic approaches for tracking populations of uncommon or threatened species over time
reproductive components analysis
Decomposition of total seed production into multiplicative components to identify sensitive life stages
reproductive ecology
Study of plant reproductive strategies and their ecological consequences
selection surfaces
shy-bold continuum
Behavioral axis ranging from shy (less interactive, avoidant) to bold (more interactive, approaching) behavioral responses
situational specificity
The concept that alarm calls can be situationally variable, encoding information about events and stimuli external to callers
solitary species
Species that live alone rather than in groups, potentially making changes in antipredator behavior more impactful to individual survival.